Welcome to My World, Art & All

My long range goal is that you'll find INSPIRATION for your Soul, your Artful Endeavors, your Outlook on Our World, and Warm, Enduring Friendships. Welcome to my world.

Friday, March 26, 2010

Lost and Found Leads to ART

OK, so this week I'm playing around with Tim Holtz's Grungepaper, putting it through various paces and designing with it in preparation for writing a Product Review for www.papercrafterscorner.com. I had this awesome idea for using it on a scrapbook layout and went to pull the TOOL out that I had in mind as part of the design.

I admit it, right here right now; PAPER is my nemesis! After 12+ years of scrapbook and card designing, there's tons in this little studio. And even though I've been actively giving more quality clean up/re-organizing time to change that, it still abounds. HOWEVER, when it comes to my tools, I'm very, very particular in obeying the rule my mother ingrained in us kids growing up; "a place for everything and everything in it's place". No Exceptions!

Imagine the horror then, when I went to pull out my set of these and they weren't where they were supposed to be!
Back in the day (late 1990s) when I first started scrapbooking, I bought and greatly used these Creative Memories decorative edge rulers. We didn't have all the "toys" with their bells and whistles that scrapbookers and paper artists have available today, and though I don't use these particular tools like I used to, when I want one of them, they need to be In Their Place! Fortunately I found them early yesterday afternoon, and the funny part was that they WERE where they were supposed to be. Rather than standing up in the storage case, they had fallen over and were laying in the bottom under other art making supplies. That discovery, made after hours of purging/re-organizing in here, made me want to sit back down to art making. So back to the Grungepaper.

I had a piece of this heavy grungepaper already torn and laying on my workstation. I decided to work it into a card since a longtime friend's birthday is coming up and I wanted to do something special in designing his card. My artist mind started whirling, and excitedly I pulled out watercolor paper, a fine ink drawing pen, water color pencils, artist paint brush, and a couple Tim Holtz Distress Ink pads. The torn GP would be inked and act as the Foreground of my painting. This is what I came up with. After drawing the picture with ink I laid colors in with the watercolor pencils and a wet brush. I'm very excited about this little painting which is the base for the Birthday Card. Another friend from our growing up in South Miami days sent us this old pic weeks ago that we all had fun reminiscing about. It's the old Lighthouse off Biscayne Bay, Miami, Fl.
I want to do a big drawing/painting of it, but for now it helped in doing this little picture as it's been way too long since I saw our beloved palm trees on the beach up close and in person. I will post the link when the finished card, other grungepaper art, and the review article are published. I'm on my way back to the grungepaper scrapbook layout now, however, I just couldn't keep from sharing my latest painting, even though this one is small.

Remember, do something creative every day. For sure, it is food for the soul, and brings joy to your heart.
bj

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Experimental Creativity

Does that title make sense????
Well, does or not, I've decided that, at least sometimes, the process of creating art is a lot like science lab experiments or space travel, exploring the universe. As artists, we have this idea pop into our head and it won't leave cause we start thinking about it, with these "what if" or "what would happen if I did..." questions. That's how New Techniques, New Processes come about, whether it's in Art, or another field. Or, for me, even when I walk into my kitchen (what I call my Culinary Studio) and start playing with ingredients for a new dish.

Back to the Art Studio though. For some good time I've been contemplating doing some batiking of fabric. I've held back though because of all the mess, vats of various color dyes, a pot of melted wax (which DOES have a cool smell, I think), ironing board and a hot dry iron, and three (3) kitties running around in this small house. My mind keeps seeing some kind of disaster fixin to happen, and I ask myself, "Self, do you REALLY wanna go there???"

So, as all this meandering has been continuously going on in my brain, the other day I had another "brainy idea". It was one of those "what if" moments. So I got out some Tim Holtz Distress Inks. Then found a piece of muslin and tore strips. Then started "playing". I could also say I was "experimenting", testing out some theories. Doesn't that sound so professional? What "mom voice" could really think it could scream "stop wasting time on that nonsense and get out here and make yourself useful", AND get away with it. Did anyone ever scream that to Louis Pastur or Thomas Edison or Booker T. Washington? And look what they contributed by Experimenting!

