A Little of This & A Little of That

This is the large goodie bag I received from Sarah Whitmire. Visit her at http://www.souljournaling.com/

So I have been neglecting my blog. Maybe that's a good sign that I am enjoying life!? I have recently joined Facebook. I am not sure why. Maybe to get my artwork out there. I have a myspace as well and I have not signed into that in ages.

I am trying to become educated on the use of Photoshop Elements. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheLatestTrendsinMixedMediaArts/ is where Cindy Powell is giving basic instructions.

I just got The Artist Way by Julia Cameron and am liking what I read so far. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Blissfully_Art_Journaling/ is where Kim Owens is leading group discussions about this book.

Overwhelmed?

This Art Journal spread is in response to Kathryn's prompt at True North Arts http://collagediva.typepad.com/truenorth/2009/05/creative-kindling-quick-easy-ways-to-get-your-creative-mojo-heated-up.html

http://christinekane.com/blog/ Christine Kanes blog is really interesting. Go on over and take a look. I have signed up for her emails. It is nice to get something positive in your inbox!

Scavenger Hunt Results

Over at http://sarahwhitmire.blogspot.com/2009/05/soul-journaling-prompt-tools-and.html you will find the items needed for your own journal spread. There are 17 items to hunt for and use to create with. Here are just a few: something plastic, something shiny, something that starts with the letter A. Can you find those items in my journal pages?

For my Soul Journaling yahoo group journal I decided to use the binder clip & cereal box journal. I also use some of the junk mail to make pages. I will see where Sarah takes us this time!

Something Else

Not feeling very arty lately. Let me see if I can find something else I did a while ago. HHHHMMmmmm...........................

This is one of the first things I altered a while ago. I think it held an AOL disk that came in the mailI put a scrap piece from a patchwork project on top of an outdoor photo and added beads. Simple and fun.

AAARRRGGG

I lost my blog roll!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was messing around with trying to put a 3 column template, but that got rid of all of my widgets. So I decided not to do that. Then I started playing with the colors and now I don't have my blog roll. But I do have it on my dashboard. Is it because I changed the font size?
Well back to messing with this.

My True North Arts Map

Kathryn Antyr, The Collage Diva, http://collagediva.typepad.com/truenorth/ has us making our personal maps. This is my interpretation of the prompt. Take the Freedom Ferry from Cape Fear on the Isle of Despair, to Port Hope in the Land of Creativity.

The Land of Creativity is defended from InnerCritic Air by Soul Armor Defense System. So you are safe to sip from the stream of techniques and ideas and swim in the pond of positive thinking.

Visit with your friends in yahoo groups ville or over at blog burbs. You can be certain that your creative muse will visit often. When you get hungry visit Just Do It Cafe. They serve large portions of what you are craving.

House on a Hill

This is a canvas I finished a little bit ago. It's done with acrylics. It has had several other faces until I finally settled on this one. I am being lazy right now, I am not sure of the measurements but it is sitting on a desk chair in the picture. I had a lot of conflicting emotions while painting this piece. Let me know what you think.

Fun with Color

Color is the prompt of the month over at Create Every Day (see the button on the left). My favorite color was blue when I was growing up. My sister and I shared a room. Her color of choice was orange. So my mother let us each have our own colors. So imagine, if you can, a small room with two single beds on either side of the room. Each bed was decked out with our choices. My side denim blue bed spread, I think it had patch work flowers on it, deep blue fuzzy throw rug, I had teddy bears and I remember a poster of running horses. Now my sisters side had an orange, yellow & green (flowers I think) bed spread, a bright orange fuzzy throw rug and psychedelic black light posters. She was(is) relatively neat. I was (am) relatively messy. I am not sure the name of the magazine that would have a picture of our room in it!!!

I favor the color green now days. My living room walls, one of the bathrooms & accents in our bedroom (mine & my husbands this time!). Now that I think about it I go for black & green in my wardrobe. I have been told by one of our sons "You need some color in your clothes!!" I guess paint splatters don't count!!! I do have the occasional urge to buy something in the orange family. I wonder what that says about me!

The colors I use in my art depend a lot on my mood. But my favorite color right now is acrylic phthalocyanine green! It seems to creep into a lot of my art lately.

Well have some fun and take some of these quizzes. Kate Smith's sites are a great reference tool for color info. Let me know what your colors are!

Take the Color Made Simple - True Value Color Quiz
http://www.truevaluepaint.com/content/Color/ColorQuiz.aspx to see which color matches your personality. The test tell me that my color is black. HHMM interesting.

