February Art Journal

Morning...
I am currently listening to a bit of Radiohead and drinking coffee, and talking to you. Today is grey and melancholy...so cold for April (and I'm sick of saying it). Snow imminent.
What better way to while away an hour or so than to share my February Art Journal with you...there is no better way, and by-the-way I have moved on to candles, incense and Buddha Chants at this point in the blog writing process. Snow is now happening.

For February I wanted to use pink quite a lot, it being the month of Love and all...so you'll see a lot of that. As for last time I wrote about my monthly journal I'll comment below on approaches and materials...

Enjoy...

Materials: paint colour strips from B&Q, catalogue cover which was painted in black acrylic an scratched, masking tape, black marker

Materials: collaged papers, black ink

Materials: red and black pen, white acrylic on top of postcard and collage + stitch then scratched

Materials: other peoples shopping lists (I collect these from around supermarkets), stitch, black marker

Materials: pink marker, black marker, blue marker, glitter picked up on  sellotape

Materials: masking tape, black marker, pink marker, graphite pencil, date page, blue pen

Materials: washi tapes, blue marker, black fineliner, tipex

Materials: pink marker, blue pen, keri smith's 100 ideas 

Materials: red pen, photographs, black marker, washi tape, keri smith's 100 ideas



Materials: white acrylic, pencil, pink pen, black marker, black ink and pen, tip ex, tea  label, staples

Materials: tracing paper, ink and pen, date stamp, watercolour paint, grey marker, black marker

Materials: newspaper glued and ripped back, washi tape, grey and pink markers, keri smith's 100 ideas 

Materials: catalogue painted with black acrylic and scratched, washi tapes

 And there we have it...sorry it took so long I have been head first into a major project which I can now reveal to you, lovely reader:

YES!! For reals!!
I got a job in an International school, and we're off in August! I still can't quite believe it and keep having to pinch myself (not literally of course), I am still in shock. I have been thinking about it for many years, dreamed about travelling to SEA since I was a teenager, and after my travels to Cambodia the last few years it became and even more urgent desire. I am so delighted. We both are.
Don't worry, I will still be blogging for as long as I feel like that's what I want to do. I love my blog being something to look back on in years to come as well as interesting for you (of course).

It's Easter break for me, and this week I have done lots of sorting and practice packing (yes, I know...I like to get right on to things like this as soon as possible, there is so much to organise!). I guess for the rest of the time we will hang out, go to the library, have coffee dates and wait out this cold weather. What are your plans?
Love, me x

Byesie Bye February 2013

Good morrow to you reader :)

This has been one heck of a hectic month! It wasn't supposed to be but by golly it was. I am in the middl of a project that I can't really tell you about right now but will soon, and it is taking up any spare moments I have (and there are never many of those anyway). My February journal suffered somewhat - you'll see that soon. But I kept it going and have started the March one.

Today I thought I would get creative with my random snapshots, using Pixlr Photo Editor image layering tool which is what I use for most of my photos for this blog, to make them all pretty for you...you're welcome dear reader:

 Street signs and student work

 a second hand suitcase and my desk

 me and the snow and outside a window

 spring flowers and a local church

 winter trees and an office sign

 sunset at the beach and art with a friend

looking up and down at the arcade

 

 

How was your February?

 

Love, me x

Words to Inspire

How goes it with you?
I am in quite a reflective mood today. I am in this mood quite a lot actually, I am a very self-reflective and evaluative person. It is both a weakness and a strength, mostly a strength, but sometimes I wish I could be on auto-pilot and not have to process every action and emotion.

It makes me very happy to go on Pinterest and gather up some inspirational words, snippets of wisdom passed from person to person as our elders would have done in the past, and something which is gaining a resurgence in modern popular culture - the quote. Be it song lyric, ancient spiritual, or ancestor...there are any words out there to keep us afloat.

I find that these little chunks of worldly wisdom, scribbled into a book, journal or printed out and pinned on the wall, help to keep me grounded and focused on my goal - to be a spiritually enlightened and evolved human being.

Here are some of my favorite quote from my Pinterest board 'Inspirational Quotes', layered over some photographs my daughter and I took on a night walk at the beach. These are distant lights photographed with movement, on a evening when we were both feeling stuck, static and needed to break free and spend time with the sea and stars:

Do you have a favorite quote that brings you comfort, strength or inspiration?
Love, me x

Life Lately...Weeks in Pictures

Watcha homies...
Life has been pretty busy lately but that doesn't mean I haven't taken the time to look around and appreciate - ya dig?

I don't even want to bore myself you with what has taken up so much of my time and energy. I refuse to accept that this is what life is about, and I struggle with it: work hard, stress lots, tired all the time, little money to spare for fun times. Some days are worse than others.

I decided that since I have a week off I will use it to reconnect with me through all the fun things I like to do (and can currently afford): time with family, see friends, cook healthy meals, eat lots of fruit, relax, have coffee times, sleep lots and walk to the beach daily.

Here are some snapshots of the days:

1. me in the lift 2. my street 3. studio window 4. window reflection 5. starbucks breakfast 6. window view 7. laundry day 8. the tree from my bedroom window - you will see a lotta this guy 9. first primroses 10. shadows 11. a cold picnic

 

How do you connect with your inner world?

 

Love, me x

January Art Journal ----> Complete!

Hi Peeps...

It's time to share some more Art Journal with you. This time it is the completed January book which I am super pleased with! You can find a DIY on how I put this together and the things I use to create it here.

I am going to try and tell you a little about each page as I go. I get inspiration from a number of places: books, like this one I am reading at the mo, my students, pinterest, friends, photography and just looking around. I gather it up in my Creative-Mental-Filofax and then spew it all out in ways like this and others such as Textile Art ( I will share some of this soon). I am a creative being (as I believe we all are), and this is the perfect way for me to communicate and demonstrate what I have stored away. Anyhoo...I ramble:

 

Front cover: I took a quote from a song, and mainly used a fineliner, then stuck yellow tissue paper over the date, I wanted it to look a bit like highlighter pen. 

 

I used photographs and magazine imagery together with fineliner drawings and marker pen detail of a railing I saw locally. I stuck on the frame from a page of postage stamps and them printed a weave pattern using embossed foam and a stamp pad.

I stuck napkin to the surface with Pritt Stick (this is one of my favorite techniques), I drew Boscombe pier in felt pen, added watercolour. I used my stamp letters and full stops to make the text on the right and dots. I painted lettering in gold paint on the right. I used felt pen wording on the right too then watered it to make it run, working well with the tissue background.

I wrote a song quote in pencil and shaded around it. Here I like how some drawing elements from previous pages become part of what is going on. I love happy accidents.

I don't like this page. I used batik wax and waterclour pencil.

This is one of me faves. I used a song quote and black ink on a newsprint background. The blue was made with acrylic paint squeezed between two sheets of paper...a long time ago and made one of the pages.

This is just about my Photo-a-Day challenge and a bit of drawing. Oh and I see some date stamping there too.

I really don't like this page. I used a fineliner, calendar page, date stamp and receipts.

I used the tisue method again on the right ( a Costa napkin), fineliner writing using a different style, marker pen on the right to draw me plates-o-meat.

Fineliner writing, chinky marker word on top, watercolour around and ink and pen for the black bold text.

Finliner birds, chunky marker for the tree, fineliner writing, date stamp tree texture.

So that was goodbye January. The February one is coming along well but it is already trying hard to live up to the glory of January.

I am having a creative boom at the moment and want to make things all the time. Right now I am working on some Art Textiles pieces that I am very much enjoying. Half term is great for catching up with me.

What are you guys creating at the moment?
Love, me x