Jill's Art Journal

play! 2012

2012-02-10T22:44:00.001-05:00

I attended play at the end of January this year again. It was a great, creative, arty time with friends old and new. I wish I could go every weekend...just disappear and make art in such a great, safe and supportive environment. No politics. No emergencies. No one to take care of. No grand responsibilities or work. Just relaxation and creativity. This is a good thing on occasion...

My Workspace

Our play Room!

It was a wonderful weekend and a good time was had by all. I will miss everyone terribly until we get a chance to meet again. In addition to my journaling and personal art creation I learned a lot from Tracy Moore about Lomo cameras and their vast array of qualities. He knows so much and he seemed to love sharing it all with the group. We went on a walk around Fort Worden and took photos. I had a super-wide lens Lomo camera. He is going to take the film and scan them for me as the photo developer had no clue as to how to print the double-wide exposures. As soon as he sends them to me I will post some of them here.

Teesha Moore had us to do a collage exercize the first morning to warm us up. I normally hate collage but the exercize we completed allowed a lot of freedom and no time for judgement. Here are the QUICK ones that I made during the frenzie. I plan to finish them out a little more and then take them and bind them together some how (maybe using a Japanese accordian fold spine book format, as suggested by my friend Steve from Arizona who also attended?) as a little memorial from the weekend.

Teesha also encourged us to do a study in values. A value is a color that has had either black or white added to it. The strip below is a total of 9 colors that have had either back or white added to them and then painted back into a little square of the same color with yet a different value. It was a lot of fun and it taught me a lot about color.

It was a great experience. And until I get a chance to visit Fort Worden and Port Townsend again, I will have a vast pool of wonderful memories upon which to draw and remember...

JournalFest Treasures

2011-11-05T20:20:00.000-04:00

While out in Port Townsend for JournalFest, I visited Akamai Art and Glass Supply store. They are the greatest art supply store and they have everything under the sun. I heard about the Stabilo Woody 3-in-1 pencils during a class last year with LK Ludwig. She used them in her journals and thought they were wonderful. I made a not of them but never went to any lengths to find them. Well, lo and behold, when I was wondering aimlessly though Akamai, I saw a full set hanging on the wall and I just had to have them. I can never choose colors so I go ahead and buy the full set when I can and when it makes sense. A box of 6 or 8 versus a box of 18--it was no contest! Ha! They have 1-cm "leads" in them and they go on sort of waxy. However, like the 3-in-1 pencils, they completely dissolve with the application of enough water. A very cool tool for the arsenal indeed.

I visited the JournalFest Gallery and found some items that had been submitted by Steve Salik. The covers are made of polyer clay and the spines are made of leather. I actually watched him create these at Play a couple of years ago and watched him demo his method of making faux jade and faux ivory. The handmade books were in my price range so I was fortunate to be able to purchase both of them. I really like Steve as a person and so that made the purchase that much sweeter.

Always being on the lookout for items I don't find at home much, I saw something I had recently heard about but hadn't had a chance to look for yet: Inktense Blocks. These are simply little sticks of the "lead" of Inktense watercolor pencils and allow you to put a lot of color on a page without wearing your pencils out. I used it to make the background for my little fellow that I posted about a couple of days ago. Not being an experienced watercolor artist I have a lot of learning to do about watercolor in general but at least I have used them and I will likely use them more in the future. The other is a box of Derwent Aquatone watercolor pencils. I have yet to use them enough to comment about them but hopefully I will soon. Oh, and if you are wondering about the black tape, that is what I use to keep the boxes from popping open in my suitcase when I travel!

During the Vendor Night portion of JournalFest, I purchased this visual journaling class booklet from Juliana Coles. I'm looking forward to cracking it open and getting started with some of it.

I also made some other vendor purchases from some other artists which I may post about later....if I can ever get some more photos taken. Time is of a premium these days.

Photo Silly 2!

2011-11-04T09:30:00.000-04:00

I am signing up for Photo Silly 2 that is an on-line class offered by Steve Sonheim via his wife's blog, Carla Sonheim. It is going to be great fun. I need something to keep me going artistically until I can get back on my feet here at home again and get some arty habits in place. I love taking photos so I think this could be just the ticket!

