Pages of My Life - August 25-29

Here's how we started out...

Gelli plate background...excess paint from another project smeared on with an old gift card, some paint cleaned off a brush. 

You can see the "hide your sources" quote from Einstein on the left.

Our daughter and son-in-law got to stay a couple extra days (YAY!) (I LOVE that they work for the airline industry!) and we still have my "hanai" sister and niece with us. This term is commonly used to mean someone who has become a part of your family and can indicate "adoption" with or without legal papers. To learn more about this concept though you should read this article. 

Here's the midweek look...Albert's quote has evolved a bit and some doodles have appeared. For now anyway....

And here is where we ended up! 

Its a (somewhat) direct theft of Miriam Schulman's art journaling prompts! And I thank her for it! Miriam teaches this use of negative space and color blocking idea in her art journaling class that I just took earlier this month.  

DID YOU ART JOURNAL THIS WEEK? SHARE YOUR LINK SO WE CAN ALL SEE IT!

Island Life

I know many people dream of visiting the Hawaiian islands and many of you probably already have. My husband was born and raised here and we are blessed to be able to live here once again. My art is inspired by the beauty that surrounds us and I enjoy being able to escape from my studio into this special place called Big Island or Hawaii Island. It is the largest of the major islands. Recently we spent a glorious day down in Waipio Valley. The floor of the valley is accessible only by 4 wheel drive or a long hike. We opted for the 4 wheel drive! In the valley, mountain streams feed into the ocean; waterfalls occur after heavy mountain rains, and mist reaches down to kiss the green cliffs. There is a herd of gentle but wild horses that meander nearby...close enough for photos but always be careful. They are WILD animals. We gave them plenty of space and respect and were able to enjoy them for quite a long time as we ate our lunch nearby in the warm Hawaiian rain. 

And yes...we know...LUCKY we live Hawaii!

Art Quote of the Week

Week of August 25-29

Another spark of genius from Albert...


Truly...what a gifted mind to know that life is about love and creativity as well as pure genius.

Pages of My Life Aug 18 - 22

This week began with my Einstein quote and a background made a while ago using my gelli plate again. I like that you can use such a small amount of paint with the gelli and get a nice finish on the pages. It makes it much smoother to write  and doodle over the top of the acrylic paint.

I have a very exciting and fun week planned as we have special visitors coming to the island this week. Our relationship started out with her being my airman while stationed in Japan but over the years she has become "my little sister". She's bringing my 7 year old niece with her and I plan to spoil her fully! In addition to them. our eldest daughter and son-in-law are arriving a few hours difference. I am SO happy they have flight benefits and can visit pretty often. 

I truly have NO IDEA how much arting I am actually going to get to do while they are here but thought I would use this opportunity to begin posting about our travels around the island. I know many have been here and probably even more hope to make it here some day. Now you might be asking what does that have to do with art and creativity? PLENTY! Journeys can give you ideas, clear out your brain, inspire you and make you see things differently than before. So, occasionally I will share a glimpse of "Island Life" with you. I promise not to overwhelm you with tons of photos...just something you can savor and enjoy! I hope you look forward to it.

In the mean time,, this is how my journal spread ended up this week. Still plenty of empty space to fill up if I choose to.

Art Quote of the Week

Week of August 18-22

Pages of My Life- Aug 11-15

Here's a glimpse of my art journal/planner for the week of August 11-15. Some of the components that are pretty regular are a layer for the background, a quote and random doodling. The background was done using my gelli plate and acrylics. 

Something new that I tried this week was the use of negative space in the heading. This idea came from the  Art Journal Inspirations class that the lovely Miriam Schulman offered. She does an amazing job with negative space and its something I rarely think about. I like the look; what do you think? 

  

I added the quote from Vincent (yes we are on a first name basis!) while listening to a wildly weird and odd but wonderful recording by Michael Gordon. He put Vincent's letter to his brother Theo to music. YES! Seriously! You MUST listen. At least once. (BTW: I heard the whole thing on spotify but the link is just one piece posted on you tube)

The quote on the left was posted on my friend, Liz's fb page and it simply spoke to me. 

I added some date and comment stamping using my date stamp from SMASH.
Here's the funniest part...it was completely filled in by Monday evening!
I had to resort to marking up other things!

On My Work Table

A big, happy, juicy, messy, colorful pile of index cards!

It was one of those days where I really wanted to paint and be in my groove but it wasn't happening. At all. I wrote a blog post. I deleted it. I wasted time on facebook. I saw the last few things I need to sort through in my newly reorganized studio. I ignored them. I took the pupster out. Numerous times. I played with the pupster. She went to sleep. I sat at my desk. I got up. I think you get it.

Then I came pulled out the pile of index cards I keep stashed in my journal tote. Tammy, over at Daisy Yellow started a really cool idea back in 2011 called Index Card a Day (ICAD). Each day she gives a prompt and you either follow it or make up your own; the whole idea being you work on one card each day. Not overwhelming this way. She did it again in 2012 for June and July and added new prompts plus shared her kid's cards. In Jan 2013 she began Prompt6ix! where she gives you six words or phrases and you create from there. She offered ICAD again in June 2013 and most recently one more time this past summer (2014). But she didn't stop there...she is now posting Daily Paper Prompt.

Here is my confession...I have tried each time to join in and something happens and I end up not participating. I think over all these opportunities I have created a grand total of.....wait for it......17!

