Posted by: Mary @ 8:32 am
Connie of Dirty Footprints Studio has invited everyone to participate in the 30 Journals 30 Days project today, July 31. Every day for the month of July she has interviewed a different art journaler and posted it to her blog. Today is our turn to share our enthusiasm for this creative mode of expression.
How has Art Journaling impacted, changed, or enhanced your life? Art journaling has allowed me to be more spontaneous and free in expression. It has given me the opportunity to try new things and in a format that I love - books. It is very nice to have a record of my work in one place where I can flip through the pages. A very important aspect of art journaling is that it allows me to combine different media in one vehicle - painting, drawing, writing, photography, collage. It has also been a more portable and easy way to bring my art with me wherever I go - even if that’s just out on the front porch or relaxing on the couch. Art Journaling lets you work just about anywhere.
What are a few of your favorite Art Journaling materials? It is hard to choose just a few as I love all art supplies. First would be my paint brushes and I keep my watercolor and acrylic brushes in separate small fishing tackle boxes with their respective paints. Next would be papers and ephemera of all different kinds and a good pair of scissors. Mark making materials like pitt pens, gel pens, and colored pencils are important. And I can’t live without mat gel medium, UHU glue, gluestick, an old credit card scraper, and things to add texture like bubble wrap, plastic canvas, and a comb. I really love fiber and related items too - fabric, threads, yarns, beads.
Who are some of your favorite art journalers? This is another challenging question as basically I like everything art journaling that I see, even the things that don’t appeal to me directly. Because it is a means of personal expression, I can accept and understand that the person is taking me inside their world. My point of discovery for this type of artistic expression was Somerset’s Art Journaling magazine in Borders and I read these magazines over and over again, never tiring of the images shared inside. Since then I have discovered an explosion of art journalers online which adds to the sense of community. All that being said, here are a few of my favorites:
Connie, Dirty Footprints Studio
Lynne Perella
Pam Carriker
Teesha Moore
Daisy Yellow
Diana Trout
What kind words of encouragement would you say to an Art Journal newbie? The hardest part is getting started. Treat yourself to an issue of Somerset’s Art Journaling magazine, start clicking around art journalers’ blogs and YouTube videos, and get inspired. Gather together some supplies and a sturdy art journal that work for you. When you are ready, start with one page and don’t worry about finishing it. Then start another page. Go back and forth and work on your pages. Do what pleases you and won’t worry about making the pages “perfect”. Letting go will come with time. Remember that you are doing this for yourself… this is for you. Later you can choose what to share with others.
Where can we contact you… give us some link LOVE!
My blog is at maryart.macilvain.com
My web site is at www.macilvain.com
Short Bio
My grandfather gave me my first camera when I was 8 years old and I have long enjoyed capturing that special moment on film. I learned to sew on my mother’s old Singer sewing machine at the age of 11. Quilting and sewing have been a passion for many years because of my love for fabric and all things fiber. Watercolor painting and drawing is something that I do when inspiration comes. Recently I have been getting into scrapbooking, book arts, collage, and mixed media. I absolutely love books and read quite a bit and also enjoy trying new things.
I live in a small town in the northeast or New England part of the United States. My son and daughter are both in college and we have a mischievous cat named Tangerine who was adopted from the Humane Society animal shelter. My career world has touched many areas including computer science, research, web design, graphic design, administrative, marketing, and volunteering. The best part of all has been the people I’ve met along the way.
Enjoy in the doing and be happy in following your own path to express yourself creatively.
Mary
Posted by: Mary @ 6:48 pm
Last week I discovered that there is an art retreat in Connecticut in October and I’m going! I am so excited! Art Is You is the annual east coast art retreat and promises to be a wonderful mixed media adventure with many creative spirits. There was a local get together this past Saturday and it turned out that there were 4 people at the brunch who I knew, 3 of whom I hadn’t seen in close to 10 years at a doll makers group! Connecticut is a small state but it was still really cool to have our paths converge once again. What a happy moment for me with both new and old (who are you calling old? LOL) friends sharing their artwork and their stories. This is the art journaling page I created when I returned home to celebrate the special and magical day. It was like floating on air.