You can check it out at: http://carlasonheim.wordpress.com/2011/10/03/photo-silly-2-next-online-class-starts-oct-31st/

Some JournalFest 2011

2011-11-03T22:38:00.001-04:00

Just wanted to drop by again and leave a couple of photos of somethings I did at JournalFest this year. In Karen O'Brien's class "Pencil Dreams" on Day 3, I took a back and white copy of a head/neck clip art piece and finished out the rest of the portrait. We were attempting to learn shading with pencils, watercolor and gauche on clear gesso ground. It turned out pretty good I think:

We also did some fun faces in attempts to make imaginary faces. Funny how just altering facial shapes and feature placement and sizes will cause a "face" to look comical. Mine were a little extreme but they made me smile and even laugh at some of them:

I loved JournalFest and I learned so much this year with Orly Avineri, Roxanne Padgett and Karen O'Brien. All three are GREAT instructors and masters at what they do. I can hardly wait for sign-ups for next year! However, 2011 will be difficult to exceed....

Frightful Halloween Post

2011-10-31T22:20:00.000-04:00

Well, I'm peeping my head back in again. It has been a LONG summer with LOTS of changes. Terrible deadlines at work almost this entire year, ArtFest in April, mission trip to Puerto Rico in June, trip to WV in July, taking into our home my husband's 85-year-old father of minimal abilities when I got back home, pneumonia and a broken hip, rehab, medicare, dealing with the VA.....but I digress....oh, yeah...what I did this summer....trips to a few beaches in GA and FL and just recently a trip to Port Townsend, WA again to attend JournalFest. I actually have a photo of one of my projects to post later and a few new supplies like Stabilo Woody 10-mm lead pencils and clear gesso and acrylic ground.

Just felt like posting something. I did three different portrait classes at JournalFest this year with Orly Averin, Roxanne Padgett and Karen O'Brien. They were all fantastic and I learned a lot. I'm still jet lagged from the trip but I'll be back soon to do some show and tell.

Silly Stuff

2011-01-03T10:28:00.000-05:00

Sometimes we all need a break from the very serious lives we lead. That is why I signed up for Carla Sonheim's Art of Silly 3 on-line class starting on January 5. It is a really cool way to loosen up and have some fun while doing a little sketching and a lot of laughing. You should join me and the Squeen as we have some silly fun for the next 30 days. Trust me. With all I have going on at work this month, a little levity is warranted!

http://carlasonheim.wordpress.com/2010/12/01/silly-iii-registration-is-open/

New Challenge

2010-12-11T11:34:00.000-05:00

OK. As anyone who follows this blog knows (all 2 of you...), I don't post very often. I have a very busy life and seldom get to do "just for me" things. And, as my DH knows, I'm not very fast so even when I get an opportunity, I seldom get much of any consequence accomplished if I don't have much time.

SOOOO......I am going to try to participate in the Sketchbook Challenge (notice the new badge posted in the right sidebar). It should help me to do SOMEthing at least once per month (even though I think it is an everyday challenge...I do what I can). Several very talented artists are going to be hosting the challenge and I am excited to see what they have to show us as the year progresses. Hopefully it will result in me doing more art/sketching/journaling this year and maybe even some more posts to this blog. I haven't given up on this blog. I just haven't found a way to work it in more regular.

Apparently, just like my opportunities to do any kind of art.

I do have some things I can post from my latest trip to Seattle for JournalFest that was held the last weekend in October. Maybe I can get something up on that soon.

Out and About Again

2010-04-28T13:31:00.001-04:00

I'm trying to do better on my posting frequency. And I'm trying to do more sketches/drawing so hopefully I will improve. Here's one I did at lunch yesterday.

It was SO nice out. I'm enjoying spring here for a change. We usually don't have much of a spring--just straight from winter to summer!

Artfest 2010

2010-04-25T17:30:00.002-04:00

I went to Artfest in Port Townsend, WA again this year. I had a great time as always.

