Latest book project

This book didn't scream at all. I used an old paperback that I was not going to read. (Theocritus' Ydylls to be honest...) and made myself a little table Christmas tree. The pages are folded. Ask me if you want to know how to make it.

It's terribly sweet. I guess I'll just start the season early.

Julie Prichard painting class

Other than painting my various houses successfully, I'd say that i was pretty paint challenged.
I have been in awe of some of the gorgeous backgrounds I have seen produced by my art friends on our various yahoo homes.
So I signed myself up for an online class with Julie Prichard.

This first one is supposed to be reminiscent of the sea. I have to admit that the original is way darker than that.

This next one is lesson three. All these are made with many layers, and the lessons are immense fun. Julie is very precise, and she shows each step as she takes it. Can't ask for better than that for an online class.
I can't imagine these paintings as background for our journal, but that's what they're for.
Maybe.

Fish in winter

I guess you could say that I'm in my aboriginal phase. I've always wanted to try designing with the dot theme, but after 16 years in Australia, I never quite got round to it. Until last night.
Here's my winter inspired fish, drawn with a gel pen on a black ground. A pleasure to draw.

I'm amazed at the similarities between aboriginal designs and zentangles. I guess those doodles are deeply ingrained in our brain drawing centers. Or Carl Jung would say that they are part of our cosmic unconscious. Whatever.

It's certainly very restful creating it.

Photoshop in winter

I'm back with Photoshop. Now that I've added 1Gb of Ram, I'm hoping it will work faster.

This is my version of "winter" for a challenge on ABC-alteredbooks. I guess winter for me always brings images of snow and cold.

I'll have to start making pictures of fireplaces, or maybe beaches in the sun to escape to.

Sketchbook start

I've collaged the pages of the sketchbook, since I don't sketch.

I've used some of my montages from Photoshop, and combined them.
My theme is Past, Present, Future.

I hold that there is no such thing as time. It's an illusion that man has created for.... organizing workers? I'm not sure.
But time in my opinion, doesn't really exist. It's an artificial construct, and all there is is NOW. The past is an imagination, a false memory. The future... never comes, if you really think about it.

With that in mind, I started to construct my sketchbook. I've done all the pages, now I need to add text.

Emerging

I'm posting the result of the past few days' experiments. I've been having a lot of fun, integrating the various classes I've taken online.

First, the Joggles class led by Sarah Whitmire, about paint techniques.


I took advantage of what I'd learned to 'fix' the cover of the art journal I'm making for the Artists of the Round Table site.

Then, I worked in my art journal, adding text to the backgrounds.

I've also gotten quite excited with the Teesha Moore videos on Youtube and have been practicing her techniques.

She generously shared her funky lettering method, and I'd been researching on the net some examples so I could practice.

Teesha Moore

The queen of journal making, I believe, certainly the one with the most definite and personal style, Teesha Moore just uploaded a ton of videos on Youtube showing her thinking and creating process step-by-step.

Here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bx1z9Y3D7j8&feature=related
Her journals can be seen here: http://www.teeshamoore.com/teeshasjournalpgs.html

It's an incredibly generous offering, and many of us are madly emulating her techniques. I am struggling between knowing that I need to copy the master step-by-step to learn the skills, and wanting to do my own, and wander away already from her instructions.

Of course, I've also just finished 2 journal classes and am taking 2 online classes, plus watched all of Teesha's videos, so of course, I'd be influenced by all of them. Maybe that's a good way to avoid becoming a copycat.

Anyway, enough talk.

And to think that I have the luxury of spending my day just experimenting with art techniques, I know that I'm truly blessed. And immensely grateful for this luxury.

More art

Someone mentioned that we're having so much fun on these Yahoo groups, learning new techniques, we may be suffering from AADS Artistic Attention Deficit Syndrome. So much to learn, so little time.
I've just completed two online classes with the marvelous Sarah Whitmire, her Soul Journal, at www.caspiana.com and a journal altering class on Joggles.com.

Here's my journal cover and the back. It's in progress and it's so glaring so far, it probably needs to be shot and put out of its misery. But it's practice, right. I'd never done anything like this before. So I'll keep trying....

I've also been doing Zentangles before I go to sleep at night:

















And I've started an online class with Julie Prichard. It's video based, and it's all about paint techniques. Each session is a full painting from start to finish. I have not had a chance to start on that, I've only watched the videos so far. It's a really exciting process, and that's what I'll be working on today. Stay tuned...

Journal page

I've started an online class with Kelly Kilmer, A prompt a day for 30 days for the month of November. Since I've been traveling to Vancouver, I got a bit behind. The prompt for day 2 is: What word did someone give you?

I post my page here.

I know.... nothing profounds like "Love", or... Meditate, or...
But this one word, "Chihuahua" was really important to me when I was a kid. I just loved pronouncing it. It rolled off the tongue and it felt so sweet, like velvet.
I must have been 4 or 5, and I certainly didn't know what a chihuahua was.
I would say that word 5000 times a day.
At least.
Until my mother grew particularly sick of it.
And forbade me to say it.