I love the IDEA of following the challenge but the timing just hasn't worked out for me. This doesn't mean its not a great tool to have on hand for days like today. I followed a couple of prompts and then things took off and I finally hit a creative mood. I completed 23 cards today. Yes. 23.

This is not the method that Tammy uses but it is still a completely valid one. On days like this I don't want to waste my quality supplies but still want to be creative. Chances are I am going to be super critical and unhappy with the outcome but need to do something.  I don't want to set myself for frustration or put pressure on myself. Good ways to work yourself into artist's block. Using the cards is low key, fast, and doesn't take tons of concentration; excellent since I hardly had any! Here's a couple examples from the day.

Your turn! What's on your table?

Art Quote of the Week

NOTE: Bonus posting today! You get 2 posts today (even though they are late) because the Hurricane didn't allow me to post about my journal/calendar/planner last week.

I like to include quotes in my art journal/calendar/planner and thought I would include them here each week as well for you to enjoy or use yourself. I use one of two neat little programs called Recite or Quizio to make the images. Makes them easy to pin on Pinterest!
If you have a favorite art related quote, please share it! Enjoy!

Week of August 11-15


Last weeks:

The Pages of My Life (aka: My Current Art Journal/Calendar/Planner)

The other day on facebook I mentioned I would tell you about my new calendar/art journal. It was getting annoying to have too many places to "keep track" of my life and I wasn't enjoying having my sketch books serving as my calendar. My sketch books are just that...a place to plan and work out future pieces, do sketches, draw, etc. It bugged me that in the middle of a bunch of lovely pages I would have decided to jot down some stupid thought or shopping list. I knew that could not continue. I also knew that I have never been good at maintaining a regular diary or journal...I'm an art journal kind of gal all the way. Any words I put in mine are usually art related, quotes, song lyrics, etc. I'm not one to write long entries about my day.

So what's an artist to do?

Simple! I found a spiral bound planning calendar for teachers (nod to our homeschooling years!) that has both 2 page spreads for                   monthly    and              

weekly pages. 

I keep track of appointments and activities on the monthly spread. And yes...I doodle on those pages as the month progresses. Nothing formal usually...just those mindless oddities that occur while I'm waiting on the phone or contemplating plans. I liked this one for lots of reasons but the great color scheme was a big one!

Then...on the weekly pages...since I don't have a super busy schedule any more (yay!) I really don't need both pages to keep track of stuff. I designated the left side for journaling about my days and the right side is for art play. I experimented for a while and because the paper is not meant for art work, I've gone ahead and spread gesso on a  few of them to make them sturdier. Right now the thing I'm loving most though is to use my gelli printing plate to apply the paint. I've also been writing some of my favorite art quotes on them. I attach lists with staples, paper clips, use post-it notes, add ephemera, tape, you name it.

Currently I have about 13 weekly pages prepped. This just means there's something spread on the page to create a first layer. I tend to use leftover paint and gesso from current projects in this way. Cuts down on waste. My sharpie pens work pretty nicely on top of the acrylic paint so I'm sticking with those for now. I keep this open on my work table most of the time and it sits inside my business notebook.

OOPS! Forgot to tell ya that it has plastic pockets on the covers...so I added a collage of sayings that inspire me in the front one! (Part of the process of the Right Brain Business Plan which I will be talking about on and off again) And I hung a few charms on leather to the spiral coil to use as a place marker.

So what kind of journal are YOU using? Whats great about it or what's not so great? Let me know! I'm curious.

The Documented Life Project is doing something very similar and gives weekly prompts for ideas to do on the art side if you are interested. They also have a Flickr and facebook page to share your pages.

Hurricane Iselle Cleanup

We didn't have any impact from the hurricane...very blessed and thankful for this and paying for those that ARE feeling it...but add we continue to monitor the news I spontaneously opted to cleanup my art journaling tote. I want to keep it on my desk near my daily calendar/planner/journal. I keep it in a tote because...well I had the tote! Nah!nah! I used to take it places and still hope/plan to. It functions as my plein air bag as well.

ALL DONE!!

Jenny's having a give away!

You do not want to miss this one! Jenny does the most incredible portraits of pets (she did Emi's for us!) And she draws and paints uplifting, fresh....oh gosh...just go see and enter her giveaway!
Jenny's Sketchbook

Art Quote of the Week

Facebook Page

I sure hope I  have this figured out now.
I OFFICIALLY have my own art page on facebook now.
https://www.facebook.com/ArtofPerfectShun

I am hoping to separate my art world from all the chatter of facebook that not everyone cares to read. Stop by and say aloha, "Like" my page and check out the art.

BTW...that me sitting at the caretaker's cottage at "A Bay" in Waikoloa, Hawaii during one of my plein air excursions!

This is what happened when I was playing with paint

I shared on fb that I was going to play with paint and someone asked me to post pictures! This made me giggle because I didn't intend to get a finished product and expected nothing worth sharing. But in the spirit of seeking "perfectShun" I will share. These are just technique exercises that are in my daily calendar/art journal. (Btw...I'll share about this fun idea another time! You're gonna love it...and hopefully give it a try too!)

These were done using my gelli plate and liquetex acrylic paints. The pages already had a layer of paint on them so after I applied paint to the gelli, I used a cotton swab to remove some and just drew quick circles with the swab. Place the page over the plate, press evenly and voila! Loveliness! See? Just throw the paint down and see where it lands! Have fun! Create! (Be sure to share with me when you do! I'd love to see your work.)