Blog

 Took my camera out today and snapped some photographs around our property.  Yep, took the red Amaryllis outside just to see how it contrasted against the white snow and green bristlecone pine, sort of pretty.  But it was not too happy being exposed to the cold, ugh.   A Colorado postcard from me to you!

Getting ready for an evening of Wine and Watercolor at the Bemis Art School I decided to use pages of vintage sheet music for the substrate.  I happened upon these amazing books of music at a Friends of the Library book sale.  Deciding this was the perfect opportunity to use these pages and not knowing exactly how the watercolor would work, I gave it a try. 

I removed a page and trimmed the right edge to make it symmetrical.  The pulp of this paper is incredible, smooth yet substantive.  Printed in the 1930’s by Charles Scribner’s Sons, the hardbound books themselves are gems for art journals, and removing pages moves me one step closer toward re-purposing these treasures.

What better image for the new year than a butterfly!  New beginnings, even in the heart of winter, says butterfly to me.  Besides we could use a little springtime muse since it is a whopping 6 degrees outside today.  I had this sketch of a butterfly but decided to tweak it a bit for the image to be used on the sheet music, a few more curves on the wings, more whimsical and this is what I came up with…..

I drew the image in pencil, using the music staff as guidelines.  Then painted around the image with Reeves watercolors.  The sheet music worked beautifully and took the watercolors without buckling.  Usually I paint with oils or acrylics so this was a NEW experience.  A little water, a lot of color, simple really, yet fun and satisfying.

Here are my tools, an inexpensive brush and affordable watercolors from the craft store.  The star of the show is the sheet music.  If you are a paper junkie like me, keep your eyes open at estate sales for book bound music, you will not be disappointed and there are a myriad of uses for it; collage, journaling, or a stand alone piece like this butterfly.  Looking forward to teaching this technique at Wine and Watercolors and glad I found a way to use my vintage pages of music!

As the new year approaches, it is a good time for reflection and anticipation.  I love to write down my goals for the new year because having them in writing keeps me focused.  Otherwise I find myself floundering in a sea of ideas without any purpose.   Here is to the list and NEW BEGINNINGS!!!!

In 2015 my focus is going to be on using supplies and ephemera I already have on hand.  So many times a paint color, an image, a special button or clasp, texture tool or book of ideas finds its way into my studio only to be stashed away in a bin for future use.  Well, the future is here and I plan on using up what I’ve got!  Hopefully this will push me in new directions, out of my comfort zone, into the place where….the magic happens.  This powerful concept of movement, from working on a journal page, to a canvas or even creating layers on a three dimensional object is a bit scary.  I have been camped out in art journaling for several years now.  In 2014 I created a couple of pieces for “Pikes Peak Busts”, an art show for increasing breast cancer awareness and raising funds for a local research foundation.  Both pieces SOLD, so thankful, and the process pushed me into a magical place…out of my comfort zone.  Looking for more of this in 2015, movement….from the journal page to canvas and beyond.

Time for my first post, a kickstart to my blog, jumping in with both feet and sharing my first ever lino carved stamp.  It was the same process, grab the tools, and the lino block, create a design on graph paper, transfer to lino block….and carve.  Here is what I came up with.

Designing the stamp

Tools

Brayer with black acrylic paint

Print on Deli paper

Deli paper print.

Inspired by the wildly popular PBS series, Downton Abbey, Garden Pages is a journal compiled of contemporary and Edwardian Era imagery.  Butterfly wings for a gentleman, teabag flower motifs, copies of journal pages transformed into blossoms, and yesteryear images grace the pages.  By repurposing a children’s board book, sanding down and coating pages with gesso, texture is at the forefront of taking this book back in time. 

We have a fascination with this bygone era.  A time when women wore fancy plumed hats, flowing gowns, and carried parasols.  Good bye heavy wools, stiff silks, all things Victorian, and hello corsets, Louie Tiffany, and Art Nouveaux!  Well, two out of three isn’t bad.  Motifs were inspired by nature, and patterns reflected vibrant color with unique design.  The French owned this era and referred to it as “The Belle Epoche”, the beautiful era.  Leave it to the French, their words sound as lovely as the translation.

I just happened to have on my bookshelf Edith Holden’s “The Country Diary of An Edwardian Lady”; a treasured keepsake from my mother who passed away many years ago.  I remember looking through the pages after mom died, reading Edith’s observations about nature and admiring her botanical style of drawing.  Here it was poetic words for written expression, and Edwardian era imagery, the perfect ingredients for my Garden Pages journal.

Something magical happens when we say yes to the signals of creative inspiration.  Whether it is imagery, words, experiences, or a feeling, by allowing our creative intuition to sort it out and reflect it with mixed media on a journal page, true” mojo” happens….the French aren’t the only ones with cool words, we have ours too.

As the teabags transformed into blossoms, bakers twine into swirls, splashes of acrylic inks and paints, and phrases from Edith’s poetry landed on each page, I realized the power of art journaling.  It is a journey unlike any other, one of heart and soul proportions as a page becomes expression.  I caught a glimpse of my creative intuition making Garden Pages and thought of my dear sweet mother along the way.  These are the mojo moments in the life of yours truly, an artist looking for the “belle epoche”….today.   May you find those moments in your creative life when the signals blossom and the flower bud opens to fuel your expression.  Grab your art journal and let the magic begin.