Studio work for July 2021 week one

 Had a lovely time printing out graphite drawings on my gel plate.

Journal Pages

Just a few Pages I am working on,,,,

Art Journal Part 2

I have my art journal already to take on our next camping adventure. We are going to be camping at Jamaica Beach RV resort in Galveston  for a few days.

I made up the signature for the book from drawing and mixed media paper combined with gelli printed and tea died card stock and sewed it in the cover with a simple pamphlet stitch. Then I glued in a few illustrations from the original book, I left a lot of space blank for doodling and adding art later.

I covered the book with gelli print paper and added the little man from the book and an elastic closure with a lampwork bead.

I am so looking forward to using the book on our trip.

I 

Starting New Nature Journal

So I found a book at Goodwill that is the perfect size to make a little art journal to fit in my purse to take camping with me. It is about 8 and 3/4 by 7 and 1/2 inches. 

It is a children's book in Spanish with damage to the inside cover and writing on a few pages but the spine and covers are intact. As you can see it has lovely illustrations that I will keep for inspiration.

I took out the pages and planned on making one register with mixed pages of watercolor, drawing and mixed media page from these pads.

In the end I decided the water color paper was too thick so I left that out and added some graph paper.

I made the graph paper just a bit smaller than the pages. The pages are 8 by 14 folded so they fit way beneath the book cover. I may add some envelope or pocket pages before I sew it to the spine.

 

I glued some printed tissue to the inside covers that I plan on decorating later.

This is where it is right now. When it dries I will get the pages sewn in and leave the cover to decorate last.

Dollar Thrift Store Journaling Treasures

 I keep seeing people on YouTube making incredible DIY projects with things they found in the Dollar or Thrift stores. I thought well they must have better dollar and thrift stores than I have in my little Texas town.

So I decided to buck up and give myself a challenge to make a travel journal out of found objects and Dollar and thrift store finds. I went today and was amazed that I found a few items that I could use to get started. I am thinking of doing a video and uploading it to YouTube to record the process. So here are the items I found today.

A rubber matt to use as a stencil, 3 stencils, butterfly and leaf embellishments, drawing paper, photo paper and two large rubber erasers to carve into stamps. I plan on going to the Goodwill and Thrift store tomorrow to see what else I can find. This is going to be fun.....

 

Crafting Toward a better reality during a pandemic

I think many people are having trouble coping with this Covid 19 disaster. I think the artists and crafters who are used to going inside themselves for inspiration and have learned to dig deep and unfortunately spend a great deal of time alone mulling things over do not get off any easier than the rest of the lot. If anything they may have it worse.

I have been neglecting my creative side during this time but the fall approaching I will not allow it to continue, The studio is pleasant and inviting when it is not 100 degree out there and I find I need to get going again.

I am going to download a few photos of the work I have done in thenlast few years to show I have mqde some progress if not much.

Having Fun with My New Bead Stash

I am having so much fun with all the new beads and finding I got from the Houston Gem and Jewelry show last weekend.

The stone beads are the most fun but I also like the glass pearls and shaped glass beads I picked up.
I wish I had got more floral beads but there are always regrets when you get home.

Thrift Store Heaven

When I die I want to go to the big thrift store in the sky. I love the ones they have around here.I just scooped up two end tables, two magazine racks and an old wicker chair with a cushion for 9.79. I mean really...that was a steal. Of course they do need a little TLC but then don't we all.
I have been collecting board books to use for my art journals. My latest experiments include using black gesso to coat the pages. I like the fact that it is one coat coverage but I am not that fond of the look when you do not paint over it. Everything you collage on it just has a dark and brooding look to it. While I do have a bit of a dark side I really do not think it is me.
I am going to try to mix a medium gray for my next book and see if that works better.
I will put some photos up later of the dark sided book I just completed. I am trying for a page a day and I am going to take one on vacation with me so I do not miss a day of journaling, Yes I realize journaling is not a verb to everyone else but it is to me. Sometimes it is hard work some time it is play but whatever it is it is an action that keeps me moving in a positive direction.
Stay tuned for photos.....

A strange process......

I found my first day as a gainfully unemployed person to be a little sad. Who would think that I would miss getting up and going to work? I certainly did not.
But the second day I got my wind back and spent most of it in the studio working on my art journal.
I had decided to do one page a day before I quit and it was sometimes a chore..and believe me it showed in what I created.
What I am trying to do with the art journals is explore the world around me and inside me and try to figure out where I fit or do not fit in. I never have felt like I really fit anywhere. I would not be surprised to find out I am the product of some strange alien hybrid experiment gone horribly wrong.
So what did my first journal page after taking the plunge look like...well..




