Gelli Printing Newbie

My friend Kelley Walker over at One January Day loves her printing plate from Gelli Arts so much that she teaches classes. I couldn't take them cuz of tax season so last week when I was being super lazy, I mean, recovering, I watched a bunch of videos on their site and decided I absolutely had to have one. So yesterday I went to My Heart's Fancy and bought one. Here are some results.

 

The above were made using a stencil from Tattered Angels - the first one was with the stencil on top of the paint on the plate printed on a magazine page, the second was printed on a map after the stencil was pulled from the plate, and on the third one I brayered the painted stencil on top of another print (pink paint that had been stamped into).

But my favorites are what Kelley calls Messy Seconds (watch her video) and what Gelli Arts call Plan B.
love, love, love the grungy look
like doors with tons of layers of paint wearing off - but with subtle patterns in them

Naturally, there's a mess to clean up.  But everything fun is messy.

 

Not sure what I'll do with these little gems.  Art journal pages (ah yes, something else I haven't done in forever) or parts of a collage or maybe the handmade books we're making in art group.  

But I do know I'll be pulling this out again.  And again.

ps ~ it's good to be back

forgot one!

this is a journal page I did 10/26/2011 and forgot to post

paint & gesso on Venus

a little old tissue paper from Starbucks

splatters of pearlescent inks

line drawing & coloring

poured out feelings written on top of each other

and more gesso to hide them further

bored bored bored bored & a little lonely

Patrick has a huge deadline tomorrow with his biggest building yet so I don't see a lot of him these days. And while I love, love, love the art time, I do get a little bit bored & lonely all by myself.

Just how bored?

Well, I cleaned out the freezer, I tried to start a Tumblr art blog, I talked my daughter into gutting one of the guest rooms with me, I started a new non-art blog, I redid two pieces of art and started a few more, I've posted every day to at least one of my blogs, I started a new book (reading, not writing) and I went by myself to see this movie.
By myself.

And if thats not enough, I then made a journal page about it!!!!
 
I started with a CitraSolv paper in really pretty pastel shades with what I believe was at one time a hummingbird on it. When I started to journal on the page, I discovered that not every pen works on a CitraSolv page. I finally settled on Sharpies and PrismaColor.

Next I slapped on some scraps of handmade papers and my favorite tissue paper. 

And then I decided to gel transfer the movie picture on top.  I've never transferred onto paper before but I expected it to be fragile so I coated both sides with medium prior to attempting the transfer.  Well, I was wrong, it wasn't fragile.  It was super-fragile!  As I started to scrub off the paper backing, the magazine page started to tear so I had to leave a lot of the white fuzz on there.

And that led to a nice discovery ~ the white fuzz absorbs watercolors (I used Twinkling H20s in the same colors of the original CitraSolv paper) beautifully.  Since I'm working on another collage with a transfer at the same time, I'm going to use the watercolors on its white fuzzies too.

I bet all the world's best discoveries came becuz somebody somewhere was really bored one day.  Okay.  Maybe not ALL and maybe not THE BEST (after all, I know some people worked really diligently to get us medicines and electricity and other wonderful things) but certainly some really cool artsy discoveries were made this way!

Zentangled Sherry

Wasn't feeling too well the other day so I sat on the sofa and doodled zentangled.  As usual, I got tired of doing it long before it was finished.  So many people find this relaxing but it is so structured that I feel pressured to be precise in a way I'm not when I actually doodle.  Do you like zentangling?

journal experiment

I was just a doing a little scribbling and doodling on a pre-painted journal page when I decided to melt some beeswax onto the page just becuz it was there on the desk.  After adding crayon, I wrote a little bit with a Sharpie Paint Pen.

But you could read that and the page was a little sticky so I took a scrap of white hand-made paper and lightly fused it to the page, resulting in a lovely, ethereal quality.

I just love experimenting in beeswax!! I'm really looking forward to teaching a class in it too. I can't imagine anyone walking away from it NOT hooked to the medium! If for no other reason than the way it smells.

