Exciting new addition

It finally came. I ordered it in January. It is actually designed to be a Hutch in a dining room but it is for storage in my art studio and a display for my funky journals. Bonus! I choose the ivory colour with the natural wood for the open shelves to go in my old part of the Studio. I love the distressed look of it!

Here is close up of the top and a detail as well to give you a better look.

Playing with negative space and texture

Anonova and I traded journals and I have been having fun with hers. Reacting to the starts she had done and adding a few new pages as a result. I left the file size on this one bigger so you can see more details if you click on it. Kellie had done the background on this one and added the gel pen work on the left and I loved it! I wanted to try her technique but with a twist. I started to draw a horse and got the idea from a previous spread I recently did where the horse ended up being the background and I blotted out the negative space with a brush pen. After filling in the new background shadow with a blue brush pen around the horse I erased my white gel pen lines that were outlining making it more ghost like. After that I went about filling in the gel pen highlights on the underlying stamp to match the left side but only on the horse. Cool! eh?

Here it is where the horse ended up being the background and I blotted out the negative space with a brush pen. I then some days later added the face silhouette and days later again the gel pen. I like the whimsical quality of the family picture of DH Tim, Cody and Keiko and I.

This is the newly altered cover of my green Handbook. I had the metal frame on already but after I had spilled something on the journal I figured I would disguise it. I added my initials with white acrylic paint to start and then added some text paper and the dried flower with wax and once I started with the the wax I couldn't stop. :) Bees wax smells so beautiful!!! I adde a little crayons for colour and while it was drying I stamped a crackle stamp for extra texture. And to finish some walnut ink in the cracks. Nearly everything I do ends up with walnut ink at some stage. It is such a rich colour and ages things so beautifully.

Page in progress. Pencil crayons, gel pen lettering and dry brush over heron. Cleaning my brush out. :)

more progress on Handbook pages. Pan pastels, brush pen, Acrylics, pencil.

Working in Kells book again here. Added the wax/stamp/ crayon on the pocket. Cut out the page edges to create tabs and peeks of pages below. Used sewing machine to make the pocket and add texture. Lots of walnut ink on this journal spread. Kellie is King in my world! and she is Key. Key to my artists support and growth as she is a Kindred Spirit. K words for Kellie!!!

Carved into wax around Kindred.

Ready for words or ???

I don't add too much writing to my pages I used to feel that pages were incomplete if I didn't finish them off with lots of journaling. But now I am ok with it. After all isn't your visual interpretation your artistic voice speaking?

I do love to play with lettering. And I love to experiment with lettering too just like media I love to play around with styles and materials.

This spread is inspired by Michelle Wards work in the latest article in Somerset's Art Journaling magazine. Wink often. Sounds like great advice to me.

I read this the other day and it also sounded like great advice.

Loved

I am feeling strong today.

Know why ?

Because I feel really loved.

Isn’t that why we are here ?

And when we feel Loved, we radiate more Love back out and keep the whole thing constantly a-flowing…

Like I said, Powerful Stuff.

I am going to use my Powers for good today.

And fill some more people up.

It doesn’t cost me anything at all.

In fact, I get paid back for giving it all away…

Ten-fold.

by Kim Mailhot

Since I read this I have been experimenting again, only this time with smiles. When I ride my bike to work and when I walk around in town and in the office I have been smiling at people. Yes, that is my evil plan to smile. :) and its working! People are smiling back.

Smiles all around :)))

Artistic Style

What does artistic style mean to you? Is it the subject you always draw? The media you always use? Or is it something more intangible? Hmmmm

Like success there are many different interpretations.