It went sort of like you would expect.... But as I got into the mood I found I had a rhythm going. Not really a finished product sort of rhythm but one of total experimentation and wild abandon that I have not felt in a long time.
I wasn't sure about the whole art journal thing. Sometimes it struck me as a little too self indulgent but then I realized that being an artist is probably the most self indulgent thing you can do. And I am not giving that up anytime soon, So I told myself to shut the heck up and get on with it.
So I came up with a few interesting bits.......





I look forward to the next month more than I have looked forward to anything since I was a child waiting for Christmas to get here. There is a lot of work to be done if I am to accomplish what I have set out to do which is finish my studio and get it set up for classes, finish a ton of projects around the house and get some art created that will speak to me and about me.
Wish me luck ....I will need it.

So I quit my job the other day………. Yup I know scary right? So now what do I do now?

Money wise we will be okay for a few months. We won’t even notice the difference until October or November and with our vacation coming up in the first week of August I have decided this is not the best time to go job hunting. “Yes sir I would love to come to work for you but can I have the first ten days off please and thank you?” Yup that would not make a very good impression. So I have decided to take a long needed break and not even look for work until after vacation.
That makes the month of July and half of August my time to create. The studio is not completely finished but we will just have to put up wall board and paint around my projects. The flooring is in and most of the insulation is done. So I am getting the supplies organized and out to the studio.
More importantly though the Muse has taken up residence out there, I don’t know what wonderful Fairy spirit it is that has decided to make my studio its home but whenever I go out there it seems like I get a rush of creative ideas that about knocks me over.
I am working on an art journal or several actually since I use old children’s board books and there are just not enough pages for more than a week’s worth of ideas. I have decided to make it a page a day project and I will post some of the entries later in the week.
I am not attempting to make “ART” with my journals…whatever your definition of art is. I am trying to explore how I feel about my world and how the outside world effects the inner me. I am trying to get some kind of insight on what it is I would say to the world if it did start paying attention to me and my art work. The saddest thing in the world would be having nothing to say that was worth listening to.
In celebration of my sudden massive vacation/creation time I will be posting a craft grab bag give away for the month of July. It will include lots of beads and crafting supplies to entice a muse to set up residence in your studio too. I will be adding something to the box each week so come back for sneak previews. All you have to do is comment on my July 4th blog post and leave me a way to contact you if you win. Of course there is no cost to enter and I will do a random draw for the winner on August 10th.
I will announce the winner by the 15th of August.

And if you live in the La Porte Texas area keep a look out for my workshop and class announcements. I will be starting these up this fall. They will be small classes of no more than 5 students and will cover drawing, painting, collage, mixed media and basic jewelry making. The classes will be inexpensive and most will have no or a minimal charge for supplies. It will depend on my work schedule of course but I plan both day and evening classes and workshops. So come out and get creative. You know you want to and yes you do deserve it.

Finished Purse...I think

Last night I did the last of the hand sewing, tacking the lining down and sewing on the closure button. This is the finished purse.
So far I like the results but I am tempted to put some beading on the tab and change out the button for something bigger and flashier. Or not.
The hardest thing for me when I am creating something is to know when to stop, to back up and say this is done. To know when it is truly finished.
I used to have the same problem with relationships but at least in that area I now know done when I see it.
I think I will let the purse rest out of my site for a bit before I decide what to do. I will come back to it later with a fresh mind. That usually works for me in Sodoku and crafting.

Hot button topic of the week.
Art vs. Craft
When is it fine to label something as an art object as opposed to a craft project?

MY Answer: I don't really give a hamster's backside. Call what I make whatever you choose. You can hug it and squeeze it and call it George for all I care. If you like or do not like what I create that is fine with me. What you label it is up to you. Some days I feel like an artist, some days I feel like a craftsmen and some days I just feel like crap. So I guess my creations can run the gamut from art, to craft, to just plain crap. Fine with me...LOL Each piece is a learning experience and if every day I get to wake up and design and create something new the world is perfect in my eyes.

This weeks project: The brown sweater dilemma.
I had a good day at the thrift store this week. I got lots of sweaters to felt and all but one felted up nicely (I will be doing a project with that one later watch for it). The only down side is I was only able to find sweaters in neutral gray and brown tones.
So I am going to have a canvas of brown to create my next purse.
I plan on posting the whole process here step by step from start to finish.
Tonight I will go through my scrapbooks and check online to find inspiration for my next purse.
I will post my inspirations and my first sketch of what I intend to make on here in the next few day so watch for it.
Here are my three choices of felted sweaters. One is light with a touch of blue, one is a light fluffy pale brown and the last is a rich chocolate brown. The blue is stiffer than the other two.
I have no idea which will fit the bill but we will find out together.