Inspired by two very different artists . . .
A double blog post for our Magical Journal Journeys collaboration
because I'm so far behind and trying to catch up.
What have I been doing to cause these circumstances?
I'm blaming it on the veggie garden. I've either been out there picking
tomatoes, peppers and eggplants or I've been in the kitchen
cooking, pickling, freezing, drying, jarring etc. so they don't take over the house.
I'm not complaining. I'm just saying. That's my excuse.
It's great to have a productive garden ~
I'm just saying I have a lot of respect for farmers. Imagine if you had veggies
coming out your ears and still had to take care of the cows, pigs, and chickens.
Enough of that! I'm supposed to be talking about artists.
Matisse
Lisa Wright's chosen artist is Matisse.
He was a master of color and had no fear of it. He even went so far as to say,
“Seek the strongest color possible. The content is of no importance.”
He often used many different amazing patterns in one painting.
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| FRONT |
I used two of the patterns I painted in Jeanne Oliver's
“Studying Under the Masters” class to create a double sided tag
with 2 of Matisse's paintings attached.
It was so much fun copying Matisse's patterns
and I love the way he never bothered to make everything perfect.
They were so much more beautiful for not being
laid out with a ruler and painstakingly painted.
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| BACK |
He did many figures, mostly women, and many of them were nudes.
Again, they were never a perfect representation of the human body
but still had such substance and realism anyway.
That was something it was very difficult for me to imitate. I tend to fiddle too much
trying to make something perfect (which of course is impossible!).
I don't know why Matisse had a longing to be a vermilion goldfish,
but I think there are worse things to be. They are quite beautiful,
and don't have fishermen angling to make them into supper.
Lazing around in a pond all day could be quite the Zen experience. ;-)
Next journal arriving at my door was Katina Wright's whose chosen artist is
Jennifer Judd McGee
I was not familiar with JJM's work and it was a delight to discover her.
Her pieces are very modern and 21st century. But I can still see that there is
something similar to Matisse's work...maybe it's the use of patterns!
I had a bit of a technical (or tactical?) error with Kat's pages.
I did a fold-out panel but did not think to put it on the right side instead of the left.
All of the journals are traveling unbound this time and I didn't think
that I was putting the panel on the side that would be bound (smacking self in forehead).
I'm hoping when the ring binding is in place it won't matter...
I had fun with the multitude of patterns and the zentangle-like pen work!
Jennifer's landscapes and towns are like fantasy places and
I immediately thought of Oz and added the hot-air balloon
and the quote by Glinda, the Good Witch of the North.
Kat cleverly added a sign-in page with a square for each artist to fill.
I had done these zentangle-ish illustrations for my main pages
but didn't use them. They fit perfectly on my sign-in square!
There you have July and August!
I have the very last journal on my desk here in September.
It happens to be Priti Lisa's whose artist is
Modigliani
I'm thinking Modigliani won't be TOO hard,
but that's what I thought about the other six artists, and I was wrong.
(Okay, I should have said seven artists.
My own choice, José Manuel Merello,
may have been the most difficult of all.)
So, off to the garden with hopefully some time for art this afternoon!
Since I haven't participated in Paint Party Friday in ages,
I'm linking up there also.
Have a great weekend!
