{points of two #41: hang it out...}

Points of Two is an experiment in journaling with myself and Roben Marie! Check out our archives to see the previous weeks' pages.

This week’s theme came from Roben-Marie - inspired by images of clotheslines she found online. What do we need to hang outside? What can we get out of our lives by taking that first step of hanging them within sight but out of reach?

I have all these feelings, stemming, I think, from childhood and an adolescence marked by learning limitation, of not being good enough even though I know I am. I was chatting about this with Dawn this week, and while I know intellectually I can do this and be all I want and do the work that is amazing, sometimes these old feelings, hanging on like barnacles, show themselves and take over everything.

There have been many changes in my life lately, and I’m learning to be comfortable with myself. Used to others with me, around me, to talk to and bounce things off to, I’m trying to navigate all this by myself. And yes, I do talk to my dogs!

And here's Roben-Marie's page! 

{points of two week #40: junk!}

Points of Two is an experiment in journaling with myself and Roben Marie! Check out our archives to see the previous weeks' pages.

This week's theme was junk, inspired by Roben-Marie finding a grunged-up post card in a parking lot. 

Seeing as I just moved, I don't have much junk floating around past receipts from the cross-country drive, I did my page about the help I've been getting from locals. At Jerry's Artarama, one of the cashiers drew me a little map to Tempe Sales, this amazing hole-in-the-wall interior fabric shop. I can't get over all the inspiring (and cheap!) shops in Tempe! 

In fact, there's an entire page in my journal filled with directions to stores both known (Michaels, Jo-Ann's) and unknown given to my by Dawn last week while we were out for Starbucks. So these are the things in the bottom of my purse that I treasure for the intent of kindness and excitement between artists behind them all. 

And here's Roben-Marie's page with the postcard. Isn't it fab? I love the lettering for junk!

Has it already been a week? Here's the BIG canvas as of this afternoon...

I'm almost finished!

There is one last thing I'd like to say today. 

I've been getting emails from people who participated in the Small Art Penpal Swap who never received art from their partners. Around 7 people have emailed me, and I get sad with each one. So if you haven't gotten anything or if you forgot or haven't sent anything out yet, PLEASE let me know (and tell me who your partner is). All my records are on my desktop computer, but I will do my best to figure this all out. 

{the experiments journal #2: liquitex ink!, fun patterns, playing with color}

Just a little more fun from the sunny desert! I go over Liquitex Ink!, paintings, and fun with color! 

I'll be putting paintings up next week. This week is for color study and play. Sometimes, your play and time isn't all about the finished product. I'm loving playing with color and thinking differently, and can't wait to try some new ideas out in my journal! This one's certainly getting filled with fun, and fast! 

As soon as my sewing machine arrives, I'll be putting up custom journals - both sewn and ring-bound - screenprinted fabrics, and little paintings. I cannot WAIT to get these ideas out of my head and into the real world!

{wouldn't it be fun to ... ?}

I've felt a metamorphosis of late, not only a shift in the colors I choose, but how I use them. I'm not talking about adding a new mix of colors to an approach already discovered, but using acrylics in a new way. 

Instead of doing washes, or random areas of paint with my hands, or applying fluid acrylics over collaged items, I'm going for blocks of color. There's no real method here, other than the thicker and more opaque the better; I choose a color almost blindly -- without forethought, not sight -- and apply it to the page. 

My journal has become key during the last week or so, a safe haven for me to experiment in, to make a mess, try new things, explore this new way of thinking. And I love that about my journal -- that there's no pressure, no reason other than to play and experiment. To make mistakes. I've gone through phases while working on these pages where I hate what's happening - that it's not going in the direction I want (and why am I bringing that kind of thought into it in the first place?), but I just keep going. 

A lot of it is fueled by this: "Wouldn't it be fun if...?" 

Such as: "Wouldn't it be fun to make shapes and then add white everywhere?" 

"Wouldn't it be fun to write over stenciled shapes?" 

"Wouldn't it be fun to add a bit of orange?" 

I can't even begin to tell you how freeing it is to approach art this way - with fun in mind, not the final product. 

And it goes past art. Such as yesterday's, "Wouldn't it be fun if we went to the dog park?" 

Or maybe, "Wouldn't it be fun to work on the floor?" 

"Wouldn't it be fun to have ice cream for lunch?" 

Try asking yourself questions with this approach, if only once today. Don't censor yourself, or allow your inner Grown-Up to hit the idea down. Just see something and wonder...

Wouldn't it be fun? 

The answer is a resounding 

YES. 

(Check out more detail photos of these pages here.)

{points of two week #39: the marvelous colors of fall!}

Points of Two is an experiment in journaling with myself and Roben Marie! Check out our archives to see the previous weeks' pages.

Hiya! Welcome back to Points of Two! We took a little break while I moved cross-country, but now we’re back and ready with new pages for you this week!

Our prompt was fall colors.

I’ve never been a huge fan of fall. In fact, I always grumbled when it came around because that meant summer was over and winter - a freezing, white, Chicago winter - was on the horizon. I really hate digging my car out and having to wear four layers and a hat and gloves and a scarf and…

But now I live in Arizona, where I’m pretty sure I won’t be seeing ANY snow, unless I drive up north.

Our route out here took us through Missouri, and I can’t imagine a more beautiful, temperate time to drive through the Ozarks. The trees were beautiful shades of gold, red, and fading green. The air cool but not cold. Out every window there was a rainbow of color, a blanket of leaves tossed over the rolling hills.

Color is what I observed most while driving, and I can see my color palette shifting, changing just as my surroundings have.



After almost a month of delayed art, getting back into art journaling feels weird. Like when you get home from a great vacation - you’re HOME, a comfortable, worn place, yet it feels like you’re still in that tropical dream, waking to the sounds of normality all around you…

And here's Roben-Marie's page!

