Finding My Mojo

                                                       

Sometimes life gets crazy

 and days and days pass 

and I have not done anything artistic for ages,

 in these times I especially appreciate the arrival of a travelling art journal,

 because it puts me back in touch with my art supplies

 and comes with a theme and I can do anything I want

-it is a great way to pick up the brush and start playing.

I hadn't painted a canvas for a long time but it was coming up to gifting season and I also had an exhibition looming so I posted a challenge for colour blocking on our Australian Art Swap Group on Facebook and I shared this video.

and this one too

and I jumped right in with this underlayer.

Next came the colour blocking part I really wanted to try.

This how it turned out in the end 

and it also turned out to want

to go and live with a very special girl who loves it :)

Thankfully for me 

because I seem to have lost confidence in my hiatus

 so that will be what I am looking for next.

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

Painted Pages

 I have been working through some personal issues and when I need to think I like to play, so I got out a stack of colorful supplies and some old book pages I had removed to make atlered books and I spent a lovely few hours.

 I played with acrylic paints and inks, silk dyes distress inks and alcohol inks.

I didn't have to think about anything, I just kept going until I was finished.

 Using stencils, stamps, punchinella and bubble wrap and some free journaling.

After all of that I was ready to commit to moving far away from my beloved river, and moving my family into a whole new advemture.

I have also been keeping up my BoD

it has been great therapy and a great tool keeping me on track

 

documenting my comings and goings and downloading out of my busy busy head.

 

I wanted to keep this little Facebook post as well so it found its way into my BoD.

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.

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.

International Art Journal Swap

I have recently shared with you my Totem Animals Journal

that I have traveling with the 15 swap.

I also have another journal out there traveling the world,

This is my Sacred Feminine Journal.

I made and decorated its cover

 and introduction pages and sent it on its way.

It has been journeying since 2010

In the

  International  Art Journal Circle Swap

I included a gift of an ATC 

for each contributor in my journal.

This is a spread I did in

 Pearls beautiful

"Poems, Quotes and Verses" Journal

A section of my contribution in 

Milliande's "Connections"

I did a tree of life

inspired by Climt

in Claresters 

"Life on Earth" Journal

Euphaeidae chose a theme close to my heart

Feminine Fertility

So I loved playing in her journal

 and made some interactive pages

And here I have a basket full of journals

 to play in over the next while.

I thoroughly enjoy playing in these traveling journals

and I am eagerly awaiting the day they arrive back home

carrying all the art and dreams my fellow artists have shared.

A House of Cards

A while back I made a this little house 

card for a special friend.

It is modeled on their cute little cubby/ laundry/ guesthouse 

they generously allowed us to stay in .

It opens up and lays flat so is post able, 

and is made of collage,

Stonehenge paper , modelling compound 

and various paints and ephemera.

It now resides in that gorgeous little cubby , 

as a thank you from us.

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 3- Air

This week in Effy Wild's amazing
The Elements of Art Journaling course
we have been working with the element of
AIR

Air is all about deep thinking and meditating, and as usual Effy had a swag of ideas for us to try and work with and the discussions in the studio and the work being done by the participants has been awesome. There is a great network forming here and it really is special.

I have been thinking about Air all week and really noticing things, the local sugar cane farmers are burning off the cane for harvest at the moment and there are a lot of raptors around. I love to watch the raptors soaring through the air, they are so powerful and masterful, searching the ground for morsels to eat.

I have been arting on this, all weekend and this morning I woke with the words to John Denver's Windsong in my mind, I had not heard the song in years though and could only remember tantalising snatches of the lyrics but they seemed to be perfect for my planned page so I had to google them with breakfast and they were just right for my raptor page.


This page was a snap shot of my days at the moment, it is so windy here and with 2 boys I have so much washing, I really appreciate the great drying weather the wind provides.
I had my lovely Mum come to stay through the week so I didn't get to my course work until this weekend, but I did get my Mum art journalling, and she went home with a lovely new journal and has done a few pages in it up here. She also went home with a good selection of supplies and a bundle of inspiration. It was so lovely for me to share my passion with my mum, and to have her take to it so readily, even though she thought she didn't have an artistic bone in her body. Yay Mum.