Printmaking Spree

Sometimes a girl just has to break out the gelli plate and play.

I have had a bit of a print making spree lately and have been working with a limited palette each time and trying to do as many different things as can in each session.

It is so much fun and so relaxing and I love the results.

I have been working in long strips that I then fold into pages and will eventually bind them together into an art journal, very much inspired by Teesha Moores Amazing 16 page journals. At the moment though I am really enjoying working in the loose leaf format.  Thanks to my friend Maisy for giving me the idea.

I have found it easy to grab a few supplies and a few pages and take them with me when I need to wait at places, with the backgrounds already done I often find something inspiring to start me off or I just find a background that suits my purpose.

Art Journaling when you are sick.

I am usually a pretty healthy and busy woman but have recently been sick for a couple of months, once I watched all the documentaries and art videos and music videos on my lap top in my endless days of being in bed I was bored and I needed to journal.

I was limited in what I could do though and lacking inspiration.

I didn't want to have paints and water jars in my bed 

and I didn't want to have to keep getting out of bed to clean things.

But I did want to exercise my little creativity I still had, 

art heals and it always makes me feel better.

So endless hours of worrying about the bush fires ravaging NSW and  looking at facebook turned up some words and quotes I wanted to play with and my waste paint journal has lots of yummy pages prepped and ready for the next step.

With just some paint pens, gel pens and markers I could write on my pages and I had all of these words so I didn't even have to think too much about things. Just play with freedom and it made me happy and distracted me. 

Some of my pages in this journal have had opening pages added and when I found a theme running through the words inspiring me I grouped them all together under post cards and opening pages.

I have so appreciated being able to just play, appreciated my already prepped pages, my lap top connecting me to the world and  the moments when I was up to sitting.

Art really is a healer.

~~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.

Owls

I recently came across these pics

from a series I did of birds

 and sadly these are the only 2 I have photos of.

That is a gorgeous Boobook Owl above.

This one is a Tawny Frogmouth,

not technically an owl no,

but often grouped with owls 

as it has the same nocturnal habits

 and is similar in many ways.

All of these birds in this series have flown to other homes.

And these little guys are whimsical owls 

hanging out in my art journal.

Sacred Moments

I have been working in Vera's

 "Sacred Moments"

Traveling Art Journal

This theme was a bit challenging for me

because I tend to find the sacred in every moment,

 as we have just passed summer solstice

here in Australia,

I chose that sacred moment,

of breaking dawn

on the longest day.

The writing on the left of this page

 is a quote from

"Life as a Verb"

by Patti Digh.

and reads

"We inhabit ourselves without  valuing ourselves

unable to see that here, and now, 

this very moment is sacred, 

once its gone- its value is incontestable"

by Joyce Carol Oates.

Vera has made a unique journal,

she has a crotchet spine

and the pages are all sorts of thing,

paper bags, recycled envelopes,

 tarot cards, and even cardboard packaging. 

It is a fun and funky journal.

Art Journal Pages

I have been looking back 

through some of my ever growing collection of art journals

 and I thought I would share some images.

I often do a page when I come across a great QUOTE. 

Something to help me remember it.

I first found this quote when I was making a card for a friend, 

I made her the card and a lovely gift for her birthday 

and the very next day she ended our friendship. 

I wonder if she didn't like my quote.

I am very inspired by the GODDESS.

By all the archetypal stories and legends 

and often explore these themes in my journals.

I am a TREE lover.

Every few pages another tree tends to grow in my journals.

They are the garden of my imagination.

The FEMALE NUDE  is another favorite theme,

this one was in a particularly textured stage.

It's like instant rewind, 

looking back through my journals

 and I can see the stages I was in at that time.

This page was unusual for me as I don't tend to draw angels,

I was playing around with halo's on everything around this time

 and it may have been inspired by a class or a video I had seen at the time.

A scrappy collage all messy and shabby.

I love doing pages like this.

When I have a pile of scraps 

on my table that is when a page like this evolves.