This changes everything

Let it change me

I Then Shall Live

By Gloria Gaither & Jean Sibelius

I then shall live as one who's been forgiven
I'll walk with joy to know my debts are paid
I know my name is clear before my Father
I am His child and I am not afraid
So greatly pardoned, I'll forgive my brother
The law of love, I gladly will obey

I then shall live as one who's learned compassion
I've been so loved I'll risk loving, too
I know how fear builds walls instead of bridges
I'll dare to see another's point of view
And when relationships demand commitment
Then I'll be there to care and follow through

Your Kingdom come around and through and in me
Your Power and Glory, let them shine through me
Your Hallowed Name, oh may I bear with honor
And may Your living Kingdom come in me
The Bread of Life, oh may I share with others
And may You feed a hungry world through me

This page was made from a cigarette ad that said "this changes everything". I gessoed and sprayed it awhile back with all the other journal pages I started. While looking for a page for today, these words jumped out at me. This did indeed change everything. Have a blessed Good Friday and a glorious Resurrection Sunday ~ Sherry



Vision

This morning I was looking thru my old poetry to find something to write on a current collage when the vision of my life just crystallized perfectly AGAIN in my head. 

As with so many of you, it is my dream and my ambition to be a full time artist.  But is it what God wants for me?  Did He open my eyes this morning or was I just wishing?  To pursue the dream seems so very selfish (after all, this isn't as noble as MLK's dream!) yet I know I'm better to people when I'm following this path.

Here's what the above journal page says:

I saw again the vision

Of how my life should be

Of how the art flowed from me onto paper, canvas

Of words and paper

Of timeless, no, time-free immersion in my art

Of a life spent as I've spent only moments until now

Of being me all the time, unencumbered by financial constraints & concerns

Of me loving & living my best

Of being a temporary vessel allowing art & words

             to flow thru me

hmmmm, maybe I'll go write that on this art piece

Great Weekend

I had the BEST kind of weekend - I got to spend it arting.

I'm trying to get a piece ready to submit to the OKLAHOMA FRIENDLY show

but I can never do just one thing!

So I did background prep on a LOT of journal pages (above)

and I worked on two pieces for my art group and two other canvases.
The piece for the show is the one on the bottom right.

This is how I left these yesterday morning when I went to work -
piles on the floor and incomplete pieces on the desk.

In addition to arting, Patrick and I went to a FUN party Saturday night -
I  just LOVE to dress up in a costume!

AND
I sold a piece of art!
I'm telling you it was a GREAT weekend!!!

There was no art yesterday since it wasn't just Valentine's Day
but also our 20th anniversary of loving each other.
I can hardly believe how lucky I am to have him.

Hopefully I'll get to work some more on these tonight.

If not, I'll at least pick up that humongous pile of painted papers off the floor ~
last night I did move them from the hall to the studio at least!!!

I'll share more pictures of these as they get done.

Thanks for continuing to drop by ~ Sherry

Gratitude

Thirteen years ago, I read a book about getting what you wanted out of life thru the use of all sorts of visualization techniques in all sorts of journals.  At the time I was working full time with two kids under 15 so I decided that if I did everything she suggested I wouldn't have time to pee let alone become a highly respected artist.  But I did take one idea away from the book - keeping a gratitude journal.

And that gratitude journal changed my life.  It sounds a little melodramatic, but it's true.  It changed my relationships with my family because I was focusing on all the good instead of the day-to-day - and cuz I was no longer complaining about my job in every conversation.  And it changed my relationship with God because I realized if I was thankful, I must have someone to thank. 

I made up pretty little journals and gave them to friends.  I gave simple little books to everyone in my family and to everyone in my women's group from church.  I don't know if anyone ever used them or if using them changed their lives.  I just know how important it was to me.

After reading a friend's blog this morning about things she's thankful for, I wondered where my gratitude journal was.  It was right in front of me but the fact that I wondered let me know that it had been far too long since I'd written in it.  Sure enough, two years.

Life is hard and times are tough for most of us much of the time yet I still have so much to be thankful for.  It's human nature to talk negatively more than positively as anyone who deals with the public can tell you - or anyone who's turned on the TV prior to the elections. And I'm no different - when I don't spend enough time reflecting on the good, I lack a certain graciousness in my speech and actions. 

So it's definitely time to write about all I'm grateful for:

my husband

my kids

my parents

my home

good friends

time to do my art

steady contract work the last two years

getting almost out of debt

the blogosphere

etc, etc, etc.....................

