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I was recently asked over on my Tumblr if I could upload some journal pages. So, I grabbed my camera this afternoon and snapped some pics. Some are in-progress, some are finished...I'm really exploring what can be put into a journal, and trying new things. A lot of these were done in the past few days...I'm really flying!
I also have blue paint on my leg. Yeah, I don't know how that happened, either.
I've also written a tiny bit about each. Check 'em out on Flickr!
Phew! Working on the netbook is the most frustrating thing of my day thus far. It takes FOREVER for things to load...it took 15 minutes to start up properly! But until my tech support arrives, I'm without my lovely, pretty desktop. *pets silent machine* I did take over one of my monitors so I can at least post; the tiny screen may be great for writing and surfing the net on the go, but the entry box for Squarespace on it is MAYBE three lines long...*sigh*
So, some quick updates and eye-candy are in order!
First! I made a little vid with the netbook. I don't have my editing software on here, but wanted to play with a camera angle so....here you go!
(I actually posted it on Saturday...after waiting an hour and a half for it to save!)
Second!
I've put two original paintings up on Etsy. I've been prompted, seperatly, by two friends to do this, so I'm closing my eyes and putting it out there and am forgetting about it. I'm trying to value myself and my artwork more and this is one way of doing that.
(roadblocks & strengths on Etsy)
(when our hearts are full on Etsy)
Third! I've been using my Tumblr as a photoblog, since it's super easy to snap and post from my cell phone (whereas Squarespace doesn't have an Android app yet!). I try to post once a day, something I'm working on or the view of my desk...stuff like that!
Here's the address again: Journal Girl Loves...
I'm kinda taking this time without the constant hum of my desktop running in the background to stay off the internet and really create. I grabbed a good book from the used bookstore, have my sliding door open, and just got a box of goodies -- a nice, big order from the Shoppe at Stampington. So this girl will be off creating and playing and relaxing. I call this Creative Rejuvination and often come back from such breaks with tons of new ideas and stuff to share with you!
I'll be back tomorrow with snapshots! For today, enjoy some yummy trims. Mmmm!
PS. If you need something from me, please send an email! I don't have my pretty organized mail program right now, so I will admit I'm behind on things! Don't feel like you're being a pest -- I appreciate the help so I can help you!
"when our hearts are full"
12"x10" mixed-media on canvas
My latest painting, three weeks in the making. I've already bought more canvases to keep going. This was a hard one to share, as I always want to live up to the compliments I've been given on past work. O.o
I just adore her. I gave her pink hair, which seems to be a trend of some kind with my work as of late.
What I can't believe is that I doodled this one while watching TV the other night! Who would have thought I'd be able to play around with a pencil in my journal and draw things that actually please me?
Not me!
So keep working, darlings! Six years ago, I was a college student majoring in TV production. And now, I'm living the artful life! It just takes determination, love, joy, and a spirit of adventure. You can do it! Promise!
And now, I'm going to take my own advice and get off the computer and get creating!
A BUNCH of new stuff I'm experimenting with!
1. Puffy Paint. I was wandering through Wal-Mart the other day, and saw the little bottles of puffy paint. I thought, "Why not play with these?" as they're only $1 each. Grabbed a black and white and have been doodling around things with 'em since. Near everything I've touched since then has gotten the puffy paint treatment.
2. Gems and Rhinestones. I finished reading the Crafty Chica's first book, Waking Up in the Land of Glitter last week, and had a sudden hankering to grab some gems and glue 'em down. What fun they are!
3. GLITTER. See above. Also, there's this invention called a Glue Pen; holy CRAP do I love this thing! I have the Martha Stewart ballpoint one, and daaaamnn. I'm gathering coupons to get the other tips at Michael's later this week!
4. Fiber Paste. I think I've posted about this before, but I decided to try it out on paper. It's SO COOL. Feels like (and acts like) rough watercolor paper.
What new things have you tried? Once you throw the "rules" out the window, there really are amazing new discoveries out there for your favorite craft products.
I had a post all lined up to publish yesterday, but when I was out with my friend at Starbucks, I was distracted by writing, and ended up not posting. Side Note: I really wonder what people think when they overhear us; our conversations are all fannish, and usually about the weird stuff we find online. Ah, well! I'll save that post for Monday because I've decided today is Watercolor Play Day.
This proclamation came to me quite suddenly, ie, Kass posted about her watercolors and let me know via Twitter, then encouraged me to get going. And then some other people started talking about watercolors, and I was like, "What the heck? Why not play!"
You see, on my birthday, I decided to go for it and buy myself something I've wanted for awhile but could never justify the cost of -- a compact set of Windsor & Newton watercolors.
The ones I have are for kids, and when you rub your hand over them, they're all chalky and uggg...and I wanted some nice ones to give me great colors, plus be portable enough to throw in my purse and accompany me to a cafe or restaurant (you mean you don't whip out your journal at the table? Some people call it anti-social -- I call it inspiration!).
Anyway, I had a coupon, so the set is mine. I spent that night trying to get a feel for them. I'm so used to acrylics -- fluids, more specifically -- so this is a new experience for me. I just think watercolors look beautiful, and really want to keep going and maybe go a bit bigger. Luckily, the paper I use in my journals has a great tooth that accepts the watercolors nicely, so we're gonna go collage and play.
Also, have a painting to finish. And more ink to spray. I love the weekends! Despite working on creative projects all week, the weekend's when I can simply play without any guidelines or deadlines getting in the way.
