Experiments In Color & Magic

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I find certain magic happens in those last minutes we're in our art spaces - when there's paint left on the palette that we just can't waste, paper we'd usually never use but have close by, when there isn't much time left and we want to squeeze out the most creative juice we can before playtime is over. 

If you follow my Instagram feed (or Facebook), you get a little peek into my process (and usually the mess I make while playing!); I take a LOT of pictures while working - to gain perspective on what I'm doing, to document the process so I can repeat it, and yes...to have blog photos!  

Anyway, over the next week, I'll be sharing the work I've been giddy over - stuff I look at when I'm done and can't help but smile. It's awesome when we create art journal pages we love, but it's brilliant when we can't stop making more!  

I decided to stick with a set color palette for two sessions. Why? To see all the different ways I could incorporate the colors! I wanted to see how they behave as part of my own little class on color theory and experimentation!  

 

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Here are the colors I used:

neon red/teal green/bright aqua green/yellow ocher/dark titanium white/white

Oh, and to paint with? Catalyst tools! Just the small and medium of the grey tools, and the blue wedge. That's it!  

Here are some progress shots of my first experiments with this all! 

 

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And here are two finished paintings! Final details were added with gouache & I pulled out the silver leaf! I was working on ledger paper and half-finished canvases in the studio...and don't be afraid to mess something up in order to keep playing! 

 

 

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Both are available, and I'll be making prints soon! 

Friday, I'll have more eye candy for you all!  

 

With One Palette (or Samie is a Cover Girl!

 

Today, I discovered, in my mailbox, the current issue of Somerset Studio with my name on the cover. It made me squee. And dance a funny dance on my patio, which caught the attention of a woman walking by, who smiled and said hello. I stopped dancing just long enough to greet her back, then went back to dancing with my dog. 

I can say that this art — these pieces created in a flurry of movement and paint — seems to mark the beginning of a huge shift in my creative life. I feel myself falling further away from things like my Smash book (that hasn’t been worked on in weeks) and how I used to journal, and diving into layers of paint and hidden symbolism. 

There’s more emotion and meaning to these pieces than the ones I’ve done before. I remember thinking, as I worked, “These mark the beginning of my Artist Self. All I’ve created up until now was practice, play, and experimenting. Now I am my True Artist Self.”

This shift has nothing to do with calling myself an artist — I’ve considered myself an artist for years — but more to do with being happy with what I create. I love all these pieces and can’t wait to get them back to hang in my own space! Yes, I love what I’ve done before now, but these — there’s technique and depth and spontaneity and emotion. The result of things I happened upon in my journals that I now used somewhere else. 

And I just fell in love with these colors! At first, I was afraid I’d be limited by only being able to use three colors (plus black and white), but found it opened a whole new world of experimentation and application. How can I create contrast? How can I use shades and white and a bit of black? How can I discover depth when I can only express myself with such a limited palette? 

But in the end, I learned a lot more than I thought I would! It was almost like a mini-class, all packed into one wild ride of inspiration, where each moment was jam-packed with instruction and discovery, both about my art and myself. I feel like these grew organically, rising from the first applications of paint, those wisps of idea that got me going; the piece on loose canvas, for example, was my “scratch paper,” where brushes were wiped off, stencils cleaned, and doodles were drawn when I was stuck….and yet it turned into a beautiful piece of its own, and one I simply adore! 

 

I’m thankful for the opportunity this article presented, and the art I’ve created since has been different and soulful and wonderful…at least now you can see where this new phase of artwork and journaling I’m dwelling in started. I’m super excited to share it here with you, both as a way to chronicle this time of major shift and growth in my life, and inspire you to create something wonderful and soulful, too!

I should have prints of these pieces up in my Etsy shop, soon (and I don't link there now since it's a barren (wasteland!). You can grab your own copy of Somerset Studio on newsstands now -- or really, really soon!

A Magic Toy on My Doorstep (lots of pics!)

Look at the beauty that arrived on my doorstep today! 

I’ve never bought a digital camera before — the one I’ve been using has been borrowed, and aside from my Bloggie, which promised to be great but has been a sore disappointment, I’ve used hand-me-downs and, for a few weeks, a gift that couldn’t compensate for my less-than-steady hands. Being able to not only purchase a camera, but a nice one for video recording and blog photos, well, I never thought I’d have enough to be able make such a big purchase! 

And the reality is, I have, in the past, but realize I’ve been a Money Hoarder, always worried that the moment I spend the money on anything large, it’d never be replenished. This is a definite lack of faith in the Universe or God or whatever you may believe, believing that God would gift you with funds one day and deny you the next. I don’t want to get into a discussion about my thoughts on such things, as they’re still deep in bramble patches full of thorns made from a past of illness and uncertainty, but I do believe that God has a vested interest in you as long as you have one in yourself. 

And I decided, in the swell of magic that’s taken residence in my life since the unbelievable generosity around the mini-class and the lives it continues to touch, that it was time to truly invest in myself and where I want to go. To stop making the little, safe choices, borrowing and cutting corners where I could and take that giant leap into this new path I’ve forged for myself. 