(the picture of my family is an oldie - it's hard to get everyone together at the same time these days)

My Artistic Conundrum

I'm an artist.
I want to be a successful artist.
I take the Classes.
I read the Books.
I go to the Conventions.
I follow the steps.

I burn out.
I vegetate.
I watch way too much TV.
I read mysteries & magazines.
I ignore the studio.
I ignore my friends - artistic or not. 

I wake up a little & look around.
I realize I haven't made art in awhile.

I enter the studio & see a mess.
I order paper trays & drool over storage bins.
I reorganize.  Again.
I make a new list.
I read inspiring blogs.
I still make nothing.

I know I MUST create more art.

I must create it for my peace of mind.
I must create it because I need a large body of work to be successful
.........(whether for gallery representation or licensing).
I must create if I'm to bring in money doing what I love - and
I must bring in money.

So why don't I?
Am I lazy?
.........afraid of failure?
.........afraid of success?
.........afraid of not being enough?
Or am I just tired of trying for so long and still needing to keep on?
Has it become a job instead of a passion?  And a low paying job at that?

Do I need to know?
Or just do?  (channeling Yoda there)

I pour out my heart on the front & back of a pre-painted journal page.
I pour out my heart on a computer screen.
I paint over the page in broad strokes of multiple colors.
I rub black charcoal around the edges.
I scribble on top of it all with a good old number 2 pencil.

Time slips away.
I am making some art.

Change

I think I may have mentioned that I'm currently making a lot of changes, in several areas of my life (my online presence, my art-business, my career - not to mention my youngest will graduate college soon so my empty nest will be even more empty).

Change itself doesn't scare me - as you can tell by the 83 gazillion hair-styles I have had (I'm having another birthday this week.  However, I want to be sure that no one will ever be able to tell how old I am because I wear a hairstyle that screams which decade I went to high school or college!!  hehe) or the number of times I rearrange the furniture.

But the ramifications of change can be paralyzing.  Hair grows out.  Furniture can be moved again.  But quitting your day job to pursue your art?!?!?  Are you nuts?  What if you don't sell anything and you end up living in a cardboard box?  What if you sell so much that you can't keep up with demand?  Okay, that last one is not one I've actually had, but you get the idea: 

the thought of change invokes fear.

A fellow artist-blogger wrote about this today.  The fact that she was able to step out of her fear long enough to throw it out into the world says a lot about how much she really wants to make this change.

"I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the Triumph over it. The brave man is not one who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear." - Nelson Mandela

"Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go." - T.S. Eliot

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepset fear is that we are powerful beyond measure...We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you NOT to be? Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same." - Marianne Williamson

When I post next time, I'll write more about facing our fears.

All Emotions

In our online class a lot of time has been devoted to facing all of the "negative" emotions that come with being a creative person and/or running a business:
* the fears (I'm not all that special.
Who do I think I am?)
* the overwhelm from wearing so many hats (this is my biggie)
* frustration when things don't go as planned
* the discouragement from lack of sales or rejection at a juried show
* and so on and so on (you know what they are - feel free to share yours)

So, what should we do with those fears?
* acknowledge them
* look closely at them
* deal with them (cry, discuss their validity, meet with a mentor, relax with loved ones)
* move on even if the fear is still there (fake it til you make it)

Now, I've always been pretty darn good at dealing with my emotions.  Pretty self-analytical (one ex-husband said "You think too much" - and yes, that means I've had more than one - now THAT would be a long post!!!). Refute the negative tapes that play in my head as Dr Phil says. Do something different if I need to for awhile. 

Except for one emotion. FRUSTRATION. And yesterday was one of those days.

So what happened in my creative life that led to this frustration?
Nothing!
I was frustrated becuz of a class at the YMCA.

You see, in addition to taking a class from Kelly Rae Roberts, signing up for The Creative Connection and reorganizing the studio supplies, I have also reduced my diet coke intake, improved my eating habits - not PERFECTED, but improved - and started exercising - including joining the Y with my husband.  (Yes, I have been dealing with overwhelm as well.)

