One of my favorite things to do in my art journals is abstract painting. Nothing is expected of me, and I can experiment all I like without any worry of the outcome. (I don’t ever actually worry about the outcome of any of my artwork, but it’s still nice not to feel pressure to make something pretty) The texture on these pages, I wish you could feel it because it’s what makes these pages really special. I love to run my hand over the roughness of all the layers.
29 Faces
I decided to go ahead and finish all 29 faces. I know I’m a couple days early, but I didn’t want to spread it out until next Wednesday, which will be well into March. Instead, I doubled up on faces for a couple days, and somehow got through it. Whew! After two months of participating in painting challenges, 59 paintings altogether, I’m very happy to be done.
Art journaling talky talk
I’ve been playing in my art journal with oil sticks, pastels, and chalk. Oh, and paint, too. I made a huge ugly mess. It was so fun. 🙂 I hope you’re taking some time this week to play, too. Let me know in the comments what your favorite art journaling tools are. I’m curious.
Last night I picked up some charcoal sticks, the fat square ones. I bought them more than a year ago, and haven’t used them much. Without planning to I somehow got lost in drawing for about an hour. It was a little weird. If you know me, you know I don’t like drawing. It’s one of my least favorite things to do, but I got swept away.
And, one final thing before I dash off..you’ve probably seen this photo before, but it’s so cute..hard to resist posting it again.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Love,
Harold and Maude
xo
Adjusting my sails
I’ve had the same cellphone for about 8 years now. It was just a phone. No internet, and although I could text, I didn’t all that often. Every text, incoming or outgoing, cost me 20 cents each. It added up fast, so I told everyone to only text if they couldn’t reach me by calling or email. The past year or so, the phone’s been dying a slow death. Towards the end, I had to leave it plugged into the charger all the time or the battery would die instantly. So, I couldn’t take the phone with me anywhere. It was like having a land line.
For years now I’ve wondered what I’ve been missing out on. I constantly saw people walking around with their faces buried in their phones, and I admit, I felt a little left out, and a tad bit jealous. I had nothing to do while waiting in line, except watch everyone with their phones, and feel like an odd ball.
dirt road at dusk
Last week I broke down, and bought a shiny new phone. Finally! It’s the latest greatest, Galaxy S5, if you’re wondering. Through T-Mobile it was only $600, plus a monthly fee, and a 2 year contract. Oh, and don’t forget about tax..another $48, and more fees, which will be tacked on every month for who knows what reason. Gah..living in the year 2014 isn’t cheap. It’s got all the bells and whistles though, calling, texting, and internet. Now I have something to do when I’m waiting in line. I like it. It’s okay, but I feel like I’m an old dog learning new tricks. Not technology-wise..that comes easy for me, always has. The problem I’m having isn’t with the device itself, it’s that my normal routine has been disrupted, and it will never be the same again. Like, I used to take photos with my camera, upload to my desktop or laptop, and from there, I’d write my blog posts, transfer photos to my tablet, and then upload them to social media. I had a certain order in which I did things, and it worked great for me.
Now, I’m taking the majority of photos with my phone or iPad, so I’ve had to reverse the entire process, and it feels a little awkward to me. Social media is first, and blogging is last on my list. I would much rather blog first, but I just don’t see me writing out blog posts on the iPad, and definitely not on the phone on that tiny keyboard. So. I am adjusting my sails, and hopefully will get this figured out soon. I’m sure after a few times it won’t feel so weird to me.
Sunflower on the kitchen window sill
The photos you see here today are all from the vault inside my desktop. I’m too lazy to transfer the new images from my phone and iPad at the moment.
**********
A really cool blog I’ve been reading lately is: hjartesmil She’s a Norwegian, living in London, a writer, a photographer, and avid traveler. She takes gorgeous photographs that always leave me hungry for more, literally.
Wearing their thoughts and emotions on their foreheads
Acrylic portraits
mini paintings on canvas panels
Wearing their thoughts and emotions on their foreheads.
I put my glow in the dark alien shirt on last night, and forgot about it, until I turned the light off. Then I looked down, screamed, and started to run across the room. haha Where did I think I was going? I wonder. hm..
black white, and red abstract
in my art journal
Pretty awesome video
Painting a portrait in oils by David Gray
I believe there is something sacred in art journaling
It took me a long time to really get art journaling. I knew a lot of artists I admired were into it, but it never really clicked for me. I’d do a page, and it felt awkward to me. How do you “journal” with paint and pictures, I’d ask myself over and over again. I mostly used my art journals for practice. I practiced a lot of mixed media techniques, especially when I was just starting out. It’s a lot cheaper to practice in a book than it is to buy canvas. If you mess up a page, it’s easy to rip it out and toss it (I don’t usually waste paper tho, and I just paint over or collage over it if it really bugs me). I practiced painting faces, and abstracts, buildings, and still life. I have books full on my shelves. Practicing seemed kinda of empty to me tho. There must be more to this art journaling than just practicing, I kept thinking.
It wasn’t until this past January that I started the almost daily practice of art journaling, and now I not only get it, but it’s been my go-to activity as soon as I arrive in my studio. It’s “me” time, and I don’t have to worry about anyone liking what I create because much of what I do in my journals never see the light of day. I don’t post it here on my blog, not because I’m ashamed of the pages I’ve created, but because I believe there is something sacred in art journaling. It’s okay to keep some things private. I think we’ve all lost a great deal of ourselves because of social media, and the amount of over sharing we do. Sometimes, the things I see on FB make me cringe. I feel like telling some people to get a grip. Seriously. Are we all that lonely and desperate for attention? I have to wonder, but that’s a topic for another day.
Because I’m not posting my pages or making art specifically to sell, I am free to create whatever I want. I just have to show up, and push paint, pastels, crayons around until..until I get whatever’s on my mind out..until I feel lighter..until I feel there’s nothing left inside me that needs to come out on the page. Ahhh. What a magical feeling that is. I get it! I totally get it now.
I suggest you try art journaling for 10 or 20 minutes a day. Set a timer, if you’re concerned about time, and begin. Let yourself be free. If all you feel like doing is making marks on the page, then make marks on the page. You can figure it out tomorrow or later. You don’t have to start a page and finish it right now. Try art journaling like this for a week, and see what happens. If you like it, do it for another week. Before you know it, 6 months will have passed, and you’ll still be working in your art journal every day, just like me. 🙂 It’s addicting.
Diva Pose
art journal page
Who’s doing this? Me? Or you?
I was asking the girl I was drawing those questions because most of the time, my art has a mind of its own.
39 second video for you
blind kitty Sweet Pea
If this isn’t a diva pose, I don’t know what is.
abstract art journal pages
I have an art journal I keep just for making abstract paintings. Sometimes, I don’t want to paint faces. Sometimes, I don’t want to paint anything that resembles anything at all, but I still want to make art. Sometimes, I just want to be free to do whatever I please.
the end
back cover
It’s finished now. I have another book to put on my book shelf.
Have a great weekend. I’ll see you next week.
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 11
- 12
- 13
- 14
- 15
- …
- 17
- Next Page »