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!!

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.)

Already Using My Logbook

Last night I was inspired to gather ALL my bits and pieces of stories I have sitting around in way too many various places and find a system that works to organize them. At first it was a bit over whelming to see everything piled up including notebooks, binders, scraps, backs of envelopes, etc. The binders are from writing classes and workshops I have completed but story ideas and beginnings were scattered throughout them so I pulled them from the binders. I did the same thing with the remaining pile of stuff. I ended up with a pile of papers that seemed far more manageable. I then began to divide them into categories which for me ended up being only three; story telling methods, ideas of stories I want to tell, and stories I had already begun to write.

For "storytelling methods" I have, over time, compiled a variety of interviews, questions, memory sparkers, and techniques to invite either myself or someone else to tell a story I want to bring to mind and eventually record in my scrapbooks or family history books. I guess you could say this is the HOW of my storytelling.
Due to the classes and workshops I've done, I had a nice little pile of "stories I had already begun to write" out but either had not yet finished, or still needing polishing or a place to store them long term until I was ready to add them to the books. These were all hand written stories versus those that are stored in my laptop. I have yet to develop a good system of "stream of consciousness writing" on the computer so I often prefer to hand write memories as it allows me to doodle and let more memories come to the surface.
Under "ideas of stories I want to tell" was more a listing of incomplete thoughts that are meant to trigger my memory when I sit down to write.  You know those brainstorming moments when you recall random things from childhood that you want to expound on but don't have the time to record right then? Or the little comments you hear at a family gathering that you know will need more added to it to become an actual story? Sadly I had no way to track these great but random ideas other than this messy pile of scraps and bits.
I decided to use the "STORY LIST" that came with my LogYourMemory logbook and recorded all the topics I hope to cover and tossed all the tiny scraps and bits of paper away. On a day where I am focused on writing it should be easy to grab my logbook, review the topic ideas and choose one or add a topic to the list as they come to mind. The stories that are more complete are now stored in my genealogy binders until needed. And all the ideas for collecting stories are in their own folder. I think I am set!
I would love to know how you organize your stories before they are ready for printing. Do you have a system or idea that might help me? Please share!

Cello

This is for my sister, Brenda, who plays the cello but not as often as I would like. As soon as I saw the prompt was to draw a musical instrument I knew I wanted to do a cello. Foolish me! I didn't stop to think how difficult it would be due to the symmetry required for the instrument. And being able to indicate wood grain using pencil. I tried not to fuss with it too much as I use my edm's and zentangles and my daily art journaling as warm-ups/exercises and not as finished pieces. I have to say, this was thoroughly enjoyable work though as I was listening to Vivaldi quite loudly as I worked.

Multi-tasking

Multi-tasking, originally uploaded by Trish Nonaka.

This is the current journal I am using for AJED and it has a few black vinyl divider pages through out that bore me. I bought a couple fountain pens and some FW Pearlescent White Ink (didn't have any plain white which is what I wanted but when you live on an island you take what you can get). I had not had a chance to play with these yet so thought the white would be good on the journal covers. Being as I am a bit behind in some zen challenges I decided to put them all on the cover and keep going til its done.
For those of you in iamthediva's weekly challenge group, can you spot the individual challenges?

Its a Wrap

Jan 17, originally uploaded by Trish Nonaka.

The GPP Street Team: Crusade No 47 was to create something using leftover wrapping, trim, cards, etc from the holidays. Since I got started a bit late on this one, I didn't have anything left from the holidays. All my cards, pictures, and letters are ready to go in to my yearly handmade Christmas book but aren't attached yet. So I grabbed a couple of my favorites and just made copies of them to add to my journal.
Visit to read Michelle's explanation of "Evidence " journaling. I think MANY of my pages are evidence pages because I love to incorporate "leftovers" from daily life as tiny reminders of things that I've done or read, experienced, etc.

The trees are from a card my Aunty C. made. Every year she hand crafts the loveliest cards for all of us. Each one is such a treasure to me.

Orbs

Weekly Challenge 5 - Orbs, originally uploaded by Trish Nonaka.

This is my piece for "I am the Diva"'s weekly challenge #5. I did it late last night after spending the day doing digi scrapbooking . I needed a little ART time - you know pen on paper, direct contact, watching ink flow. Sigh. Good for the soul.

i.rocks

My first piece for Sketchbook Challenge's Jan theme "Highly Prized".
Randy brought these tiny heart shaped rocks back for me from one of his deployments to Iraq. I treasure them. He spent months there and would gather them on his walks back and forth from his hooch to work. They symbolize his thoughts of me and his constant love. They are one of my greatest treasures.

28/100

28/100, originally uploaded by Trish Nonaka.

This is from a photo in Dec-Jan2011 Hana Hou! magazine. I rough sketched it on the flight from BI and finished it moments ago. I am not happy with the scan so may redo it - or not.

Done on medium weight paper in my every day sketchbook using pencils and tortillion. Tried to represent the intricate designs and fibers of tapa cloth along with adding in additional designs on the side.

Monday Tuesday Journal Pages

Art Journal, originally uploaded by Trish Nonaka.

Monday stuff on top and Tuesday at the bottom with a tiny EDM to the right side. Elizabeth Smith does the sweetest little date boxes for her entries so I thought I would give it a try as well.

Zentangle patterns

2010-11-05-1435-31, originally uploaded by Trish Nonaka.

Sorry for the poor scan but the pencil I used was too soft to show up better. I was in the mood to do zens with pencil versus pen. I'm posting it just so you can see what an every day exercise looks like in my journal.

Daily entry

2010-11-05-1437-24, originally uploaded by Trish Nonaka.

Chinese Lanterns

2010-11-05-1438-23, originally uploaded by Trish Nonaka.

This just makes me laugh! Sometimes my brain does not (or will not ?) see certain patterns properly. This was one of those times! I was fruitlessly trying to create a series of repeatable steps for this pattern. You can see it eluded me. What you DON'T see are all the scrap pieces of paper that got tossed. You won't see this pattern very often in my work.

Look Ma! No lines!

2010-10-27-1631-34, originally uploaded by Trish Nonaka.

Usually a zentangle is begun with "strings" or random lines that you fill in. On the top you can clearly see the lines but on the bottom I simply did the fillers and switched patterns as I felt led. Again, its a great way to challenge yourself and break up the "routine" in the way you do certain types of art. Makes you think further outside the box that you no longer are in anyway.

More tangling....

2010-10-27-1452-07, originally uploaded by Trish Nonaka.

On the left is how I used to record patterns. I found it wasn't working for me though so I switched to some small red moleskine journals for patterns. I enter them alphabetically and have numerous patterns on one page. I will have to upload some to share at some point.

On the right I am playing with a fave color combo which I usually do not do with tangle pages but every once in awhile....

Must have been thinking of webs?

2010-10-27-1449-48, originally uploaded by Trish Nonaka.

Monster Tangle

2010-10-27-1446-44, originally uploaded by Trish Nonaka.

This is actually a 2 page spread with the left side being one large tangle and the right is divided into 6 smaller boxes. I like that there seems to be a continuity and flow through it all though.

Here is the LEFT side in close.


And the RIGHT...

One string...6 tangles

2010-10-27-1444-09, originally uploaded by Trish Nonaka.

Such a fun page to do! Great way to challenge myself.