If I’m going to be filming one or two videos a week, pouring my heart into each, then it makes perfect sense to purchase a camera that would not only record beautifully, but allow me to see myself as I film (which, if you’ve considered using a digital camera of some kind, it’s kinda difficult!). It will make my work easier and cut down on frustration. 

But more than that, I believe it says: 

Universe, I am ready. I’m not ‘getting by’ and making it work — I am investing seriously in my future. I have declared my mission; now, I’m declaring my commitment. 

Here are a few shots from around the studio today. I’ve been taking it easy for the past few days, as my FMS has decided it wants to chill out in lounge clothes on the couch, so I decided to show you a few details from my new journal. I went ahead and bought a 9”x12” Strathmore Visual Journal (mixed media) as I love the smaller one they sent me a few weeks ago…and I really love this one, too! I don’t have to gesso pages and can still slather on the layers! 

I cannot stress how much my life has become magical after figuring out how to help you by helping — and being — me. Shifting my focus from simply teaching and sharing to helping and being myself has made everything so much clearer, and the world seems full of opportunity. Things just keep happening awesomely. So this new journal is a place where I dream of possibility and abundance. I want to be reminded of these things every day, each time I take out my journal. 

Okay, I’ll stop rambling now! Enjoy the pictures! 

(I'm transfering the sketch to the wood...fun!)

PS. I have a cool surprise for y'all this week, and so many projects and ideas to write down, I'll be busy for weeks! All things to help YOU journal your lives easier, and create beautiful art no matter how healthy, ill, moble, or tired you may be! 

A Happy Day Teaching!

Sunday was a fun-day, for sure!  

Due to a mess-up at the store, our class was small but it meant we could sit and chat as we worked! One was a returning student, the other a member of Journaling Deep! In-between lessons and me drawing on the white board (I felt like a real teacher with demonstrations, supplies lined up to match the steps in the project, and things to draw on that board!), we talked about art, life, health, and jumping outside our comfort zones. 

It is so rewarding, as a teacher, to be able to have an idea in your head & heart, one that you know will help people dive deeper into their creative life, and see that sparkle in their eyes when they get it. I am thankful for the small and understanding class that allowed me to find my footing, and pray that good ideas really do spread, and I'll be teaching larger classes in the near future (and certainly checking in with the store more often to avoid snaffus like what happened this week for SURE; I'm still miffed about the whole situation!). 

This was the first time I taught Paint, Play, Discover, but I can already tell this is going to grow and blossom in my own journaling practice and hopefully that of my little class!

Thanks to Marlene and Lisa for coming out and being so patient with me and my fibro-fog! 

(Because we were chatting, we ran out of time! Oops!)

(And here's a bit from my page that I've been working on here and there!)

And don't forget -- I'll be teaching Journal-Making Sunday, June 24th @1pm. We'll tour the store and learn about all the different types of papers, and make our own hard-cover journals/sketchbooks. Click here for more information!

The Liberating Joy of Paint Play

I filmed a video today, but had such fun creating these pages last night, I just had to post. 

 

While I’ve sat down to create backgrounds and paintings, I’ve never simply sat down to play with paint. Instead of being bright and blending things together, I decided to draw shapes, lines, swirls, scallops, and add a little collage. 

 

It was so liberating! 

I used to mix all my colors with titan buff or beige paint, muting them to vintage-like shades. I was the queen of pale pink and blue and green, of harmonious tones that looked like they’d been filtered by Earlybird on Instagram (a vintage, gold-layer filter). I slowly grew out of this, my colors brightening as my style morphed and changed. 

 

But for some reason, I was suddenly inspired last night to lay down several colors on one page, then another, then another, allowing myself to express thoughts and ideas in a new way. At least one new to me. 

 

I knew I was channeling a few artists as I worked, and maybe that’s where the initial spark came from; I’ve been ruminating on Austin Kleon’s new book, How to Steal Like an Artist. He recently posted a collection of twenty quotes that didn’t make it into the book, and one stuck out to me as something many of us practice but no one admits to. So I will. 

“If you think a man draws the type of hands you want to draw, steal them. Take those hands.” - Jack Kirby

Just visit a journaling group on Flickr or Pinterest or browse blogs, and you’ll see this. And this is how we learn. After three pages and a few hours of play, I realized that’s exactly what I was doing — picking and choosing the bits I liked created by other artists in the interest of Paint Play — so I moved on an flinched a few bits from one of my favorite artists, Carissa Paige (I even tagged her on Instagram to let her know that’s exactly what I was doing!). 

 

Do I care that I wasn’t being 100% original? Not really. I had such a great time. I love the pages I’ve started, the new things I’ve learned about myself, new ways I’ve figured to move my brush. I’ve re-kindled my love of muted colors, and hope to integrate them with my bright, lovely colors. I don’t know if they can peacefully co-exist on the same journal page, but I’m ready to try. 

 

Journaling is allowing yourself the freedom to take a chance and possibly fail. 

But you just might succeed. 

So your task this week is to say, screw it, open your journal, and do something you’ve always wanted to try but never thought would work. Or you would be looked down on for attempting. Or feel bad for copying. I give you permission. Good artists imitate. Great artists steal and make it their own. 