On Wednesday night I received not one but three exciting and beautiful pieces of mail. It was so awesome to receive such wonderful gifts and I was truly amazed and grateful.
a lovely ATC card plus postcard from a swap with Dindie in Indonesia
a card from my brother in Tennessee
Posted by: Mary @ 7:08 pm
Pockets, flaps, and envelopes were added to the pages begun in the art journaling workshop at Dirty Footprints Studio a few weeks ago which was a lot of fun. The pages are starting to look more interesting now that details are being added to the layers of texture. The pages I have been using for this workshop were separate sheets of watercolor paper folded in half. Today I sewed them together in signatures of one page each so that I can paint on the reverse sides as double pages. It looks so cool!
I am taking an awesome art journaling workshop with Connie of Dirty Footprints Studio and really enjoying myself. There are a lot of talented and creative people in the class. Connie shares so many incredible ideas and she has created a supportive, caring environment for us that encourages interaction and sharing. My painting experience has been with watercolors and I am learning to use some new materials such as matte gel medium and acrylic paints. Here are the results of my work for week 1, which actually took me two weeks to finish. Fortunately this is a self-paced workshop with no pressure, making it really enjoyable.
Posted by: Mary @ 12:11 pm
Art Doll Melanie flew off to True North Arts today for the Paper Doll Swap. I played with different ideas and when it all distilled down to a vision I worked non-stop and created her. It was a little sad to send her off this morning but she has a sister and I will create her next.
Melanie is a gentle and wise spiritual guide who is there for you when you
need her. She has great powers of visualization and discernment that can help you in your journey. When she holds up the mirror of truth you will be able to see yourself more clearly and elucidate the path that resonates with you. Melanie encourages you to be free to be your authentic, creative self. Knowing yourself is the key to discovering your inner power and reaching your dreams.
The doll pattern is from the Enchanted Gallery. This is a freehand drawing and the support used was Strathmore bristol board smooth finish 100 lb. Supplies used were pencil, pitt pen, staedtler markers, prismacolor nupastels, workable fixative, and uhu glue.
Posted by: Mary @ 7:11 pm
This is something I have wanted to do for quite a while now and I finally did it! My sources of inspiration were several Somerset Magazine publications, Lisa Engelbrecht, and a library book - Hand Lettering for Crafts by Sandra Salamony. Then I came up with my own idea and ran with it.
Basic Supplies: Colored pencils, HB pencil, hand sharpener, eraser, art journal/sketchbook
Painting Supplies: water color paints, brushes (small or medium flat wash and small round are good), palette (i have several kinds but you can even use a disposable plastic plate), water container, mister bottle (an empty pump hair spray bottle works well), natural sponge (if you have one), and paper towels
First I drew a shape, in this case a circle but any shape will do. Use light pencil marks as you will erase the lines later. Next, draw a line across the page somewhere above the top of the shape. Curve or bend the line as you go. Then you echo the first line drawn moving down the page and keeping the lines about the same distance apart (equidistant). Let the line disappear inside the shape (or erase it afterwards) as you are going down the page. Stop after you get past the bottom of the shape, leaving some white space above and below your design. This does not have to be perfect but you can always erase and adjust some lines if you want.
Now think about words flowing across the lines that you’ve drawn. If you don’t know what to write, copy a passage from a book that inspires you, excerpt song lyrics, or combine different phrases together. Sometimes if you start writing the words will just come out. In this case I intermixed remembered phrases with my own thoughts. Pick up one of your colored pencils and keep a small hand sharpener nearby. Get comfortable and loosen up. Relax your hand. Take a cleansing breath and just start writing, slowly, one letter at a time. For reference I had alphabet sampler pages printed in various fonts but I put them aside and did not use them. Instead I decided to embellish my own letterforms. I took my time and thought about each letter and word as they slowly flowed from my hand. I totally lost track of time and was pleased with the results. The hardest part is getting started. Once I get going I am in the zone. And yes, I made a mistake in there but it’s OK. Not easy to say for someone who counts proofreading as one of her many job duties 
I put the piece aside to think about it and decided to put paint down the next night. When I am going to paint or collage in my art journal, I gluestick two pages together and run a brayer over them (you can also rub them together with a wooden spoon) for better support. At some point I erased all the original light pencil lines. I was not so sure about doing this but the colored pencil letterforms remained intact. There was paint on my palette from a previous project - a red, a blue, 2 greens, a yellow, and a tan - so I spritzed them with the mister bottle and they were usable again. My intention was just to put light washes down so that the lettering would show through, so I watered down the paints and dipped the wash brush in first the red, then the red and blue, and so on. Closer to the bottom are muddy but interesting colors which is what you get when you mix colors that contain all of the primary colors (red, blue, yellow). If it gets too wet you can blot it with a paper towel. Put the paint down lightly and try not to go over it too much as it will look fresher, cleaner, and more spontaneous. It is easy to overwork watercolor and it is better to stop before you think it’s done. Less is more. I used the natural sponge to dab paint into the circle, first blue and then green. If you don’t have a natural sponge try using a household sponge or a crumpled up paper towel. This was so much fun and I plan on continuing on with this form of expression. Enjoy!