I'll stop ranting now :)
So, here's the first strips.
These 3 strips were done with Weathered Wood dye ink, very monochromatic.

Then I tried going with two colors
The bottom two strips I did with Spiced Marmalade and Brushed Corduroy dye inks. I want to do a bigger piece of this one. The top two pieces were worked with Weathered Wood and Brushed Corduroy, really grungy lookin'. I think Tim Holtz would be pleased!

This last set of three I did with the new T.H. Tumbled Glass dye ink and Faded Jeans dye ink. I really like the blue tones.

So, what do you think? I'd like some feedback, truly.
Creating and Experimenting is so much fun!!!
bj

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Paper Beads, Classical Music, and a Blue Moon

a.k.a. "how I've spent my Sunday afternoon". How cute, that rhymes!!!
OK, seriously,
I'm dealing with some things. Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither was my studio trashed in a day. There's order/disorder in here after "stuff" piles up from doing one project, then another. So I have been spending quality time with my studio this month, working to create more order than disorder. This led to that, ie:
Bags of paper scraps!!! I FINALLY have all my paper scraps the way I want them - and no, not in the garbage! There's a big zip lok bag for each of these colors, blacks/greys,
brown/tans; pinks, purples, blues, greens, yellows, red/oranges. They are so cool. A good Paper Artist never throws away what can be used, and I hit my scraps whenever I need something small. Besides, I have some NEW IDEAS/PLANS for scraps.

This afternoon I've been cutting Making Memories scrapbook paper scraps into specific shaped scraps. These fun scraps were left over from a project I did last summer (2009) and I love the colors on them. Somehow the other day (I have no idea/don't remember) Paper Beads came into my conscious mind. And, having organized all my scraps, I knew I had another great idea fixin to burst forth. I also knew I'd get bored making only one kind of paper bead so I did a little online research to find interesting shapes.

Knowledge is power, and also since I knew it was 5:00 somewhere, I popped open an ice cold Blue Moon Beer (my daughter turned me on to this very light wheat beer last year), "invited" this guy to entertain me via the CD player (what a GREAT album - Vladimir Horowitz playing Chopin, Clementi, Liszt, Scarlatti, and others on piano!!)and commenced to rolling papers. Oh wait a minute, commenced to making paper beads. Here's some I did this afternoon. Aren't they just so cool!!?
I want to build up a stash of them to use in various art projects. For now, this was an awesome afternoon. There is a sign on the inside bathroom door at Tannery Row Artist Colony/Historic Buford where I spend a large part of most Thursdays, and the sign says "Go to your studio and make stuff!"

This afternoon I have fought - and won - another battle. I have given my Artist Self permission to come into my studio and "make stuff". Even though I "heard" the angry words of my mother telling me to "stop wasting time on such nonsense and get out here and make yourself useful" (heard repeatedly growing up) I stayed here, making my paper beads. And I told myself that I AM doing something useful artistically, after having done a few useful things around the house, because I'm going to have the beads I want to use in future art pieces. So, not only have I had a fun, relaxing afternoon, I've had another step in my recovery, embracing the Artist Daddy God created me to be. Let's hear it for progress! YEA!

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Do You Know This Guy????

OK, I realize that Christmas is 9 1/2 months away. And some will say, "Whoa, we just HAD Christmas a couple months ago".

Just chill a minute and work with me. "Hers" is having something of a crisis here. Here's why (a.k.a. Exhibit A) While she was out having a gay ol' time handing out candy canes and wishing Merry Christmas to the wee folk last December, THIS is what happened!! She met HIM!!!!! And I dare say, he looks right pleased in this picture!!!

And, he offered her a job no less, working with him this year! He even asked for her phone number, and, she gave it to him!!! Frankly, I think "The Big Guy" and "Hers" looked quite cute together. What do you think? A WHOLE LOT BETTER than this;
(a.k.a. Exhibit B) the (yeah, right!) "Santa" I met the year before at Stone Mountain!!! I mean, there's really NO comparison.

"Oh Santa. Santa. Santa can you hear me? Yo, beam me up, Santa!!"
Do I have to relocate to the North Pole or what?!?!?!?!
bj