{points of two #44: between the lines}

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 Between the Lines. While Roben-Marie did a wonderful, colorful page with lines to write between, I went a different direction and journaled about my weekend.

My mom was feeling really under the weather, as was I. We we Sick enough to deserve the capital S. And while I was getting a bit better by Monday, enough to run some simple errands for must-haves (like food and medicine), she wasn't. And while she didn't say much, I had to read between the lines of what she DID say, or what she seemed to need, relying more on silent communication than words.

So I decided to follow that when creating this page.

Materials: Acrylic Paint, Copic Markers, Liquitex Ink!, Black Sharpie Poster Paint Pen

And here's Roben-Marie's page! Check out her blog for the story behind it!

I just ADORE her use of color here! Don't you? XD

{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. 

{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.

{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!

{points of two week #35: repetition!}

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 repetition.

What better way to achieve this than by using stencils? I grabbed a few and used them over and over again on this page. I also stamped a few times with a flower stamp, but as journaling and art is unpredictable, they ended up being completely covered by later layers (though I think you can see one of them over near the word Joy).

And yes, it's on a canvas "page." I'll admit it: I'm addicted. There's such a deeper connection with these canvas pieces, a truth I've never gotten far enough to reach before, and I'm both thrilled and scared. Which is healthy, I think!

Be sure to check out Roben-Marie's blog for her story!

{points of two week #34: number play!}

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, we decided to play with numbers.

I was reminded a few weeks ago that I do, in fact, own several sets of beautiful brass stencils, each set an inch or so apart, with letters and numbers that duplicate just enough to make signs. So when this prompt came up, I grabbed my box of 2” stencils, grabbed a bunch of random numbers, and started stenciling with my Copic airbrush.

Which is tons of fun. One of my favorite effects (and there are several) is being able to make graffiti with it. “Graffiti?” you ask. “You can do that with spray paint!”

And yes, you can! But the spray size on spray paint is perfect for doing so on buildings or other large surfaces, while our journal pages and canvases are much smaller. Airbrushing lets me get those awesome spray painted words at a smaller scale, meaning it looks awesome in a way I’ve never before been able to achieve.

This translates to the stencils, which I purposely sprayed off the edges of. I love that look — it’s almost like using a mask instead of a stencil.

Most of the numbers are going off the page. I like using letters and numbers as images, bits of added visuals that are captured for their shape, not meaning. By going off the edge, you not only add the illusion that something exists outside the boundaries of the page, but you purposely remove part of the recognized shape — yes, the brain can fill in the blanks, but you’re only guessing at that point. They’re no longer numbers, but bits of interrupted imagery.

Of course, I couldn’t pass up the jumbled set in the corner. Overlaying them in the same color has the same effect as running off the page. And why use numbers only when the # is also read as ‘number?’ I’ve been learning about making patterns through repetition with stamps, so I just went crazy with a discovered set of number stamps.

And do you notice the date is on here twice?

Overall, I love this page. The numbers add a certain degree of chaos, which is exactly how my brain feels today.

Materials: acrylics, scrapbook paper, copics, airbrush, pencil, pen, & stamps 

And Roben-Marie's page! Be sure to check out her blog for her story!