Illustration Friday - 'sky'

"Clouds come floating into my life no longer to carry rain or usher storm,

but to add color to my sunset sky." ~ Rabindranath Tagore

handmade journal, mixed media on hot press Arches

* * * * * *

A quick one for IF's word this week, pulled out some paints and splashed some color around. I've been feeling a bit 'out of the loop' as they say, but trying to find inspiration to create & draw/ paint again. Sunsets here have been amazing lately - so glad to see the the trees are trying to keep up as best they can - hopefully a show of riotous color in a few weeks :>!

Don't forget to check out the rest of the talent over at IF, have a fabulous week!

Journal Bliss

I've been soooo bad at keeping a daily/weekly journal of life events in the last six months so yesterday I decided to dedicate (& rescue) an abandoned journal and turn it into a 'calendar' journal. I'm sure you feel the same way as I do when I say I don't feel any pressure to produce art when I just.get.to.play.....

BUZZ: Our local Art Gallery asked me if I'd like to offer artsy gifts like journals/ small pieces of original art, etc. for the upcoming Fall & Christmas season, (yeah I know, but this is the time of year to think about that).

That got me into creative mode and thinking of the possibility of reproducing my original art & design for a fill-in calendar journal for those of us who are too busy/intimidated/not sure where to start/ just wanna have a quiet & safe place to vent. I don't know about you, but I find that having an inspiring, easily accessible place to write down even just a few words or what I'm dealing with that day to be a great release - one filled with intent, vindication & purpose.

Anyhow, I'm searching out a professional printer to re-create a 2011 calendar journal with my original illustrations & favorite quotes for each month. I'm hoping to eventually add them to my new Etsy shop. My grand opening will be sometime in June.....

Stay tuned for updates - be well.

Winding down...

"know that even on our darkest nights
sisters are there for us lighting the way
like moonlight and stars" - LTM

As the weekend started to wind down I found some time to finish that journal spread I started the other day. It was inspired by the Somerset article "Let's Face It" featuring DJ Pettitt. I love her style which she so generously steps out in the article to show how she creates a piece.

I Iike how this turned out even though it's a bit somber & wintery for this time of year. Maybe it's because nighttime seems to be the only part of the day where I'm able to collect my thoughts as things cool down - the weather's been blazing hot here....

Also I've been thinking a lot about sisters, all the different ones we have in our lives. Our blood/family sisters, art sisters, blog sisters, soul sisters and friends who are like sisters (maybe you're lucky enough to have a sister that's all these rolled into one amazing sister!) The ones we open our hearts & homes to, the ones we bravely bare our souls to, the ones with whom we laugh, cry and dream with... I cherish all the sisters in my life...

Love the moodiness of this song today.....by the way, have you celebrated the sisters in your life lately?

Journal Spread - trying something new...

Just wanted to share the beginning of a spread in the new journal I made a few days ago. I came across a wonderful article in the latest issue (July/Aug.) of Somerset Studio by a favorite artist of mine, DJ Pettitt.

I just love her portraits and the way she incorporates them into journals, sewing right onto the pieces, adding lovely embellishments & ribbons etc. etc.

Anyhow, in this particular article she so generously steps out one of her portraits much like she does when teaching one of her classes (which I've yet to take, but if the stars align I'll be at one of the retreats she's at next year)

I haven't worked in this way before so I thought I'd give it a try. After a local juried show here in May, I asked an artist friend (she's been working in oils some 20+ yrs) to critique my work and she said to work more on my values. As with most beginners - considered to be anyone who has painted 5 years or less - I struggle with getting enough value into my paintings and with DJ's method you establish values first, working dark to light as you go, just like working with oils. The next step to this will be adding color and then onto the finishing touches.....

Stay tuned!

Handmade journal - coptic stitch

(click to view larger)

Just wanted to share a brief tutorial on that journal I mentioned a few posts back using coptic stitch binding. This is smaller than my paperbag journal which is also bound w/ coptic stitching. I only went with 12 signatures on this one (making 3 stacks w/ 4 folded signatures inside). Incorporating the covers was my challenge this time as I didn't do one for the paperbag journal. That said, I'm going to do a few more of these and get them down solid before I consider myself an 'expert' :>

The watercolor pad worked wonderfully for the size I had in mind. I can go vertical or landscape(for a panoramic effect). The only thing I still want to change are the covers - I love the crackle finish but I was going for a more vintage/western look and wasn't looking at adding pink in there. The original brown of the covers started turning pink when I laid down some gesso (?) and it kept coming up through each successive layer! At this point I may just try rubbing some diluted white paint over the surface for a whitewashed look...

Anyhow, if you're looking to try your hand at one of these, there are a few tutorials online that step it out in more detail than I show here so do check them out, especially for how-to's on the stitches, here and on Youtube here