EARTH

Another passion of mine, 

all things earthy and great big boulders stacked up.

Oh look another TREE

this one inspired by the masterful

Gustav Klimt.

BIRDS

 are another beautiful theme I like to explore.

and 

WINDOWS 

and 

DOORS

Just what is out there on the other side ? 

I think its the architectural shapes and the symmetry that I like here.

Nature, Dreams and Visions

I have had the pleasure this week of working in this beautiful travelling art journal. It was hand made and the above art work was done by Deedee Forrester from California.

Her theme is Nature , Dreams and Visions.

She and I are fellow journey women in the 15 Artists, 15 Journals, 15 Months swap.

Inside her journal there are some very beautiful entries and these lovely words from Deedee~

"Our journals are on a daring flight around the world. Letting go of something we love, something we have started, giving back to each other is as life should be ."

It has been such a pleasure to give my work to Deedee and share my nature, dreams and visions in her lovely journal. I have long admired Deedee's work so was thrilled when she joined up into this swap with me.

Deedee has generously added extra pages into her journal and invited everyone to do more than one if they would like to, so I took her up on her offer and did 2 pages.

The one above I did using stencils and sprays, markers and stamps.

I took this journal down to the local skate park with my boys the other day, and it certainly made those few hours a whole lot more pleasant. 

This page was inspired by one of my favorite lessons I did in a wonderful art journaling course 30 Days with Gulfsprite   taught by the  very talented artist and gifted teacher Christy Sobolewski .

30 Days of Art Journaling with Gulfsprite

I have been working in another art journal as well

this one is a repurposed hardcover novel from a garage sale

and I have been using it to do a fabulous art journaling course

30 days with Gulfsprite

Christy Sobolewski

is an incredibly generous and gifted teacher

and I am so thrilled to be able to take her class.

These are just a few pages I have been inspired to make.

The Elements of Art Journalling week 1

I have started doing an online
art journal course
over at Wild Precious Studio
with the fabulous Effy Wild

It is called
The Elements of Art Journalling
and it is still open
if you want to join me and loads of other lovely ladies.

Week 1 has us contemplating the elements
and creating our journals
this is the first layer on my
brand new spiral bound visual diary.

I do love a nice new art journal,
all bright and shiny and full of possibilities.

Over my collage I added paints and inks and some stamping
and inside I added a series of tabs for each section.

to finish off my cover on my gorgeous new journal
I quickly made a simple spiral stencil
out of a piece of copy paper,

and added one of my goddess figures.
I also stamped a title-
The Elements

Inside I made a tabbed page for each element,
I also made a pocket to hold any collage elements
or other inspirational bits and pieces
I find on my journey through the elements with Effy.

Next up was some mind mapping on each element.

I loved this part, really thinking about and just
intuitively jotting down my thoughts.

Personally I really identify with Earth and Water
so Air and Fire were going to be really difficult,
So I thought,lol.

I took my journal down to the skate park with my boys
and sat with Air,
the normally very boring time at the skate park
was a great opportunity to have to sit
and have no other distractions
and contemplate Air.


Next up was water~
water is my element,
I love all forms of water and live overlooking
my beloved Clarence River


So water was like a lovely little holiday
soothing and restorative.

I am really looking forward
to exploring water further with this course.

Fire - I love a nice fire on a cold night
or a camp fire when I am out in the bush

Mind mapping fire
was also easier than I expected,
I did this one sitting on the lounge
if front of the fire one night.

Spirit-
this one actually turned out to be the most challenging
and I have not quite finished this page.

I will sit with spirit again and come back to this page.

I couldn't wait to play in my new journal though,
and this is my first page.


I started off with the Charge of the Goddess,


and one of my printed Goddesses
and then I played with colour.

I used Caran d'Ache neocolours
and my new glimmer mist on these pages

and here is my first elements spread.
I worked with my caran d'ache neocolurs again
to represent each element,
Out lined with zig writers
and finished off with my current favourite
silver acrylic.

I am so ready for week 2 Effy.