Monday, May 30, 2011

You are my Sunshine...

I thought this was appropriate... today was the first day in... a week? that the sun actually shone all day long. No afternoon thunderstorms or clouding up at 10:00 a.m. I'll bet it made for some nice Memorial Day Picnics... and sunburns! The high today was 91 degrees F. 


This journal page was made with only Copic Markers. The most recent issue of Cloth Paper Scissors had a few articles in it that inspired me. One article was on making the doodle type lettering and the other article was on using Copic Markers. Those suckers are expen$ive but I managed to complete a few 3-way colorways (thanks for HobbyLobby coupons) to help with the depth of shading. For example, you start with a light purple, add a medium purple as shading, then use the darkest purple to shade further. All those numbers on the caps? It's all secret code for the color families. Who knew?


Have a productive week everyone!

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Words Matter: My First Published Artwork!

I knew it was coming but it wasn't completely REAL until I got my copy of the magazine in the mail. My artwork, something I painted with my own hands, in print!
The funny thing is, I didn't submit the artwork, the art director of the magazine found it on my blog and asked if she can use it. The magazine is the May/June issue of Horizons Magazine, published by Presbyterian Women. It accompanies an article called "Words Matter"- about how the words we choose (or don't say) shape our reality and how we experience the world and ourselves. I am very honored to have my artwork accompany this article, as many of you might know, words are very important to me. Almost every piece of artwork I make has a word or words on it that help express the feeling I want to convey. Or maybe just a word that is important to me and no one else. 


I want to thank Tam over at Willowing.ning. It was in her free online class "Art, Heart, and Healing" where I made this journal page. Not only did she teach me how to make a stylized portrait with water soluble crayons and paint, and create some awesome backgrounds (can you say brayer?) but she made me think about how, with inner strength, we can move past those words that have hurt us in the past and heal. Here is a closeup of just the journal page: 
You know what I love? The idea of women telling stories of how words from the past have affected who they are today. Maybe I'll write a book about it someday.  I'll put it on my to-do list.


Happy Hump-day! Have a great rest of the week!

Monday, May 9, 2011

Springspiration is in the Air

Ha! I just made that word up. Springspiration. The feeling you have when flowers suddenly burst from the trees, and the brown lawns suddenly turn chemical green. Those darn weeds start growing like... well, weeds. The birds are back, gathering nesting material and twitterpating in the trees. Growth, Birth, Renewal, Revival, Energy...

The top picture is an "Inspiration Card" I made for Val in a group we belong to. The picture below is a journal page I made for the Roses on my Table Journaling group. The prompt was something like "splatters and drips".  I had so much making these. I dripped some acrylic ink on the page and took a straw and blew the ink around. A few came up looking like roots and I thought "Hmm. I wonder if I can make trees?" So about 274 practice sheets and a few hyperventilation episodes later I figured out how to make a tree. On my final pieces, I took Tim Holtz Distress Stains, put a few drips on my craft sheet, dipped a wet paintbrush into it and washed the page with the ink. To get the darker colors, I used it straight from the dauber top. (I love this stuff!) Then I started blowing the ink around. (I used acrylic ink that came in a little bottle with a dropper) The good thing is, you never know what you're going to get. The bad thing is, you never know what you're going to get. Serendipity at it's finest. Enjoy!
(Hmm. I just noticed I have two male Cardinals in my trees. I guess they are having a singing duel, best one wins the girl!)