Also, since I didn’t get to posting it yesterday, here’s a bit more progress on my painting. I may let it sit for a day while I play on some smaller pieces of loose canvas, but who knows?

{points of two week #38: monocromatic fun}

Points of Two is an experiment in journaling with myself and Roben Marie! Check out our archives to see the previous weeks' pages.

(week 37 was eaten by time. go here to see those pages.)

This week's theme was monochrome pages -- that is, using only one color & its various shades. I chose red...which made my page pretty pink!

I just did flocking for the first time!

Granted, I had to look it up on the internet to even figure out what it is — it’s those furry appliqués you find on cards and such (technically small bits of fiber applied to a surface, but that’s a boring definition!) — but then I did it myself and wow! It was one of those wide-eyed childlike moments when I pulled back the sheet and saw the result — WOW! That’s cool!

Working with only one color range is HARD! I wanted to bring in other colors so many times but resisted because the last time I worked with one range, I had a breakthrough and knew I might have another. I gathered all my red-range supplies and got working!

Things I’m having tons of fun with:

• Tinting/Coloring printed papers with inkpads. This is so much fun, and can add character to your printed scrapbooking papers! If the pattern’s awesome but the colors don’t work, tint it!
• Writing with light Copics. You can totally do this with any markers. See how it almost looks like I used a watermarking pen (that is, the writing is almost the same shade of the paper, maybe a bit darker)? That’s just a Copic that matches the page’s background. I’m in love with writing and then writing over the stuff to give it a more graffiti/messy look. I have a little tutorial (done in this style!) for how to do it. Markers are AWESOME!
• EYELETS! I’ve had these for years and never used them! Now, I’m having fun attaching papers with them. Also, stitching papers with the sewing machine FOR THE WIN!
• Stamps! This is all Ky’s fault. But I’m now using my stamps more on journal pages.

I’m just making a big ol’ mess, mixing mediums all over the page!

But this one has a deeper meaning, too! What happens when we enter a creative winter? That is, when we have less ideas or time or need to pull back — how do we get through this period with some of our sanity intact?

Mine isn’t a drought of ideas, rather, I’m losing the studio in a little over a week. Yes, I’ll have everything set up in my bedroom out in Arizona, but that’s different...this room has been devoted to my art, and has a certain feeling. I spend more time in here than anywhere else in my house (unless you count the hours asleep in my room, but even then, I don’t think I’m in there more than the studio). So how do I get through this period of time when we’re looking for an apartment and I’ll have limited access to supplies? How do I keep the fire burning?

I think part of the answer is to remember a fire sometimes burns down to embers, but is still producing heat. The passion remains. We just need to have faith that we can add kindling whenever we’re ready for those large, dancing flames.

And the lovely Roben-Marie's page, done with my favorite color (though not on purpose *g*)! Be sure to check out her blog for the story behind her page.

{is summer the season of possibility? then what is fall?}

I am really cutting it close, here, aren't I!? I don't like doing two posts in one day, so I want to get this one up before midnight so I can post my little essay on my experience working on the quilt today for tomorrow. And then Friday is Points of Two and then it's the weekend. Woohoo! We're in full-on packing mode here in the Casa de Kira (or de la? I don't know!), so my creative time is in-between purging closets, cabinets, and dressers.

[watch me create this page: 9/28/10 live vlog recording ]

Here's the finished journal page from yesterday's vlog. I only got a chance to work on it while watching the Daily Show as I spent my free time sewing!

I am really, REALLY in love with the look & feel of this page. And the fact that I didn't use ANY PAINT really gets me -- and shows me how much beauty you can create even with the most limited of materials.

And what the page says is true: I've never been a big fan of fall! It always meant the beginning of the school year and end of warm temperatures to me, the foreshadowing of snow to come. And so, whenever I saw decorations for fall/Halloween pop up in stores, I was like -- UGH!

While getting ready this morning, I realized the REAL reason I never was comfortable with fall. At the beginning of the summer, there's just so much possibility on the horizon -- so many plans you can make, places to go, experiences to be had. Commercials and ads show us beautiful people laughing while enjoying the outdoors and the company of friends. There simply are no limits to what can be accomplished during the summer.

And then, fall comes sweeping in on a cool breeze and we're back to our stable, normal lives. As if we can ONLY be spontaneous and fun while the sun is the hottest. While many people take vacations and go to exciting spots, I haven't been able to do so in a few years. Sure, I have picnics and see friends, but am always left feeling depressed as summer ends because I feel I never lived up to the season's potential.

As I'm packing up to move, though, I've finally become comfortable with fall. Maybe it's because where I'm moving to won't have the chilly fun snow time characteristic of Chicago winters -- you have to admit I'm fleeing to a place where summer may live most of the year, and maybe, just maybe, that means there's more room to have those adventures seen on the glossy pages of a magazine...

I do find myself loving the color palette, though!

{points of two week #36: pockets!}

Points of Two is an experiment in journaling with myself and Roben Marie! Check out our archives to see the previous weeks' pages.

Yep, pockets and pouches! I have these great half-moon enclosures and I love using them whenever I can. So I made one pretty and made a page pretty...

...and then realized I wasn't really into it.

Not making art. Just that I felt like I was going through the motions, doing what I have been doing, creating not a journal page, but working to make a piece of Art. So I had to step away and really think about what I was feeling and how I could get it out on the page.

The little tree stamp kinda helped me through it! So I wrote and glued things down and started doing things I haven't for awhile since I've been working on the loose canvas pieces. It isn't the best page I've made, or the most artistic, but I feel like something that's been stuck inside of me has begun to loosen, and isn't that what this is all about in the long run?

Here's Roben-Marie's page!