I had some really good classes and got to see some of my "arty" friends that I only get to see when I go out west. (Amy, Lorraine, Renee, Taylor and Lisa)

Artfest is the creative event hosted by Tracy and Teesha Moore (Tracy, me and Teesha)(http://www.teeshaslandofodd.com/artfest/classes.html) near Seattle. I have had a great time everytime I attend one of their events and I ALWAYS learn something--even if it is not what I had intended to learn to begin with. It is such a creative atmosphere and it is so freeing to experience that environment.

My first class was with Jill Berry--Artfest Journal. It was pretty cool.

It was an accordian spine style book that was designed to allow you to work on the pages outside of the book before it is constructed. Then you fold your papers in half and put the book together. We got lots of helpful journaling tips as well. We even went "out in the field" and did wax rubbings of things we saw around us. I got some from the restaurant where I ate lunch that day (the Asian Noodle?--it's on Taylor and it is delicious...always try to go there at least once when I visit). I got the door handle to the restaurant and also some paneling on the walls. The others came from memorial plaques around the Parade Grounds flag pole at Fort Worden.

My second class was with Misty Mawn--drawing faces. It was the one I was really looking forward to and was by far the most difficult for me. Here are my creations:

I still am making my eyes too large but considering this is the first "face" drawing class I've ever taken (and I've never really tried to draw portraits before) I don't think it is too terribly bad. I have hope that lots of practice will help! :-)

My last class was with LK Ludwig--Open Doors Journal. This journal design has two sets of signatures sewn into both the left and the right sides of the back base. The pages open from the middle to both sides. We did some backgrounds on some of the papers we put into the journal. I loved making it. It was a wonderful class and LK is FULL of tips and tricks!

I used canvas board for my covers since we weren't going to have to sew through the covers. It is an awesome sew-n-glue binding.

Yes, well I've already broken my rule from earlier--quick posts, not marathons! :-0~ Oh well. It is a big subject and I'm not a big one for suspense. Hope you enjoyed!

Quick Sketch

2010-04-23T09:26:00.001-04:00

I don't have time to say much about this but I wanted to post it. I need to post more often and perhaps if I didn't try to make it a thesis each time I would be more likely to do just that. SO.....here is a little sketch I did while at lunch yesterday. I was eating at an outdoor table at Arte's Pizza. Great food. Quaint atmosphere there on the sidewalk. Nobody is treated as a stranger in my town....

There you go. Yay! A post for today any way. If you are out there actually looking at this blog please leave a comment. Thanks~!

Finished Journal Pages

2010-02-25T20:50:00.007-05:00

OK. I'm actually posting 3 times in one month! Watch out--the sky may fall! Ha!

I finished the journal pages that I prepped and showed you in the last post. Here they are in their finished form.

Yes, I like to write. Love to write. Write a lot.....all the time.... I also played with different things on the pages. You probably can't tell from the photos, but I used different techniques to color the background. I used Panpastels, watercolor, acrylic wash, Prismacolor Art Stix, Prismacolor Nupastels and some air brushing. I also added some of my newly purchased Japanese tape to the edges of some of the pages. LOVE LOVE LOVE that stuff!

Well, gotta run. Gotta get some more clothes in the wash and finish getting some supper ready for the DH. Can't play all the time, huh? :-)

Journal Prep

2010-02-11T21:35:00.006-05:00

OK, I'm a few days late, but I'm back! I wanted to do some journaling on the way back from Seattle but didn't feel like writing. Instead, I took one of my Moleskin journals and created some "backgrounds" for journaling later. I cut up parts and pieces of my travel documents and glued them on the pages. Believe it or not, I did this for the better part of at least 4-5 hours on various planes! One of the stewards found it quite comical but interesting. Here are the pages. Hopefully I can follow up with some of them filled in and further embellished soon!

I'm Back!

2010-02-06T17:49:00.008-05:00

A LONG time with no posting. Hopefully I'll do better this year! I just got back from play: the retreat in Port Townsend, WA. I had a GREAT time! I made a 5.5" x 5.5" journal with a polymer clay cover, wooden back and fully painted water color paper pages. I really like the journal. Here are some pictures of it:

The card on this page was made by Maurine Dyson-Berris. It was so cool and I loved the quote and the colors so I had to use it on my first page.