 

I’m sure these pages, while using a different color palette — one I haven’t used for awhile — will look entirely my own when I finish with layers of collage, drawing, and writing, and I can’t wait to see how they turn out. 

Excitement and discovery like this is exactly why I love keeping an art journal. 

 

Girl (with pages) In Progress

 

I was recently asked, and not for the first time, if I add the date to my journal pages. 

I do, once and awhile, but that’s usually only to help me figure out what order the journals go in when I’m going through them to track my progress or share them with friends and students. 

But it isn’t unusual to read a page about New Year’s before one talking about mid-December. My pages don’t go in linear order, one day, then the next. I don’t even work in order. 

Instead, I bounce around. Add a glaze on one page, a photo on another. Do scribbles with fabric paint, then go backwards and glue in collage elements. It’s rare that I sit down and start with a blank page, finishing the entire thing in one sitting. 

 

And I have way more fun this way!

Working randomly, adding little bits here and there, adds to the chaos of a messy page. Layers added over time — longer than an hour or two — means that things aren’t polished. Sometimes, things can feel too smooth around the edges, planning showing through. I love when a page just comes together, the sum of chaos its own beauty. 

What this means is that there are currently four or five pages in-progress in my journal. 

When I sit down to play, I page through, looking at the ones still unfinished, and work on whatever jumps out at me. If I feel like drawing with ink, I’ll turn to a page with a background free of too many added elements so the drawings stick out. If I want to color with shiny pens, I find one that’s nearly finished and just needs a few doodles. The work feels less forced and more organic this way. 

I used to do one a page at a time, in order, start to finish. There’s nothing wrong with that, and yes, at times, I’m inspired to sit and start with a blank piece of paper. But I’m pretty happy with my bouncing, non-linear workflow. 

 

Lately, I’ve added little watercolor pieces to the mix. When you’re low on energy or hurting, a waterbrush and little palette of paint can bring great joy, even if you’re just doodling (one of my favorite activities!). It’s a new artform I’m in love with, surprised with the beauty I’ve been able to create. And to think I never thought I could do watercolors! 

So here are a few of my pages in progress — do you have any? And when was the last time you showed them any love? 

 

Journal Page Mathematics

I wanted to show you how the journal page from yesterday’s post (which, if you haven’t read it yet, go give it a gander!) came to be. 

My pages evolve organically, with layers added in bits and pieces here and there until, finally, they come together. They’re not in order as you turn the page; rather, they are scattered and added to and get messy and come to be as they’re supposed to. 

I may not have a particular thought in mind until the final push — a collection of layers, created from the cast-offs of other pages and projects being worked on, will, suddenly, call to me the same way you see a face in the grain of a wooden door, a dog in a puffy white cloud, or Mary in the center of a tomato. In the slant of sunlight or the shadows of a lamp, it all magically becomes clear in a way I’m sure the Divine always saw, but I needed time to see. 

Which is a very positive and together-sounding way to explain my process. My students have been asking me why I make the decisions I do while doing art, and I had to come up with something.

Allow me to walk you through the evolution of a journal page. 

 

 

I used this page to test a doodle foam stamp I made for Journaling Deep. It worked alright (this is before I discovered GAC 100 and its magic properties for making brayered stamps work better).

 

Not pictured: I decided to see if my soft pastels would work the same way my charcoal does, ie. using erasers as drawing tools (I have several erasers, now, and blending stumps). It didn’t. So I covered the page with bright, dreamy colors and then let it get all funky because my fixiatif was in my car. 

 

I then decided I couldn’t really do anything with a page covered by pastels and painted over them with gesso. This is when I started to get an idea of what I wanted to write/journal about — I’d been listening to Sara Bareilles in the car and there was a lyric I wanted to do a page around. This is about the same time my Leg Pain became my Leg and Arm Pain and I stopped being able to sleep (still unresolved). 

I knew I wanted a representation of myself, and didn’t want it to be an illustration, per se, but a drawing with a nose. So I hopped over to Tam’s Fabulous Faces course and watched the first video — it is an amazing class, by the way! I wholeheartedly recommend it. What’s even more amazing is even though I followed along, my work looks different than what she drew. That’s the mark of a great teacher! 

 

I painted the face with acrylics and watercolor crayons, leaving the rest of it white. 

 

I remembered a page I’d done recently that transformed a bleh page into one I loved, so I borrowed the ink writing and Cobalt Teal, as well as the lines of dots I’d done on there. 

This is am important step to cultivating your own mark — instead of sitting down to find inspiration online or in a magazine, look back through your journal for bits and pieces you can transplant and refine on a later page (I’ll be offering a short course on pushing through your creative roadblocks next week if you want to learn more about this whole process!). 

 

By the time the page was finished, the message had changed from one of anger to one of positivity and hope. And that, my darlings, is the transformative power of visual journaling. 

 

 

If you’re not on my mailing list, I’d suggest hopping on; as I go through this transition into creating a more aligned business and life, I’ll be posting to the mailing list more often and offering beta-test opportunities for my new offerings.