Posted by: Mary @ 12:39 pm
Living a creative life and making a commitment to Creative Every Day is somewhat of a challenge for me at times. At the same time, through blogging and the blogland creative community I have been much more motivated to experiment and try new things. On Friday during my lunch break at work I came up with some new artistic goals to help keep my focused on my art and creativity. These goals are rather ambitious for me but it is better to set high goals as you will achieve much more than if your goals are low and easily attainable. There is no incentive to stretch yourself if you don’t reach for the stars.
- Blog twice a week
- Start something new each week
- Finish something new each week
- Weekly artist dates
- Don’t worry about making a mess - art is messy
- That being said, organize work space in a way that works for me and my family
- Get involved in the Middletown Art Guild
- Start a series - maybe ATC of the week
Posted by: Mary @ 9:54 pm
After reading about vision boards and dream boards yesterday, I decided to put together a dream board of my own to celebrate the New Year. Jamie Ridler Studios shows Full Moon Dreamboards which resonated with me and are on the wavelength of what I had envisioned last night. There is great info about creating vision boards on Christine Kane’s Blog. My word for 2010 is create, with the intent of creating new work in mixed media, quilting, drawing, painting, photography, scrapbooking, book arts, and anything else that inspires me. The following words are important to me and are listed on an index card on the dream board:
Organize
Play
Learn
Grow
Live
Love
Be Yourself
Connect
Visualize
Here is what tihe dining room table looked like when I was getting ready to prep the board. Looks like I have some cleaning up to do around here later as stuff seems to have spread out everywhere. This was a very empowering exercise and helped me to focus on what is important to me in the coming year.
Happy New Year!
Mary
Happy Thanskgiving everyone. Just wanted to share an inspirational YouTube Video on art journaling with you today.
Found some old drawings of shells while looking through my media archives for old photos from out west. Isn’t it strange how you can be looking for one thing and find something else? That happens to me all the time. The shells were originally drawn in my sketchbook and then scanned into the computer. Once they were in digital form color was added. This was an experiment in combining hand and conputer techniques and was done as a study.
Posted by: Mary @ 7:07 pm
One of my favorite Robert Frost poems is “The Road Not Taken”. The poem can be seen in its entirety at Bartleby Quotes. At times we are faced with a decision and a choice as to which path to take in life. Sometimes it is a small decision and sometimes it is a huge one. Sometimes the choice is clear and other times it is arrived at with difficulty. This mixed media piece was created over the past week and illustrates my feelings about having two similar yet different paths appear at a moment in time. I started by cutting varying width strips of different scrapbook papers and glueing them down to a 12″x12″ cardstock base. After leaving this on my work table and letting it sit for a few days I decided to add marks with a blue pastel stick. Next I chose to cut random width and length strips of transparent velum and glue those down. Today I remembered the photos of boardwalks that I took this year at two different places in nature: the Cranberry Bog and the Audubon Center. After printing one photo from each place I arranged them carefully on the surface and added my favorite part of the quotation to finish the piece.
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
My sister Anne, Anne’s Creative Cornucopia, told me about a wonderful new creative art challenge group that started up last week with the first week’s theme of Mona Lisa. This week the theme is doors and here is my first entry to Three Muses. I did an initial pencil sketch and then decided to build the piece as an 8.5″ x 11″ oval using cardstock, glue, and scrapbooking paper, adding brads and knotted embroidery thread around the edge to create a talisman. My door is figurative and represents the world of opportunity that awaits when we open the door and cross the threshold into the unknown.
This is the beginning of the art journal I started last week. I have kept written journals for many years and sketchbooks as well. After seeing and reading about the wonderful art journals that people are creating, it seemed only natural that I should add art journaling to my palette. Here are my first pages…
Here are some art journal pages for inspiration:
*e*: mini art journal challenge
Flickr: the 52Q a year of mini art journalling Pool
Flickr: art journal challenge
Daisy yellow blog
ArtJunk Girl~
journal junk
You Tube - Art Journal Workshop: Layers
a girl & her journal
illustratingstories.com: Art Journal