On the second spread, I used an ATC from Andrea Sanjani. I loved the quote on it, too and the colors just seemed to go well with it.

Then I did a spread from scratch when I got home. A friend of mine gave me some Bible verses that I really liked and I knew I had to put them in my journal. I purchased the "dancing girls" stencils from Tracy and Teesha. I sponged some ink through them and then outlined them in black. They are still not quite as dark as I would like them to be but they'll have to do, I guess.

I also visited the "local" art supply store while I was there. Here are some of the supplies that I purchased. I had been wanting to get these Copic MultiLiner pens in the colors the last trip I made there but decided I needed to wait until another trip. Well, this was "another trip"! I also purchased stuff from Tracy and Teesha during the retreat. Here are some of the things that I got from them...

I used the Ice Resin to make the shiny pool around the bird on the cover of my journal. It is really neat stuff. Dries clear and very, very hard. It is the same 2-part epoxy they have been coating gymnasium floors with for years. You gotta love it.

Well, I think I'll stop here. That way I'll have some other things I can post in the next few days! Imagine...another post in less than 4 months! Ha!

A Post--Can you believe it?

2009-10-18T16:34:00.006-04:00

I have finally be able to do some journaling worth posting. I started taking an on-line class from LK Ludwig [ http://gryphonsfeather.typepad.com/the_poetic_eye/ ] and I have created a couple of finished pages that I really like. We were to take an existing photo from our stash and then take a current photo that echoed or reflected some same character as the original photo along with some techniques applications that LK shared with us. Here are the two I created:

Yesterday was really the first day of cool temperatures here in southeast GA. I took some photos of the change in the weather...

Yep. Looks pretty much like it does the rest of the year. The marsh grass takes on more of a yellowish hue instead of a bright green but that is about it. Not too many trees around here that loose their leaves or turn bright colors. Just the same boring green all year long... However, the temperature was in the high 40's (deg F) and it was a bit crisp for a little while. The high got around 70 which is pretty chilly here for this time of year. That is more like December weather. I enjoyed the break from the heat. Hope you are enjoying your weather where ever you are.

More "Tools"!

2009-04-10T22:17:00.004-04:00

OK. I had a request that I show you all the art supplies that I purchased while away at Artfest. I paid a visit to Akamai (a local art supply store in Port Townsend) and it was very lucrative for both me and the store! Here are some of the things that I purchased:

These are some lovely handmade papers. This photo doesn't really do them justice as the colors are much more rich that what is shown here.

I love Micron Pigma Pens! And in all sizes, too! They will write over acrylics (dry) and are permanent when dry, too. I love them in my journals.

I saw someone at PLAY who was using the Inktense pencils. They are pretty cool. They are soluable in water and they look kind of like ink in intensity when they are dampened with water. However, once they have been made wet, when they dry they are permanent--which is a pretty cool quality if you are wanting to work with layers in watercolor.

I don't know anything about the Graphitint other than I liked the way they went on the page and I had all the other ones so why not buy these, too, to complete my stash??!!!! Yes! I hear you cheering for me! :-)

The small box of pencils are WAY cool! I took them to the Journaling Bonfire night and let my friends use them. They agree that they go on really soft and creamy--much like Prismacolor but not as waxy. They aren't too soft or too stiff. I think they are one of the best colored pencil sets I've ever used. They are woodless so the whole barrel is pigment. Pretty awesome, huh? They are made by Koh-i-Noor and they are simply called Woodless Colour Pencils. Very simple. As you can tell, I love pens and pencils!

I also purchased and assortment of Sharpie Poster Paint Pens. I just HAD to buy the black and white jumbo pens. If nothing else they make a great conversation piece! I also purchased some of their regular paint pens (oil-based) and I like them pretty well, too. They don't really have much of an odor and I haven't used them on thinner paper to know whether they bleed through or not. I liked the gold one I used on my 140# watercolor paper over watercolor and it worked just fine.

