Art Journal / Altered Book Workshop

Things have been very busy in the studio as I am preparing to be away for 6 to 8 weeks and want to get as much done here as I can while I have everything on hand.

I am really looking forward to reconnecting with my beautiful Clarence River and getting home for a while and I will be taking a lot of art materials and setting up a studio space to work in while I am away.

This is a piece I am working on at the moment, it is about the river and my connection to that place, I have called it Kundalini Pathway and it is about the spiralling journey of life and where we feel at home, what lifts us up and makes us feel good. It is one of 4 pieces I am working on to be shown at the Grafton Art Clubs 44th Jacaranda Art Exhibition  Saturday 27th October - Saturday 3rd November at the Grafton Community Centre, don't miss this great show if you are in Grafton for the Jacaranda Festival.

I am also running a weekend workshop at the Grafton Art Club

Art Journal / Altered Book Workshop 

With Louise Kirby

http://river-girls-art.blogspot.com.au/

At the Grafton Art Club

Saturday 10^th Sunday 11^th Nov. 10 – 3

Cost $65 includes hall fees.

Come along for a fun and creative workshop to discover the joy of art journaling.

 An art journal is a powerful creative tool, offering you a safe space to explore,

 to consider different ideas, to experiments and play with different materials and styles and to create a meaningful memento of your journey as an artist.

Over this weekend we will play with various mixed media techniques, making a cover for our journals / books and working on pages within.

Things to bring-

Ø      A sketch book with a sturdy cover or an old hard back book you would like to alter, to do an altered book it needs to be in reasonable condition and bound with sewn thread not glued.

~All other things listed here are optional~

Ø      Any paints/ watercolours/ markers/pencils/ oil pastels/ stamps/ink/ stencils you like to use.

Ø      An old credit card.

Ø      Some images or photographs you would like to include.

Ø      Any small sketches/ doodles/mini art works you have lose at home that you would like to keep in a safe place.

Ø      Tickets/ tags/ mementos/fabric scraps from that favourite outfit and any other reasonably flat items you would like to include.

Contact Rhondella Hyde on 0431735215 for bookings.

Facebook Page and Art Dolls

Lots of exciting things have been happening at River Girl Art

A gathering of Goddess Art Dolls 

have helped me celebrate the launch 

of my new Facebook Page

Please pop over and have a look.

I have started the River Girl Art page to try and reach a wider audience and have been busy posting lots of pictures over there of my work.

Someone said it was like a private art gallery.

I am hoping to increase the sales of my art so I am busy making lots of stock to do handmade markets and I am also selling my art online. This ia all a huge learning curve and a dream I have long held.

These Goddess Art Dolls are made from pure wool felt, vibrant cotton embroidery thread, silk dyes and various charms, glass and semi precious beads. They are all unique and have their own names and associations and come with a beautiful card to share their 'story' 

They are $45 Please look at the Goddess Art Doll album  to see which ones are still available and PM me over there if you would like to have one of your own.   

To celebrate 100 likes in the first week 

I did a little art doll give away

My boys and I printed all the names, cut them apart

 and put them into a hat

and my lovely assistants Mr13 holding the hat

and Mr9 picking the winner

selected the winner and Lavender the Goddess Art Doll

Congratulations Michelle.

It was so much fun we might have to do another give away at the next milestone. 

Today we walked to the post office and sent 

Lavender and Aqua to their new homes.

Dreamy Layers

I have been enjoying playing 

with layers and vivid colors lately

\

I love the dream like 

feel these pieces are developing

and I find myself drawn back

 to the easel again and again

to find a little something 

and reveal it

Its quite intuitive and playful

I come to the canvas 

with a lot of supplies to play with

and an open mind.

This one really changes colour through the day

and it just glows in natural light

Bygone Era

I worked in Beth's traveling art journal

 when I was away traveling...

Beth and I are part of the 15 Artists-15 Journals- 15 Months 

 journal round robin, being run over at Milliande's 

I really enjoy being a part of these

 collaborative art journal swaps.

It is so nice to see and hold the pages

 the other artists have done

 and also to try and interpret the journal owners theme.

As I was traveling I had limited art supplies

 but I like to set myself challenges like that.

Bright New Art Journals

I have been really enjoying book making lately

and have made some lovely art journals to sell.

I learned a new skill~

copic binding

and love they way look bound this way.

I used a variety of different papers,

repurposed ones - vintage book pages, vintage atlas pages,

 sheet music and an old children's illustrated dictionary,

and lots of new paper as well

printmaking paper , water colour paper, 

black and white sketch paper and

 different coloured printer paper.

Some have found there way to new homes already

where I hope they will encourage their new owners to 

make art and play in the pages.

Gypsy ATC swap

I joined in the "Gypsy" ATC swap

at Milliandes Art Community for Women 

that Marilyn B Hughes was running.

Some of my gypsy fortune tellers

 had doors added to their gypsy wagons

They were decorated on the inside as well

Some of the ladies have been sharing

 their pics in the gallery

 over at Milliandes and the cards are absolutely gorgeous!

I received this beautiful card from Kathy

Thank you Kathy I love your card.

and I have received  this beautiful one from Marilyn.

Thanks for hosting this lovely themed swapMarilyn.

~~Recycled breakfast cereal box~~ Art Journal

I have 2 beautiful sons 

and one of them is a teenager 

and a cereal-a-holic

With their help I have a constant supply 

of cardboard boxes awaiting a new life.

I made this quirky art journal 

and I kept all the flaps in tact to attach extra bits 

and just to add an interactive aspect,

I gessoed and painted both sides

 of the boxes

 before I cut them to size and assembled them.

And then I started to play

I have had a bit of a bird theme in my work lately

and an on going tree theme.

I took this journal travelling

and kept  adding bits and pieces while away.

Halloween in Wonderland

I have been working in Loren's 

lovely travelling art journal 

"Halloween in Wonderland"

 from the

  15 Artists, 15 Journals, 15 Months

 journal round robin 

running at

  Milliandes Art Community for Women.

Loren's theme was a bit tricky

 but I enjoyed working in it very much. 

Its been quite a while since I posted

 in my blog and so much has happened.

My family has moved away from my beloved river but our family home is still there and the kids and I will be regularly visiting. We just got back from a month up there and it was so good for my soul and the boys loved it as well.

I have been doing art in that time but I have had  technological issues that made blogging too hard, hopefully these are all sorted now and I will once again get into the habit of sharing my creative adventures.

Goddess Journals

I have been making little journals

repurposing old book pages,

pamphlets, maps and

and all sorts of beautiful things to inspire others.

 They are all slightly different with a variety of techniques used

in beautiful colours.

I have  used inks, dyes, stamps,

stencils, gesso , inktense watercolor pencils and acrylic paints.

and my imagination

 leaving plenty of open space for journaling

including some of my original art

(these are from a day playing with a printing press)

 

because these little Goddess journals 

were made with love and intention

for some of my friends.

BoD update 1

I have been really enjoying the process of working in my BoD

Book of Days with Effy Wild

Unfortunately I dont have a good internet plan living here by my river so I dont get to watch most of the video's, however I do get to follow along with the group on facebook and I just sort of go with the process now.

These are pages I have played on ready to journal with,

and I often start a diary in the new year but I do tend to let it slip pretty easily

I am finding combining my art journal with my diary = Bod is working really well for me.