Take back your heart - Art Journal Page

This is a page in journal made from a mail art catalog I'd started over a year ago but hadn't finished. After seeing some of the lovely work in Suzi's October Art Journal Journey, I was inspired to join in. The theme is 'she art', which I had to research a bit --  'not sure if I got it right or not, but it was fun anyway -- along with the concept of feminine.

There are many directions to go with this theme. This lovely woman was already on the page and is very feminine to me, along with some flowers, because what could be more feminine than flowers? I started looking through a magazine for words and further inspiration, which lead to the discovery of this image of the earth in hand that I decided would look nice with the overall color scheme.

From there, came the challenge of tying everything together with the theme which somehow brought to mind these words from William Wordsworth: 

The world is too much with us; late and soon,

Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;—

Little we see in Nature that is ours;

We have given our hearts away,"

Using poetry in my art always makes me happy. Wordsworth wrote this poem in the 1800's and yet his words are perhaps even more relevant for us today than they were during his lifetime. The idea of reclaiming our hearts through a connection with nature seems very beautiful, peaceful and feminine to me. 

Thanks much to Suzi for hosting this challenge, and thank you for visiting my blog. I always love seeing the other beautiful artwork out there, and for your comments.

A Sadness in Late Summer

Let me begin by saying that I am not a poet. But this came to me on my morning walk a few days ago, so I decided to write it down. (warning -- it's a little depressing)


There is a sadness in this late summer day,
A brown leaf crunches underfoot,
An unsettling breeze stirs memories of cooler days.
Still, the hazy sunlight shining bravely through the trees
Soothes and envelopes
As I consider my father's failing health.
This glorious summer will come to an end.
Nothing lasts forever.

New Collages with Old Spanish Papers

I recently decided to push myself to open a shop on Etsy. As I am one to take baby steps and let the process of selling my art gradually unfold, I am not expecting overnight success there! I'm sure I have a lot to learn about what will sell, and how to sell it. There's a good reason I didn't study marketing or business in college. Anyway, I'm really enjoying surfing the shops there and discovering all of the wonderful items for sale. I do have to limit that activity, though, because it is easy to be tempted. I did buy some interesting 'vintage' papers from Spain there that I'm having a lot of fun with in my collages.

"Especial"
mixed media collage
4" x 6" on paper

"I Will Touch a Hundred Flowers"
mixed media collage
4" x 6" on paper

Many years ago, I spent some time in Spain, teaching English. It's fun for me to bring a little Spanish into my collages in this way. An old pink receipt brings in a beautiful splash of color, and the lovely words are from Edna St. Vincent Millay,

I will be the gladdest thing under the sun!
I will touch a hundred flowers
And not pick one.

Art Journal Pages: Fall is Here

Lately I've been making an art journal out of a mail order catalog because I can't seem to resist any new idea that comes along and this one looked like fun. It's actually turned out to be quite an undertaking!

 At the same time, I've been reading Pam Carriker's book, Art at the Speed of Life. What I love about her book are the practical strategies for making art a part of  everyday life. One of the projects of the book is a 7-day journal project, which breaks the process of making a mixed media journal page down into steps. I am more of an all or nothing gal who hates to stop a project once it's started, but it's been nice to try a more methodical approach and learn some new techniques at the same time.

Slowing down and only doing one or two steps a day has helped me to relax a bit, rather than feeling I have to frantically get something done while I have a chance. One day I did background painting, then on another day I added some image transfer and collage elements, and on a third day I added texture, and so on. It feels good to have a specific plan for how to work. Taking a break in between steps also gives me time think a little more about what I'm doing and come up with new ideas. I've also been using this idea  with various other in-progress projects as a way to hopefully get some fresh inspiration, move past my mental blocks and finish them.

I didn't really start the journal with a theme, but the change of season and beautiful leaves starting to turn are taking center stage. The lovely words here are from Emily Dickinson. If you're interested, you can read more about this page along with the complete poem in my earlier post.

Thanks so much for stopping by! I always appreciate your comments.

Into the Beautiful: Mixed Media Journal Page

As imperceptibly as Grief

The Summer lapsed away—

Too imperceptible at last

To seem like Perfidy—

A Quietness distilled

As Twilight long begun,

Or Nature spending with herself

Sequestered Afternoon—

The Dusk drew earlier in—

The Morning foreign shone—

A courteous, yet harrowing Grace,

As Guest, that would be gone—

And thus, without a Wing

Or service of a Keel

Our Summer made her light escape

Into the Beautiful. 

Emily Dickinson

Reeling, Through Endless Summer Days

Is it really September already? Where has the summer gone? August flew by in a blur and now, the kids are back in school, which means some peace and quiet and time to paint!

This piece is a combination of collage, image transfer (the sunflowers) and acrylic. The pattern in the lower part of the painting comes from a gel printed piece of sewing pattern tissue that originally looked like this:

The beautiful pattern in the print is from a crocheted doily. It was fun, and challenging to try and get the abstract and representational elements to work together in this composition. While I painted, I focused on layers of glazing to add depth and texture and I actually ended up painting over the flowers quite a bit to enhance the color.