I love the poster paint pens, too, for working in my journals. They come in all sorts of colors including flourescents. Many say they are being discontinued but I don't know for sure. I've heard both yes and no from the company. Just to be safe, I bought several of the extra-fine black and white pens so I could have a little stash. The are just about the best pen I have ever used to go over acrylic and the white is truly opaque on even the darkest of colors. Love them!

The Copic Multiliners are new for me. They say they are permanent--even if colored over with another regular Copic marker. I love the fine tips and they write in my journals well so I'll pronounce them a keeper.

It is difficult to find a REALLY fine-tipped colored pen but Prismacolor has made one. The actually come in a few different small sizes but I chose just to purchase all colors in the 0.05 mm size. The color in this photo is a little off as the pen on top is actually a light purple. There is an aqua, couple shades of brown, black, blue, red and a carmel-y orange. If you like to write small and in color this could be the pen for you.

OK. There is a lot going on in this photo. The paint bottles at the top are a VERY fluid, metallic -- almost ink consistency -- and I plan on using them to splatter highlights on my pages. I'm sure they can be painted with or written with but I'm going to use them as spatter. I got this idea from my new friend Leslie Hale.

I picked up a few little and skinny Moleskins at Borders on the way to Port Townsend. I had ordered the Jellyroll Gel Pens from jetpens.com. The tape I got from Akamai. The yellow roll is actually "ruled" up to 12 inches and then repeats. This ought to be a cool journal addition. (I love tape, too!) The little boxes are the best little pen/pencil carrying boxes I've ever used. I got them from Akamai. I had bought one last year just to try out. It is the best travel box I've ever used so I bought some more to have this year. I think I have 4 now!

Well, this should about do it for supplies! (Lisa, this post was for you!) Next I'll get around to posting some stuff I made in my classes. My teachers were awesome and I'd do it all again given the opportunity.

Spring Day

2009-04-10T14:07:00.003-04:00

It was too nice today not to post about the great weather we are having here today. About 80 deg F, breezy, low humidity and VERY sunny! Here are some pics of the backyard and some of the driveway. I just love all the lush greens that are out everywhere.

I hope you are enjoying your day where ever you are!

Back Again...

2009-04-10T11:57:00.007-04:00

OK. So I am not a HABITUAL poster but it is because I am traveling and so busy with other things going on in my life. I just got back from Artfest 2009 in Port Townsend, WA but more on that in another post. Before I went to Artfest, I had to do some business travel to southern Alabama. Boy, that was and experience! And no, I WON'T go into it. (Most everyone was very gracious and nice but there were a couple of on-road experiences....I digress...)

On the way back from Mobile (my last stop on my business travels) on Friday, I took a layover at a friend's "cabin" on the Suwannee River in northwestern'ish Florida.

It was a great time catching up and then on Saturday we may some art in our journals. Mine isn't much but hey, I FINISHED another set of pages! Yay! I also found that I like adding pattern tissue to pages and writing on it. I like how it looked on the page. The blue hash patterns were made with a fork!

I love the way Suki created such luscious circles on her pages.

February Journal Page

2009-02-21T21:17:00.004-05:00

I got so worked up about all of the politics and wasting of money going on that I had to journal about it. I had a page partially started (see post June 5, 2008) that spoke to me that I needed to write about my frustrations on it. I sure felt better about it all after I vented on those pages! I think venting can be healthy as long as it isn't hurtful to who ever you are venting on!

Any way, I was finally inspired to finish a page so yay! Have a nice day!

PLAY!

2009-02-21T15:19:00.023-05:00

The last weekend of January I attended an art journaling retreat called PLAY. It was a wonderful experience for me this year. I attended last year (the first year of the retreat) as well but I think I enjoyed it even more this year than I did last year.

In 2008 I had a lot to learn about techniques and generally relaxing and enjoying my own work. I spent most of the weekend getting used to my surroundings and feeling intimidated by the work of everyone else. I took lots of photos of other people's work and of many sites around the Fort Worden campus where the retreat was held. I made several blank journals and struggled to put anything in the first one. It was a good trip and I learned a lot about me and what I really needed to start doing to enhance my journaling.