Being the self-analytical person that I am, I KNOW that I do not do well with routine so I like to mix it up.  That plan is going fine except for the Body Sculpting class.  Yes it's hurts like heck but I expect that so it doesn't bug me.  So what's the frustrating part?

 I HAVE NO BALANCE AND I AM TOTALLY UNCOORDINATED.

I have no idea why this is shocking to me.  I grew about 83 inches in 7th grade and it seems I never did learn how to deal with these long arms & legs (otherwise, these are NOT a curse, mind you).

My normal way of dealing with frustration is to give up.  Which I decided to do - not just give up the class but everything else.  Where's a Popeye's?  I need some seriously fried chicken, biscuits, red beans & rice.  

Instead,

* I looked at it.  I need to do this class and of course I'll be a klutz.  So what?  Maybe I'll get better (this was only my second ever class in my life).  Maybe I'll never be able to move my leg left and my arm right and pulse into a squat at the same time but I will definitely be using previously unknown muscles and getting a great cardio workout.

* I dealt with it - I called Patrick while near the Popeyes.  I cried.  I stood in a hot shower.  I journaled about it.

* And I'll fake it - next Thursday, I will enter the torture chamber again.  (I think they Sculpt us with chain saws!  Rusty dull old chain saws.)

N OW, about this journal page.  Finally found some Sharpie oil-based paint pens - new display at Michaels - and bought a silver fine point to experiment.  I'd been reading that art journalers love them cuz they write on everything and

I LOVE IT!

I doodled on an existing background and journaled out my frustration on the back.  As usual, the metallic doesn't show up on screen that well.

Oh, and the last thing I did to deal was to come to my community for support - the biggest way to deal with all these emotions  is YOU.  Feel free to share your struggles in return.  Believe me, I can relate.

~ Sherry

Dream Big

I mentioned a couple weeks ago that I'm taking Kelly Rae Roberts' online class FLYING LESSONS. Well, between that, reorganizing the studio and ongoing new-house projects, I am OVERWHELMED!!! It takes so much time just to do the reading, let alone the implementing!

But the class is full of great tips on growing an art business. And that really is my goal.  To make a living with my art - maybe thru licensing, maybe just selling originals, teaching some classes, maybe having a book.  So yesterday I did a journal page reflecting those big dreams. (We've been talking about copyright in class so I have to say I have no idea what magazine I got this image from - it was already torn up - and I don't think I've altered it very much. I hope since it's for my art journal I'm in the clear but...)

Also, I'm going to attend THE CREATIVE CONNECTION EVENT in September. Are any of you going? I sure would like to meet up with someone I "know" ~ Sherry

Another OOPS!!

I found a beautiful image at The Sum of All Crafts (always very cool photos there) and, as I mentioned in my rambling post yesterday, decided I was going to try transfering it to beeswax.

Well, it didn't work (guess I could go pull out some of my art books and verify the instructions) but I ended up with this beautiful image. This is the back-side of the paper; after melting the wax, the picture printed on the other side came thru.

When I saw this beautiful, ethereal image I decided to do an art journal page, the first in a long time, about how in art and in life our mistakes lead to interesting discoveries, happiness and great achievements.

Using photographers' black-out tape and tiny staples, I attached her to the page. Then I painted around her with some metallic acrylic paint I was using in another project, added dots and words with Sharpies Poster Pens (they write on wax easily - actually they write on just about anything) and applied a little PanPastel to the edges. Finished off by writing OOPS! at the top with some of that glitter fabric paint that comes in a tiny squeeze bottle.

Here's to us all having great results whether they're the results we expect or not.
In our art.
In our lives.

linked to the beeswax challenge at LOTS TO DO

Saturday

Yesterday it snowed here. Normally I would complain about this but since I got to stay home from work and play in the studio, I loved OKC's first day of spring.

I did some experimenting with CitraSolv which I'll write about in a couple days. And I used one of the pages to create the journal page you see here. Nothing elaborate, just an interesting background followed up with some irridescent orange paint, clear gesso, journaling and finished off with a generous spray of pewter Shimmering Mist.

Here's what the National Geographic page looked like after the CitraSolv, covering up some text with white gesso and pouncing on some gold acrylic paint (click to enlarge - feel free to copy the enlargement for use as a background):

And here it is with some irridescent orange paint and the journaling:

I also worked on a couple of other pieces - experimenting, gluing, painting and more. I'll post pictures when they're done.

