Oriental-Roz's fabulous travelling Art Journal

I have not been very arty at all lately, things have been really full on at home and the sheer size of all that is going on has been overwhelming and all the while this little beauty has been quietly beckoning to me from my self. The picture above is the tittle page Roz made in he journal, the whole journal is a delight.

Initially I was playing around with an idea for something clean and simple and sophisticated, I wanted to use paper and pattern and I started this page and it just sat there for a while until I finally added the fan.

In the mean time I had an idea about an Asian sunset,

so I played with dylusion sprays for the background and a simple ink drawing, and then the ideas were really flowing so I did a third page.

Playing with suggested textures here , I was after the feeling of languishing in luxury, silks and velvets, precious metals and succulent fruit.

So I have added an extra page into your journal Roz and I hope you like them.

What is cooking in Soul Food

Soul Food has been a tonic for my soul this year,

so many different lessons and I can just not think and follow along and play

Here are some of my pages from this wonderful class.

I really enjoyed the fresh new technique in this one,

lesson 5 with Jeanette House.

Weaving inspired by sunsets- love it.

This is from lesson 8 with Regina Lord

Many of the lessons are created in different ways to how I am sharing them here, I have worked mainly in my art journal as that is how it suits me best right now.

This one was lesson 9 with Heather Santos

it was one we all need

Letting Go Of Perfect 

Lesson 7 with Zorana

Encouraged me to buy some new supplies-

my first golden paints

and experiment!

I just adored lesson 14 with Michelle Sylvia

bought out a whole tribe of gorgeous tree sprites into the world.

I added a little peek hole through the back 

of my lesson 15 and now my tree sprite is peeking through.

Lesson 15 with Ayala Art

Taught us how to cover up our mistakes and work on faces and hands.

Loved this lesson 18 with Stephanie Ackerman

my text is from 

The Upanishads

Lead me from dreaming to waking.

Lead me form opacity to clarity.

Lead me from complicated to simple.

Lead me from the obscure to the obvious.

Lead me from intention to attention.

Lead me from what I am told to what I see I am.

Lead me from confrontation to wode openness.

Lead me to the place I never left.

Where there is peace, and peace.

This is my take on lesson 20 with Carissa Paige

We were encouraged to play with the dark of night and some of the work shared in the group from this lesson is just breath taking and  beautiful.

This one was a weekend bonus lesson with Mika Diaz

I loved how it turned out and the things I learned in this lesson are already influencing my other works. 

I just love how the act of creativity is osmotic, what I learn or am inspired by in one area comes out in another. 

Lesson 22 with Jennifer DeDonato became for me a homage to my parrots,

we share our lives with a raucous and beautiful family of rainbow lorikeets.

These cheeky collaged owls are from lesson 25 with Heather Santos.

Heather is sharing some really cool techniques in her lessons through these classes.

This little cutie is from lesson 26 with Melanie Underwood.

Another great lesson filled with new techniques for me to play with.

I have just shared a few of the wonderful lessons here, many other lessons are included that I have not created yet- art dolls, assemblages, stunning canvas and wood panel art works. So many different mediums and art forms are presented with fabulous instruction and support. The teachers are so generous with sharing techniques and the back up and the connection within the classes and the course is wonderful.

I want to thank my gorgeous friend Jeanette House for bringing me to Soul Food and to thank Mystele, Heather and Jeanette for gathering and presenting such a well rounded and inspiring course.

Soul Food has indeed nourished my soul this year.

Journal Play- It's for Me

Music can be so healing and moving.

This spread came from a wonderful song by Western Australian songstress Mama Kin

Her words are her personal story but I can identify with some of them 

I used some collage, inks, paints, stencils and doodling 

This is the song- in case you have not heard it.

Term 2 Youth Art Classes at the Grafton Art Club

I am a local artist offering my unique and fun art classes at the Grafton Art Club.

Making art is fun and relaxing and in a life where we can so often get it wrong, there are no wrongs in my art classes, just wonderful experiments we can learn from.
 I am offering a colourful, creative, relaxing and nurturing space for kids from 8 up.