 I started this piece, I'd been thinking about these words from Emily Dickinson's poem "A Liquor Never Brewed":

 Inebriate of air am I, 
And debauchee of dew, 
 Reeling, through endless summer days, 
 From inns of molten blue. 


 Lovely, don't you think?

I'd also like to remember my grandmother who passed away at the end of August, at the age of 102, quite an amazing woman! One of my fondest childhood memories is of her taking us to see the wild crocuses blooming in the spring. We lived pretty far north, so often the crocuses would be poking up through the snow! For her 101st birthday last summer, I made her this mixed media collage (blogged about here) to thank her for the beautiful memory.

I miss her, but I'm so glad she had such a long and healthy life, and that I could have her in my life for so many years.

Thanks for stopping by! Your comments are always very much appreciated.

Cherry Blossoms on Cardboard 'Canvas'

What's not to love about turning recycling into art? Yesterday, while participating in Paint Party Friday, and visiting Jean Zoss' lovely blog Bluebirds Living in the Meadow, I learned about Alma Stoller's tutorial on how to make a cardboard canvas. I'd been stockpiling chipboard for several months, with no particular plan, so I had everything I needed to get started right away.

The cherry blossoms are gorgeous looking out my window right now, even in the pouring rain and I love the words from John Koethe's beautiful poem, "The Late Wisconsin Spring".

What I Remember

It's so satisfying when a composition comes together quickly, but as we all know, this doesn't always happen. Today just happened to be one of those lucky days. I came home from work and had about an hour of free time on my hands. I sat down and briefly planned out my collage, beginning with the image of a prairie landscape as a starting point the overall composition. I kept the whole thing relatively simple and muted, in keeping with the lonely prairiescapes I love so much.

I wanted some poetry or words to go along with my image, and found this lovely poem entitled "Fields" by Daniel S. Barrett. It spoke to my heart and brought so many memories back from my childhood on a farm in North Dakota.

Fields

Fields in my youth are
what I remember the most
open, grassy fields
that rose and fell
with the seasons and
changed color
and housed all sorts of
creatures, trails and
football plays
lost baseballs for a time
and golfballs later
but stayed around
as friends
until they got
broken down and
shaved and manicured over with development
which never ends

I love integrating poetry in my work. It's one of the things I really love about mixed media -- being able to combine my love of words and literature with my art.

The button was on my desk, and seemed to be the perfect color, so I decided why not? I also stamped, using one of my homemade stamps to create some depth and texture. By dinner time, my little collage was finished.

Encaustic Painting

"Couldn't you just use the same griddle we use for food?" asked my practical minded husband as I was unpacking my newly purchased griddle to use for encaustic painting. My encaustic starter kit had arrived a few days earlier and now with griddle and heat gun in hand, I was ready to try encaustic painting at home. Last October I'd had the privilege of taking an encaustic workshop with Serena Barton in Portland and immediately fell in love with this medium. Even though I was somewhat hesitant to try it out at home, in the back of my mind, I knew resistance was futile.

So here is my first home effort.

Before the first layer of wax, I painted a watercolor background, and stamped with hand carved stamps. The butterfly actually began as a stamped image which I then layered over with paint, followed by some incising marks and rubbed oil paint. I also used some oil paint stick and pastel. Though you aren't able to see it, there is also a layer of collaged tissue paper from an old dress pattern with some pastel drawing in the bottom part. I love the effect of wax over watercolor! It creates a beautiful depth and luminosity to the painting.

And here is another one I did the next day.

This one includes some collage elements and image transfer. The haiku (that might not be a real haiku) collaged into the painting reads:

No one travels
Along this road but I
This autumn evening

Hence the subdued tone of the work.

So now I know I can do encaustic at home with very little mess or trouble. I don't have a studio (yet) so I bought a big plastic tub that the griddle with paint tins fits into, along with the heat gun and other supplies. When not in use, it's easily stored away on a shelf in the garage. In February, I'll be taking a class in encaustic locally to learn more about this exciting medium. I can't wait!!

A Sunny Day, A Sunny Collage

I started this collage with paper I'd prepared by rubbing a texture with crayon to create a resist. My first washes were in acrylic to prevent blending with subsequent layers. After that, I stuck to watercolor and gouache. What better poet to celebrate a beautiful day than Longfellow!

"Hope"

Hope
Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune--without the words,
And never stops at all,
And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.
I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.


Emily Dickinson

A mixed media collage series

I've recently been in a collage and mixed media frenzy! At first, I was primarily experimenting with techniques and materials, as some of them are new to me. Sooner or later, it comes time to take the next step and create some finished pieces. The following are a series of collages, loosely based on a lovely Emily Dickinson poem entitled "Hope."

I used 4"x 4" canvases, so these are definitely mini-collages. I used ink-jet image transfers for the bird images, together with a variety of other papers and paint effects. It was definitely a satisfying endeavor to move beyond exercise to creating finished collages!