I've had a great weekend - hope you did too ~ Sherry

I'm still here

I've been squeezing in some play time here & there and actually found time to journal & scribble this morning.

When I was experimenting with CitraSolv the other day, I thru some book pages into the inky puddle that had collected. That's what made the blue/purple coloring on this old journal page. Then I decided to use my white Sharpie Paint Pen becuz it writes on anything and CitraSolv paper has an interesting hand. Anyway, the paint pen worked but in a kinda faded way. Next I sketched a quick little face with pencil and added some Memento ink direct-to-paper - the greenish colors.

OH! I just realized these colors look like a bruise. ICK!! Oh well, that's not a comment on how I'm feeling - just what was nearby!

I will write more later about all my CitraSolv experiments - probably after tax season. In the meantime, I wanted to let y'all know that I am at least getting a few moments here & there in the studio ~ Sherry

ps - anyone know how to put the trademark symbol in here? I really feel like I should have them after all these name brands I listed.

19 Years

I love you Patrick.

I'm Iced In!! What Fun!!

I'm iced in today so I get an extra day to play. YAY!! I'm working on the pendant for Nancy and a collage for my friend. Both of these have involved lots of experimenting. And I've learned a couple of things so of course I had to make a journal page about it!! The generousity of other artists never ceases to amaze me. Specifically today I want to thank

• Silke gave some instructions on image transfers on her blog and I decided to try again.
• Dankartistry on Etsy was kind enough to answer a question I had.

Thanks to everyone so willing to share. And thanks to all of y'all for stopping by ~ Sherry

Drawing Faces

I have been seeing lots of faces on lots of blogs lately and it made me want to try my hand at them again.

Not bad. Kinda long/skinny. This is done with pencil and sharpie.

Now I need to learn how to do the pretty coloring that so many others do. I've tried oil painting faces before and, quite frankly, not so good.

I noticed Martha Lever has been trying color pencils. EEEEEEK!!!! I really am not good at using those all by themselves - I don't know how to do all the blending necessary to get depth/dimension. When I have some time, maybe I'll find an online tutorial.

Someone else did some beautiful, realistic faces with acrylic paint in her journal - I'll have to hunt that one down again.

Anyway, just a little sketching while relaxing in front of the television after a day of taxes. (I also do Sudoku while watching TV but that's not all that interesting to talk about! lol)

I'll be back as soon as I can - I have another piece I finished last week that I need to photograph again and post.

Thanks for stopping by ~ Sherry

Completed Art Journal

I finally bound my journal for 2009. I know a lot of you work inside a pre-made journal, but I work on loose pages and bind them with my Zutter Bind-It-All at the end.

Why loose pages instead of a pre-made book? Mainly becuz my journal is more than just my art pages - I include other things that I don't necessarily want to glue down:

• I like the freedom to use any paper I want when I'm art journaling. Sometimes I feel like using big paper. Sometimes I feel like using ledger pages. Sometimes I use prepainted papers. Sometimes I close my eyes and grab.
• I tend to write things down whenever they occur - which isn't always when my art journaling supplies are with me. Sometimes I sketch. Sometimes I make notes about an idea that's popped into my head. Sometimes I journal my feelings about a particular situation. I want all these in my book.
• I print out my blog entries. Most people probably don't do that but my posts are records of how I did a particular piece and/or what I was thinking about at a given time and therefore journal entries in my opinion.
• I photograph or scan everything I make* so I can put it on the website or blog or Etsy or all the above. So I print out those for my journal too. Then I can see where I was on my art journey at a given time.

After I have enough pages, I put them all in order and bind them. My friend Roz has given me a bunch of old World Book Encyclopedias so I gut the pages, gesso, Modpodge, stamp, paint, write on the covers and glue the last page of my bound "signature" to the inside of the back cover.

I love the way the journals look like books from the outside but all the pages are different and "messy" on the inside. Hmmmm, kinda like me?

So, what do you think? ~ Sherry

* I also photograph or scan my art at various stages - especially while working on the backgrounds. I can use these later as backgrounds for journal pages or other pieces of art - and hopefully as parts when I finally learn to do digital collage.