ART BOOK-Page 4

This week has been a bit topsy turvy.

A stomach bug, a mouse in the house, a hospital trip, 2 drs. visits, a couple of snow days and a birthday.

I am hoping we are back to "normal". And thankfully the mouse has been caught!

I know those things aren't inspiring but this post from Wini of ARTLOVEJOY was. She did a great post on Kim Parker. I believe I have heard of her but not to this extent. She has a book for 2 bucks!! So I had to get it of course! She sparked something in me. Maybe it is her dealings in textiles, her color sense, her loose and beautiful flowers. Maybe it was all of that and more. She got me excited. So I ordered some paint. Acrylic. I have some but not enough and mine are very old. It has been so long since I painted in acrylics. I started with acrylics way back in high school and I can't wait to try again. I am having trying to decide if I want to just buy a pre-made canvas or stretch my own. I really enjoy stretching my own and I think it is more economical then pre-made canvases. So I think I will order the gesso, stretcher bars and canvas. I am going to create a piece for our home.

The photo above is a page from my ART BOOK. It is just a bit of play with stamping with erasers using gouache and ink. Be back soon!

This week and next are a bit busy. Lots of pleasant things and a couple unpleasant. It is o.k. though.Everyone has a life filled with ups and downs, and mine is no exception.

So I had the feeling that I wanted to play. I made a scrappy collage. I have LOTS of scraps. And for some reason I can't through them away. I played around with them, glued them down. I wanted to try and sew them so they would stay more textural but I didn't. Maybe I will for the next one. I bought some acrylic ink. Still not sure about it. I want to order some Shiva Paintstiks. Kelly Rae demonstrates them in her book. They look like alot of fun to play with. I think I need a night to just play. Couldn't we all just use a night for this?

So I just saw this you tube video,mom 2.0:defining a movement. If you are a mom or know a mom. Watch it! It is really great! I saw this on wishstudio. I really love this blog!

Also, I started a page in my ART BOOK. It has been so long but I am feeling like I want to play so this is a great place to. I hope to share soon.

I just found this site, Art Wall Online. Did you already know about it? It looks so great. Go check it out. I may have to add this to my vision board.

Halloween + A wreath + A day off

Halloween came and went. The weather turned from cloudy to rain so we loaded the kids into the car and drove to the mall for trick or treating. They really had a great time. It was safe and dry. The costumes went over well. Even though the train was alot of work and a bit frustrating it was really fun to make and it looked great. After a couple of falls on the trains face (bottom photo) we did a couple of adjustments and my son did great walking around. My daughter loved being a clown. It was so cute. I don't know what they will want to be next year but I better start early.
So mixed in with the blue paint and cardboard I managed to make a wreath. I am going to list it in the shop on Monday. It is a mix of assorted papers with white felt accents. It was alot of fun making this. I already have the next one going in my mind.

So Sunday came and my husband heard my plea for a day off. He took our kids out in the morning for 2+ hours. I didn't do a single thing I had to do. I stepped over the toys, ignored the laundry and neglected the crumbs. This is what I did instead:
-took a long, hot shower
- breathed deeply
- took photos
-painted
-took a walk to the local bakery for fresh rolls

Then in the afternoon I drove over this
to go here. Once there I went to this art store and for a cup o joe here.

I bought some new art supplies (really had to restrain myself), enjoyed my hot coffee and just sat.
This is so important to me and to anyone who is a caregiver. It helps me to be a better mom. I came home and gave my kids and husband a big hug and kiss.

I am going to come back soon with some thoughts on the e-course (it wrapped up on Thursday) and then take a short blog break. I want to be in create mode with my wreaths. I want to finish the winter inspiration board I started and work on my Art Book. I am going to get going on the making/buying of x-mas gifts and just focus. I hope your weekend was relaxing, joyful and of course creative!

P.S. I forgot to mention that I was pleasantly surprised the other day to learn I won a give away on Jacqueline's blog. A super cute spoon. Go check out her blog!

ART BOOK- Page 3 Surfaces

I am feeling much better today... thankfully. I had the idea to try painting on different surfaces. I used primed canvas, unprimed canvas, kraft paper, notebook paper, cardboard, fabric, coffee filter, cross stitch fabric, handmade paper and a recycled envelope. I used my Pitt pens with the brush tip to draw shapes (above).
Added gouache.




This was really fun to work on. I liked seeing how the different surfaces took the paint. I liked how it layed out as well. Like a little collage itself.

I hope everyone had a great weekend full of lots of creating. I am right now listened the Amy Butler on CraftSanity. Love it!

This week I am going to do a color story inspired by fall of course and do an artist profile.
I also need to add some great new blogs to my side bar. In finding my blogging voice I have been of course reading lots of blogs and I have realized the ones that I really love not only show beautiful photos but also share alot of their story. So I hope to be able to do that more myself. It can be a bit scary I admit. I do want to say that I talked to my husband about me having an afternoon alone 1-2 times a month. I don't know why I felt hesitant to ask for this. Maybe the mom/wife expectations in my head. Anyway I am excited about having this time set aside just for me!

ART BOOK- Page 2 LAYERS

This is the second page in my ART BOOK. I wanted to play with layering. I used watercolors, india ink, puffy paint, white pen and black pen, some paper and vintage lace. This was done super quick without alot of thought. I did while listening to this podcast. Have you ever listened to the wonderful podcasts by Jennifer Ackerman-Haywood of CraftSanity? She has done so many great ones with so many inspiring artists and designers. I have to go back to listen to so many more. Please go check them out if you haven't already. Back to the book. Not loving it. I think it is washed out. I know it is just an experiment so I am not getting too hung up on it. It was fun to play. I may explore this again in a different way.

I hope everyone is having a great week. Oh and go check out this blog post by Rebecca Sower. It is about stiching and it looks like so much fun!

ART BOOK- Page 1 STITCHING

ART BOOK. This is what I am calling my little book of art experiments that I talked about here.
This is the first page where I just played around with stitching on various papers and fabrics. I used embroidery floss and yarn. I incorporated paint. I have to say I REALLY enjoyed working on this. I really loved playing. Not thinking too much about it just going with the flow. I think sometimes I get in my own way by thinking too much about something and I just need to stay in the flow. On the last pic I used a coffee filter on top of Aida cloth and embroidered it. I glued it on but it was a bit hard to pierce since it was glued. There was a spot you can see in the second photo that wasn't glued and that was easy to pierce. I like the look of the paper and fabric. I think it could be interesting in a collage.

I hope your weekend was wonderful and creative!

The Experiment