Vincent

Images of Vincent and his work were used in this month's journal page and ATC exchange. The theme was 'gifts' and instead of a holiday theme, the muse took me in another direction.

With photoshop I placed his tragic self portrait on the painting of poppies for color effect. The quote is from Emerson.

There is a new theory about how Vincent lost his ear in 1888. For more than a century, Vincent Van Gogh has been known as the tortured genius who sliced off his own ear in a fit of madness. But a new study claims that Paul Gauguin lopped it off with a sword as the two artist's argued. It is contended that Van Gogh let everyone think he had mutilated himself in order to protect Gauguin from prosecution. We may never know the true story but it's an interesting speculation.

Below, I used a rare photograph of Vincent and one of his own quotes.

Time

With the old year drawing to a close and 2010 approaching, I chose the prompt for this visual journal entry: time.

Again, the composition expands from an existing image, in this case the photograph of a colorful bird's head.

Henry David Thoreau's words are at the top: "The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it."

A quote from Omar Khayyam seemed to be the appropriate text: "The bird of time has but a little way to fly.... and the bird is on the wing!"

Journal Page / Friends

This page is from one of my 8 x 10 hand made journals. I make these with my students and work along with them each semester.

The prompt was to begin with an existing image, then go beyond its borders and 'tell the rest of the story.' In this case, the image was the small rectangle that includes the faces of these 4 friends. It was applied to a background and their bodies were drawn and painted with acrylics. Text was added with marker and the line of music seemed to complete the story. "A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you forget the words."

Journal Pages

These are a few pages from a visual journal I have been carrying around and playing with recently. Inspired by artist Teesha Moore, I have been exploring her ideas and color use to stretch my own boundaries a bit.

The text is inspired by a book I love, Art and Fear by David Bayles and Ted Orland.
On her website and on YouTube, Teesha Moore has generously shared a series of videos about how she creates her journal pages. They are definitely fun and inspiring and worth a look. After watching them, I made this little book so I could play too.
What I love most about visual journaling is the freedom it gives us to play and explore.

You don't have to create a masterpiece, just get out the paint, markers, glue sticks and pens and see where it takes you. Use whatever inspires you and have unstructured fun.

More Centipedes

Now we're having fun! A bit on the dark side this time, which is good if you're playing with centipedes.
A new shipment of waxed linen cord arrived today...... I think I'll be needing it.
There may still be more of these waiting to come out and play. That's what is so fun about art, you just never know what will happen next.

Fun with Centipedes

Here's my latest book-play. I was in the mood for centipedes and lots of them.

So once I got started it was hard to stop. Just one more I kept saying to myself....

The book measures 5 x 7 and has 112 leaves of mixed paper types and weights. There are pages for writing and pages for drawing or mixed media journaling.

Although this particular book is finished, I don't think I'm done plahing with this stitch. I may have caught the bug.

Choose Carefully.....

Don't we all have a 'Door Number Two' somewhere in our past?

Perhaps Howard wishes he had taken the free spin........

Free Spin

Sometimes you just get lucky.

This month's theme is "Games" and who can resist a free spin, especially with this character as your host...

Fun With Zentangles

The recent edition of Cloth Paper Scissors magazine had an article on "Zentangles" an easy to learn method of creating beautiful images from repetitive patterns. I thought it looked like fun and it reminded me of an exercise I have included in my art classes for years. I just called it "Expressive Line." Upon further investigation I found that the creators of Zentangles have a web site, certified teachers, and quite a following. I decided that as an art instructor for 34 years, I did not need the $49 kit, but for someone who wants the instruction and does not have access to materials of their own, it might be very helpful. It comes with heavy paper 'tiles', Micron pens, and instructional materials.

I did read the archive of newsletters on the website and looked at the extensive gallery of examples. With that and the magazine article I mentioned, I learned some of the basic patterns and format used in making these intricate designs. I got out my Micron Pens (had 'em already) and some heavy illustration stock (had that too) and started to play. Within a short time I had created my first Zentangle. Then another, and another, and boy am I hooked! It's like doodling on steroids.

There is indeed a meditative (zen) effect in making these repeated patterns within the form (tangle). It is an exercise in focus and is very calming. So, if you haven't heard of this before, you might want to check it out. I think you'll enjoy it.

Black Cats

I love black cats!

First there was Zorro, a little hitchhiker picked up one cold and rainy September morning long ago. Only about 9 weeks old, he was stranded on the median strip of a 4 lane highway. I stopped traffic to scoop him up and he lived with me for 20 years. I have never been so adored by an animal, whether I deserved it or not.

Now there's Roy, 'King of the Cowboys" Cat. What a pistol! Spirited and full of energy. His middle name is "Get Down." He showed up in the flower bed after the floods of 2008. Another gift from the Universe.

This month's ATC exchange is all about superstition and I just had to feature a black cat and the wonderful quote by Groucho Marx: "A black cat crossing your path signifies that the animal is going somewhere."

It's almost Halloween...... do you know where your black cat is?

Superstition

Our theme for the month of October is 'Superstition'. The number 13 which is avoided by many, has always been lucky for me. Go figure.

The original sepia toned photograph for this composition was purchased from The Vintage Workshop. I used Photoshop to alter color, apply the number and add other special effects.

I'm not really sure what these ladies have to do with the number 13, but encourage you to make up your own story. And considering the season, the creepier, the better.

Harvest Moon

October arrives bringing the inevitability of autumn. Seeds ripen, fall to the Earth, and begin the long sleep of hope. The wheel of the year turns as the harvest moon rises again.

This digital collage was created with photoshop using antique photo and post card images. It seemed appropriate for the season.

The Elephant Book

Sometimes I get really attached to a book I have been working on. That's the case with this one.
The cover graphics make me laugh.... Jumbo galloping full speed into a candy store, head down, on a mission. I know how he feels.

The brown leather spine is made from a recycled leather coat. I really hate to buy new leather when there is so much out there to 'harvest'. One less item for the land fill, and I can get quite a few nice spines from one coat. Of course the deconstruction and cutting creates a great mess on the studio floor, but it's all part of the experience.

Backgrounds

A good creative exercise is to create backgrounds and papers for future use. Here I have used photoshop brushes and 'found images' to intuitively paint and stamp a background. These can be printed and used as art papers or saved as digital images.

The possibilities are endless!

Handbook

During a recent trip to our local antique mall, a pair of vintage ladie's gloves accompanied me to the check out. Although they were much too small for my large hands, I knew at once they would find a place on the cover of a book. The soft white leather was worn in distinctive creases as a woman's hands were protected decades ago. These gloves had been well used and I wondered about the person who had carried them in her pocket and slipped them on casually over and over again. The gloves now hold a book for an artist to use. Pages are made of thick papers for mixed media or watercolor and the book should be a delight to fill.
The gloves are stitched directly to the covers of an antique book with white waxed linen. The spine of the book has been replaced with reinforced vintage cloth and pages are attached with harlequin binding. There are 4 signatures of 10 pages hand torn from artist quality papers.