I am aiming for your children to find success and pleasure in our art time and at the end of our 8 week terms they will have gained  new skills and ideas
and come home with something uniquely their own.

Next term we will be focusing on mixed media and art journaling. Students will be working in a visual art diary and completing one or more pages in each class. We will be using many different media including acrylic paints and mediums, water colour paints and mediums, artist pens and inks, sprays, stencils, charcoal, gesso, collage and more. The materials we use we will play with, but they will learn as much from the art materials themselves as they will from me.

This is an ideal class to experiment with different art materials
and see what supplies really suit your child without having to purchase all the supplies first.

You can have a peek at me working with other young artists
on my facebook page River Girl Art in the Art with Kids folder.
 Please like my page to keep in touch with what I am doing and where I am.
  I offer many different classes in different places locally and afar.

Classes will be held at the Grafton Art Club
between 3:30 pm and 4:45 pm on Wednesday afternoons.
Dates for the next term are Wed April 30 – Wed June 25.

  Cost for the full term is $150 per student this will cover all of your materials and hall fees,
plus annual art club membership of $10.
Please speak to me if you would like to pay in 3 installments.

 If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact me
email clarenceriverkid@gmail.com 
or message me on my river girl art facebook page.

Art makes me Happy

Having Janene's lovely journal here I just had to have another play.

Janene's journal is themed

"What Makes You Truly Happy""

Art makes me happy-

I can usually lose all of my worries and cares in the play with colour and pattern. It is my own personal therapy at times and it is just an expression of joy at other times.

Teaching in a Little Town

I have spent the last 15 years home with my kids, we have done loads of things in that time and as I have always homeschooled them, we have had a lot of freedom to travel and explore and do so many things together. My boys are 15 and 10 now though and much more independent so I am trying to do more for me and trying to make more of a financial contribution to our family. I don't want to have to work full time hours though as I am still homeschooling and I would love to work in the field I love so I started up my business River Girl Art.

I am quite lucky that I do get so much teaching work, I am working for the local council in an out reach program called Out of the Box, I also work in the local regional gallery and I teach at the local art club. The contract work for the gallery is a blessing I get paid regardless of how many students I have but the art club is challenging. 

I have tried teaching adults art journalling and had a fabulous small group of women last year but it petered out when life changed for these ladies so I switched to kids classes. We had 2 nice classes last year one for homeschool youth and another after school, however in the new year all the kids seem to be so busy with sports and dance and choir and all the other lovely things that take a childs fancy and I am wondering once again what I can do with the opportunity I have with the art club. It is such a great venue.

Meanwhile the wolfs at the door so I need to amp up art sales and online teaching opportunities. 

What makes you truly happy?

I have had a play in Janene's journal in the Australian Art Journal Swap.
What Makes you Truly Happy.

Its funny how the different themes can really challenge us, I am going through a period of darkness in my life and being truly happy seems almost impossible but there are always those little moments when happiness finds you- moments of laughter or beauty or joy or love- these do make me truly happy so thank you Janene for helping me remember. 

I worked in layers on this spread, layers work well in moments.

A moment to tear the old book pages in readiness, a moment to do the collage.The next day when it is dry and beckoning I can do some washes of joyful inspiring colours and keep fiddling with washes when ever the moment strikes. Then a layer of journalling about what being truly happy means to me, but in a tonal pen, so I can leave my heart and soul right there but it wont be very easy for anyone else to read. Another moment on another day and I sketched in the flowers  then later that day I added a bit of white for its opacity  and to bring the flowers forward also covering up a little more of my journalling. Finally another moment with some spray inks and some inktense pencils to finish the page and bring it all together. 

This is the first month our journals are out in the big wide world, they are collecting their first input from our fellow artists- I can't wait to see what everyone else shares in our blog and look forward to some feed back on this spread. 

As I have a fortnight before our next mailing day and Janene has lots of pages I might even find another moment or 2 to play on another spread and I do know that art play does indeed make me truly happy, as does connection with like minded people and working collaboratively with my fellow artists in these travelling art journals.