I spent the day giving my art journal some much-needed attention.
This is the girl I sketched last week, filled in with paint, glittery ink, and paper.
Pulled out some paper to collage, which I haven't done in even longer!
Also? Applying gesso with a palette knife? Fantastic!
This week's painting, in-progress.
Naturally, I had to knife some gesso in my journal as well!
And here's a beautiful reason to not clean off your stencils after each use. ;)
Points of Two is an experiment in journaling with myself and Roben Marie! Check out our archives to see the previous weeks' pages.
Our prompt for this, our final week, was where I want to go in 2011.
I’ve been working on a portfolio website for myself behind the scenes, and for that, had to actually gather together all 51 Points of Two pages to put into a single gallery. Seeing them that immediately, opposed to over the course of a year, showed me a window into myself I’d been missing. A glance, long and loving, at where I’d started and where I ended.
This whole project started innocently enough as a Facebook status update.
Yes, a little idea we both had, a way to chronicle the year and keep our journals in our hearts. We started with that one idea and ran with it.
It took a week to figure out the name.
robenmarie@xxxxx
Perspective Play...?
kiraboshi@xxxx
to robenmarie
I like it! I kinda want to work discovery in there now, though...
Roben-Marie Smith
to me
Okay...let me think about that as well.
Have you thought of any?
samie kira
to Roben-Marie
Nothing concrete. I have all these vague ideas floating around in my head...i just need them to snap together!
For example, words:
discovery
point of view
perspective
difference
common
artistic
another
distance
togetherness
exploration
They just won't come together as I'd like!
Roben-Marie Smith
to me
Hey!
Okay, I took your words and here is what I have. I am running out of steam with this:
A Common Difference
An Artistic Discovery
Distance•Different•Discovery
Artistic Perspectives
Artistic Explorations
A Distant Exploration
Points-of-Two: an artistic discovery
I want to start work on my page for next Friday, but wondered if you could give me a little more to go on for the theme? I know we chatted about the difference between our worlds right now, but I want to make sure I am on the same page.
samie kira
to Roben-Marie
whee! I like these two:
A distant exploration
and
points of two
They're lovely and just light a spark in me! Which do you like best? Now that we have contenders, I hope you're not getting dizzy from thinking. I'm sorry for being so...unable to articulate.
OH! I thought it'd be fun to start with the differences in surrounding....I could journal about all the snow and freezing cold, and you can journal about the loveliness of Florida, even in winter. Or we can do something more deep for the first one....such as what we'd like to accomplish this year, or a journal entry around our "word" for this year (all the talk of it has me picking my own!).
And then we were off, thinking up ideas, coming up with prompts from our days, things that happened, the unique perspectives of one woman in Chicago and the other in sunny Florida.
What Points of Two has taught me is that I can pull art out of anywhere. Somewhere in the middle, our prompts turned from situations and feelings to materials we could use. Our daily lives spilled onto the page as we experimented with things we’d never used before - I distinctly remember searching Wal-Mart for cheesecloth to use on a journal page, and wondering how I’d even attach it!
(I ended up loving that page, and it remains one of my favorite)
If our initial goal was to create a page every week for an entire year, our secondary one became showing new and experienced journalers that there isn’t one way to make a journal page. I love the dichotomy of our work, and yet find myself loving and wishing I could make pages like Roben. We’ve always admired each others’ artwork (which is key to a lasting, creative friendship, I think) yet retain our own styles when trying something inspired by the other.
There were weeks when we happened to journal about the same thing without knowing about it, weeks when we were finishing up pages the morning of (okay, that one is mostly me, and I’m working on it!). Weeks when we used the same colors or images but in vastly different yet appealing ways.
I think my idea of a journal page has grown and stretched through this project, as well as what can be used on one. Roben began this year creating digital scrapbooking items, and many of her pages are a hybrid of hand-made and computer-edited pages, something that really excited me and got me exploring a new world of digital art. She even took many of my Points of Two pages from the beginning of the year and turned them into art bits and photo mats for digital use.
As I sit here writing my last entry for this wonderful project, I find myself excited and charged by the idea of finishing a year-long partnership with a close friend, one I’m blessed to have in my life. To complete something like this is an accomplishment, especially considering its humble beginnings. Who knew a little update and comments could turn into not only a year of creative wealth, but an interview in the upcoming Artful Blogging and a feature in Art Journaling? We never thought ahead more than a few weeks, and when asked to be part of these publications were touched and humbled our little project - done mostly for ourselves, if only in a public way - garnered so much attention and comments from readers around the world.
Thank you for coming along with us on this journey. This isn’t the last you’ll be hearing from us, but for now, we’re taking a long overdue break on our Fridays for reflection and maybe, just maybe, a bit of TV time.
love,
Samie Kira
Points of Two is an experiment in journaling with myself and Roben Marie! Check out our archives to see the previous weeks' pages.
Wow! Week 51 already! Almost a year ago, Roben-Marie and I decided to do a year-long project together, as well as make sure we work in our journals at least once a week. Next week will be bittersweet!
But today, our prompt was "Life is ____," insert a color. Instantly, the colors of a sunrise came to mind, and I got to work on my page....
...and really didn't like it! So I made another, smaller one. Simple is better, I thought, and I wrote out how I feel instead of cluttering it up with paint and images that just weren't true to me.
Be sure to check out Roben-Marie's blog - she filmed her progress and posted the vid!