This year I was much more relaxed and I really enjoyed myself. I already knew almost half the people attending because they had returned from the previous year. The new attendees took from our excitement and contentment and I think it helped them to enjoy themselves more as well. Several of us had bought flowers for our tables and it was just wonderful.

Tracy and Teesha made us all feel at home comfortable with our style of journaling. They told us about new tools and techniques they had learn since our meeting in 2008. Here are some of the items I purchased for myself from them as well as Akamai Art Store in Port Townsend.

(Sasha has to check out and approve EVERYTHING that comes into the house...)

I found this really cool colored artists' tape that is like masking tape. The colors are bright and are really cool.

A new tool that I actually bought some of last year but didn't really know how to use it was the PanPastels. They are like a chalk pastel but they must have some kind of fixative in them or something because if you smooth them out enough over your pages they don't smear or transfer too much.

I used some on these journal pages that I started at the retreat and have been work on intermittently since I've returned. All of my friends can tell you that I am NOT a speed demon at working in my journals...

Steve made us all a small handmade journal and also gave us a really small moleskin-like journal and a wrap around closure that kept them together. He had printed "PLAY" and "2009" on the covers and what we all voted was a very close likeness of himself on the covers.

Teesha had included some cool information and a small cardboard-cover moleskin in our packets and several others distributed some cool trades intermittenly throughout the weekend. The "play" work on the green journal page above was received in a trade someone placed in my work area.

Here are some of my journal pages that I have started working on but have a way to go. "Darwin" has a "door" over his face that opens and closes. The inside has an egg on it. When it closes he has "egg on his face". There are fold over flaps on several of the pages. Some of them are smaller and some are a full-sized page.

Here are the junk journals that I made during the retreat. I have nice watercolor paper in the big one and cut up paper bags in the small ones. The journal pages I did above are in the big Cheerios one.

I had a great time and I hope I get to go back again next year!

Back Again

2009-02-14T22:46:00.004-05:00

OK. I know. It has been a while since I've entered anything in here. And to be quite honest, I've not done a lot of art projects since the last entry. I am going to try to do better this year... I attended "PLAY: the retreat" in Port Townsend, Washington--a journaling retreat organized by Teesha and her husband Tracy Moore. It was a great time. I don't have time at the moment, but probably tomorrow I will give you some more details. For now, here is a photo of a small entry I did in Catherine's "get well soon" book (that also is a story for another day...) It was a fun weekend. Can't wait to share more with you soon!

FINALLY!!!!!!!!!

2008-06-05T23:18:00.006-04:00

I'm finally getting around to posting on this blog! We have been busy traveling and lots of other things--especially taking photos with my new camera. Wayne had to be gone this evening so I got to work on some photos of my journal work and post on this forum.

First, I finally finished a couple of pages in the journal I started at PLAY: the retreat. Not a lot, but I have a few more pages prepped for entries now, too.

I've also started a watercolor moleskin journal. I am attempting to do pen sketches (so I can't erase anything!) and then color them with watercolor pencils and a brush. I have the sketches below (just ignore some of the discoloring due to my amaturish photography) followed by the approximate view of what I sketched. I haven't been able to add to it for a little while but I plan to continue and practice.

OK. So I also finally got brave and started working in one of my large journals that I bound at PLAY. I made this entry while I was on vacation with friends at Panama City Beach, FL. It was a fun page to do. I created it while the weather was rainy one day during our trip.

First Post

2008-05-16T22:43:00.004-04:00

Today is the day that I start my first art blog. I have another blog that is only hosting family and friends and related photos and I haven't been able to get any of my art on it. I think I'm finally comfortable with the whole "blog thing" now so I've decided to start another blog just for my art and related experiences.

This is a photo of my third watercolor ever.

I started lessons last fall and decided to take a plunge on a landscape this last session. It is partially completed. I still have to add all the other evergreens in the foreground that will appear behind the masked snow pieces. I'm quite pleased with it so far. I will finish it in August/September when I go back to my next class session.