BLACK

Nothing can stand between you and your demand for a calm environment. To be free of conflict and disagreement is the only way to live. In fact, it’s this philosophy that probably allows you to be comfortable in conditions that would normally bother others. Your ability to focus is undisputed, and while you enjoy attention, you still have problems understanding how to handle it. No other color out lives by the golden rule as much as you do

Take the Better Homes and Gardens color quiz

http://www.bhg.com/bhg/quiz.jsp?catref=cat740170&quizId=/templatedata/bhg/quiz/data/whatsyourcolorpersonality_10232003.xml

Your Results
Your color personality is: GREEN


It sounds like the hue you most relate to is green -- the color most evocative of nature. Adjectives such as kind, gentle, and contemplative likely describe you. You enjoy being involved with your neighbors and coworkers, but you also require plenty of time to yourself to recharge. You are social yet introverted, and modern but not trendy. Surround yourself with your signature color to create a restful, soothing environment. From sage to hunter, green can work well in virtually every room of your house. Use it generously to create a haven you'll love coming home to.

To learn more about my color or your color Kate Smith's Sensational Color http://www.sensationalcolor.com/color-messages-meanings/color-meaning-symbolism-psychology/all-about-the-color-black.html is a wealth of information about color!! Color in your home, your fashion, your life.

It is a very interesting place to spend browsing around. While you are there check out her blog as well. I took these color quizzes when I read her Squidoo page http://www.squidoo.com/colorexpert. I just learned about Squidoo today.

Let me know if these links work or not. This is a skill I need to improve upon.

A Little Spring on these Rainy Days

Faces of Spring

the buds of the hostas

the curls of the ferns




the tulips say

farewell

to the daffodils



as that which is

spring

begins to stretch her wings



by

Laura Kay

4/18/09

Morris Dancers

Click the title to get to the YouTube video. This is another spread in one of my art journals. The prompt is from Milliande at http://milliande.ning.com/ . As I watched this clip I was to think about form, movement, color, shape & emotional response. So this is my interpretation. The picture is my mom! She is so beautiful!

This book is almost full!! I like this size. I still have to get more books to journal in.

A Small Canvas

This is my recent creation. I feel so-so about it. It looks best close up. It doesn't follow that 10 foot "rule" for landscape or still life painting. Oh well. Maybe the next one will. I had fun doing it. I don't have to many stretched canvases to work on right now. I have to find the good sales on them!!! There are a lot of textures in this. I attached the pussy willow branches with metal fasteners.

I am off to do a cover of my first soul journal altered book. It is almost full and Sarah W at
Caspiana and Kathryn at collagediva (see the links at the side, I can't paste the links right now?!)are creating their own place for prompts. So I want to start 2 more books. I have used altered books for the prompts and now I'm trying to decide on which to use. A stop at my local used book shop or at a craft shop? decisions---decisions!!

Birthday

My 45th birthday was yesterday!!! Wooo Hoo!! My very generous family gave me a Kindle http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00154JDAI/ref=sv_kinc_0 .

This is such a wonderful gift!!! It makes reading a book SO much easier!! I have been limited in the books I can read. Due to some health issues. I could only read the larger paperbacks. My husband cut World Without End by Ken Follett in half. So I would be able to hold the book. Hey I just realized he is now an altered book artist!!

The Kindle has so many great features! I can increase the font size, for those "crazy eyes" days. It even has a read to me feature. This is only a tad bit mechanical sounding. There are books, newspapers, magazines & blogs that I can receive. The photo images are good as well although they are in black & white.

I purchased my first book. It was about $6.50.
So now I will be able to go back to reading!!!! I am SO Very Happy!! Now I will have to choose between reading and creating. Oh no!
I will just have to remember what Margaret Atwood said:

" more of your brain is
involved when reading than it is when you watch TV.....

because you are
supplying just about everything......

you are a
creator"

Who Is This?

I had a little fun today and put this in my recycled journal. I found this on the back of a cereal box. I tested some of my family and they weren't sure. Do you know?

Good Luck!

A Few Pics

This is the first page of my Hell Yeah journal. I splurged and bought a watercolor book. I wanted one half the length and thicker. But AC Moore only had that size in sketch paper. I guess I'll look on the Internet or make my own that size. I have never made my own book.

Well my recycled journals are "bound" with note book rings.

My sister just gave me a circa set from Levenger. I'll play with that and see if I can use that for my Journals!!

AAAAHHHH !!!! I just lost the pic of my first page. CRAP!!! I just don't understand how to manage the pics.

Each time I play with the text the pictures move & I can't get them to stay in the order I want!!!!!

Anyway, these are some pages & parts of pages. I love how watercolor paper plays with the different mediums.

Thanks Aimeslee

Aimeslee over at paper paisleys (click on the title up there) gave me a blogger award! ~smiling~ So now I have to tell 7 things about myself.......hhhhmmmmm.....

1. I love dogs & cats
2. I don't like snakes
3. I am frugal by nature & nurture
4. I love to ride on motorcycles
5. I eat very close to a vegetarian diet
6. I like dessert & a good cup of coffee
7. I am reading World with Out End by Ken Follett