I begged and pleaded and was eventually allowed to say it out loud 20 times.
She kept count.
And I would ask her: "Can I say it? Can I say it now?"

I'd go dance in the yard, or sing in my bedroom, chihuahua, chihuahua, chihuahua...

Even today it's a sweet word. I don't have any particular interest in what the word represents, but still love the sound of it.

Winter

The Yahoo group ABAltered Books asked for submissions on the theme of 'Winter'. This is a spread that I did for my art journal, based on a bit of poetry by Shelley, and some photos which I have altered, from my IFL membership stock.

Aren't I just tickled pink

The photo that I posted a few days back on an Altered Book site for an autumn theme got selected for their Homepage. That means that when you visit their site, this is the photo which is displayed for that week when visitors land on their page.

It was a nice surprise. I guess that gives me a sense that what I do is not too bad after all, and that my peers like it. It's a new feeling for me, because doing art is new for me. And it's wonderful.

Paul Chabas

I've been talking with some friends about my famous great grand uncle, Paul Chabas, who painted September Morn.

As I mentioned, he was the famous one, belonging to the Academie Francaise, which is a prestigious institution in France.

When I got my puppy, I had to go through the process of .. "the Name, the Name!!!"

My sister suggested Mr Paul, from the great grand uncle. Here's a montage I've done with Photoshop, to tie all the ancestry together:

Starting a Yahoo group

There has been so much excitement about the ones of us who have signed up for a sketchbook, I have started a Yahoo group to hold our discussions and inspiration.

It's found here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sketchbookproject
Anyone can join.

A few days ago, I posted about the Art House group, which hosts the sketchbook project. For $18 or $21 if you live outside the States, you receive a small notebook, and they assign a theme to you and a barcode number. You have till January 4th to fill your notebook with ANYTHING you desire, related or not to your theme.
There is no jury, and no auditing.
The idea is to see how 3000 people think and view a particular theme.
The books will be donated to the US library system, and anyone will be able to hire a book out and take it home and look at it.
YOUR WORK!!!!
I find that very inspiring.

The themes are varied and fun.

So, come take a look at our site. I've posted some photos of the previous entrants, since this is round 4. The organizers have been doing this since 2007.... talk about a long breath of a project.

The photo here is from a past entrant: yard_ape. And yes, the head IS cut off, it's not a problem of upload. What artists do, I guess!

I reserve the right to change my mind!

I'm a woman, and the word is that we're changeable. So I'm allowed to change my mind. How wonderful.

I said I'd never do an ATC again. (Artist Trading Card) because they are soooooo small. Only 2.5 x 3.5. That's inches, not centimetres.

So I did a few, a dozen actually for this challenge in one of my Yahoo groups. Send 6 of the same out, and some faery organizes for you to get 5 different ones back.
Then another member of this group offered to do a 1 for 1. Some of these little business cards for artists are little gems.
I guess it's a little bit like short stories compared to novels in literature. You condense your talent in a dozen pages, here you get to show (or practice) over a tiny space and not waste huge money on large canvases. So here's to jumping in.

The first swap had for theme: Ticket to ride, where our travels have taken us. Since I've traveled around the world several times, in both directions, I have a choice o f many photos.

The other swap, one for one, is pretty much anything goes. I've used my own photos, which I manipulated in Photoshop, or photos of my ancestors, great-grand uncles and aunts, and embellished them, as it's called in mixed media. And I must admit I had a ton of fun.
If you've been following my blog, you'll recognize some of the images. I cropped some of my digital creations to 2.5 x 3.5.





I guess that's one way to my creations seen and to get feedback.


... and a few more.

This is my great-grand mother and her brother and sisters doing theatre.

This next one is Mr famous Paul Chabas, with his contemporary namesake (with a Photoshop montage) Mr Paul.

This is Azay le Rideau, a lovely Renaissance castle near my hometown. Small, but so very elegant and graceful.

Two great grand aunts:

And a funny photo in Paris.

Having fun

I've been having so much fun creating art, I've hardly got time to post it here.
I did an autumn impression for one of the groups challenge, by modifying a diary entry I had made when I was in Paris.
I then added some Photoshop doodahs, and here you are: Autumn in Paris. Shot in May 2007, but aged and brought to the right colors. I just love Photoshop.

I wish...

One of the challenge prompts we had in one of my Yahoo groups was: I wish...

so I came up with this Photoshop montage.

A complete folded book

I have completed yesterday's folded book. It really looks fine, and this one didn't suffer, just got its type re-arranged. The book was called "Undue influence". Funny!

I'm now going to experiment with pages that have photos or banners, and see what the results are. Keep posted.

Till then, I'm working on a journal cover design, and altering a children's book to turn it into a house design. All this will be posted here of course. Do come back soon.