Tuesday 26 February 2013

In loving memory ...

Last Wednesday, a friend and former colleague, was killed in a car accident.  He leaves two sons and a soon to be born grand-daughter.  Last year the boys buried their mum, today they said farewell to their dad. Circumstances prevented me from attending the funeral today but I spent the time in reflection, creating a page in my journal in Shane's memory. 

This is my tribute to Shane Robson 12.8.61 - 20.2.13.


"Every life has an impact on this world."  You, my friend, made an impact on mine.  RIP Shane, you will be sorely missed.

Wednesday 20 February 2013

"Strive for progress ... not perfection"

The title pretty much sums up the purpose of my art journal.  I am finding much satisfaction in being able to play with products and techniques without worrying about 'spoiling' anything.  With the pressure off I am free to just play and see what happens.  The following page I have been working on over the past few days.
I started off with a wash of Pthalo Turquoise and Green Gold.  Once this was dry I used my new Mini Chicken Wire template from The Crafters Workshop and coarse textured gel from Reeves to add some dimension to the page.  I then let black india ink run and drip down the page before splattering droplets of ink across the page.  With a sea sponge I added black paint and iridescent medium.  It was then left like that for a couple of days.

Coming back to it today and the courier has been - he delivered my order of PanPastels.  I bought a starter set 'Extra Dark Shades' - there is pretty much a little bit of everything on here (gotta try everything LOL!!!).  The page was sealed with Mod Podge, the text added plus some pieces I accidentally tore when working on another project.  The paper is Pink Paislee "London Market" - keep a watch for the other project which I will post once I have it all together.

The two butterflies with stamped using Black Stazon and then I went over it with Kindy Glitz.  Gotta love that Kindy Glitz.  Not sure if I like the overall result but I love some of the techniques and medium used and I definitely loved playing. 

Until next time ...

Tuesday 12 February 2013

Self Worth

Another challenging entry into my art journal.

I found this quote by the Buddha about self worth.  It reads "You can search throughout the entire universe for someone who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and that person is not to be found anywhere.  You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection".  How hard is it to love yourself?  How hard is it to value yourself as a person, unique, one-of-a-kind, valuable human being?  Me, being a perfectionist, find this a challenge on a daily basis.  Journalling in this format is also a challenge for me.  My art is not perfect, it is what it is ... an expression of myself.

I started with drawing the patchwork pattern with PVA glue.  After letting it dry I filled each area with a wash of Quinacridone Magenta, Green Gold, Phthalo Turquoise, Diarylide Yellow and Anthraquinone Blue.  Once dry I took similar toned oil pastels and did a little shading and then covered the page with an iridescent medium.  Bubblewrap covered with Payne's Grey acrylic paint was then randomly applied and then indian ink painted over the now dry PVA glue.  After applying the text, the circle was created using Payne's Grey applied to a milk bottle top and stamped onto the page and Kindy Glitz applied to emphasise, before finishing with a layer of Mod Podge.

Wednesday 6 February 2013

Obstacles ...

Hi everyone

I have been picking up quotes lately that challenge me and this one is no exception.  A week has gone by since I posted the first page in my art journal.  Today I completed page 2 and the quote for today was around obstacles.  I had picked up the brick stencil from Paperzone earlier in the week so it seemed to fit with what I was thinking about.  How many times do we put obstacles in the way of doing something ... "I can't do that because ...".  I know I am as guilty of that as the next person.  I am the only person standing in the way of me achieving anything.

I used Quinacridone Magenta and Diarylide Yellow for my base followed by a light spritz of Tattered Angels Glimmermist called Blarney (lime green).  After drying off with my heat gun I spread coarse texture gel over the "Mini Bricks" stencil from The Crafters Workshop.  A little dirtying up with some indian ink rubbed on with a paper towel, a couple of heat embossed flowers, the quote, a pic of me and the obligatory date tag and we're done.  Enjoy.