Scrappy Journal

Looking back, moving forward...

Well said, Vincent...

Art Journal Collage

More pages in the 

Scrappy Green Journal created by

Elizabeth of Altered Book Lover.

I enjoy getting to work

on the substrates that she

made as they are often 

unexpected and stretch my

skills in new ways.

The square with bird & Tweet is

a pocket which can hold 

tags or other bits of

ephemera.  I don't "Tweet"

but couldn't resist the 

word and the bird together...

I've never outgrown paper dolls.

These are a couple that I just

did this week. Maybe it's silly

but it's "my party, and I'll make

paper dolls if I want to."

This one has a fashion magazine

face, drawn over with marker.

I drew the face on this one--

it has a watercolor background,

stamping, drawing, and a 

wallpaper scrap glued on.

In other news, I got a small journal in which 

to start making mysterious drawings 

and diagrams, ala Henry Jones.

(Indiana Jones dad)

I am going to start with diagrams of 

Native American glyphs from

the Ohio river area...

who knows what treasures will

be uncovered?

Painted Paper Collage from Scraps

Collage created using painted paper

on a 4" x 6" index card.

Lines were added using 

Sharpie extra fine tip marker.

Another collage on an index card.

Resist technique done by drawing 

circles and swirls in crayon, then painting

over them with watercolor

or acrylics.

Wrinkled paper is a scrap from

a glimmer mist project.

Scraps can make a striking

work of art.

Art Journal Pages

Continuing to work in the Green Scrappy Journal

that Elizabeth sent me.

'Plunge into Life' is created on top of

a page made from brown paper bag.

The next page shows the tags

peeking out of the paper bag opening,

and from behind the cardstock that

had been sewn to it.

One side of the larger tag is above.

The quote was torn from an old

psychology textbook.

A quote written on hand-painted paper

is on the other side of the large tag.

I made this paper while

painting with poster paints with

my grandson one day...

you can see the crayon resist

beneath the paint on the right side.

I love this quote...

Go throw some paint!

Mail Art

FISH MAIL

Postcard created from recycled cardboard
with collage over the 'printed' side.
Collage created from cotton fabric,
scraps of handmade paper and an ad,
a scrap of watercolor and ink,
stamping, hand-drawn swirls,
and the canceled postage image.
An extra fine-point Sharpie marker will
write on almost anything, including fabric.

What is Mail Art?

Mail art is art which uses the postal system as a medium. The term mail art can refer to an individual message, the medium through which it is sent, or an artistic genre. Mail art is also known as postal art and is sometimes referred to as Correspondence/Mail Art (CMA).

Mail artists typically exchange ephemera in the form of illustrated letters, zines, rubber stamped, decorated or illustrated envelopes, artist trading cards, postcards, artistamps, faux postage, mail-interviews, naked mail, friendship books, decos, and three-dimensional objects.

An amorphous international mail art network, involving thousands of participants in over fifty countries, evolved between the 1950s and the 1990s. It was influenced by other movements, including Dada and Fluxus.

One theme in mail art is that of commerce-free exchange; early mail art was, in part, a snub of gallery art, juried shows, and exclusivity in art. A saying in the mail art movement is "senders receive", meaning that one must not expect mail art to be sent to oneself unless one is also actively participating in the movement.

Excerpted from Wikipedia on-line article.

MAKE (AND SEND) SOME MAIL ART TODAY!

Art Journal

New page in the watercolor journal. Watercolor background, scraps of painted paper, fabric, Sharpie drawings and colored marker. The face, hands and tree are drawn in crayon, then tempera paint applied over them, creating a 'resist,' then torn from the original paper and collaged onto this page. Can you meet yourself coming and going?!

Poetry on Paper

Collage on recycled cardboard (from a cereal box) painted with craft acrylic paints and collaged with scraps of painted papers and scrapbook papers. My favorite Sharpie extra-fine pointmarkers will not write on this paint, so I used a Zig Memory System marker that is a scrapbook product. It writes and draws smoothly but is not waterproof, so it must be used at the end of the process, after all water media has dried. I also shaded some of the edge decoration with chalk pastel.THANK YOU to Elizabeth of the Altered Book Lover blog for featuring me on her website! I am honored to be her friend and fellow artist. Elizabeth does a very informative and inspiring blog, where you can follow her experiments, challenges, artistic creations and endeavors in mixed media. The very first "swap" I participated in was hosted by Elizabeth, and she made it so fun and enjoyable! Welcome to all who are visiting from Elizabeth's site, and those who haven't met her yet, stop by for her celebration of Earth Day.

Come Sail Away...

Collage and watercolor in my watercolor Art Journal. (Teesha Moore's amazing 16 page journal from one sheet of paper) The top image is a flap that unfolds, and is connected with the bottom image as one spread. Created using watercolors, hand-painted papers, scrapbook papers, stickers, copies of my Moo cards, white gel pen and Pigma Micron marker. I wanted to try something different from the "border around the outside & writing in the middle" lay-out...

April Fool

Another 3" x 5" collage on index card...

I like the Joker image,

but not necessarily April Fool's jokes.

I am so gullible that I'm 'taken in' every time!

I hope you enjoy your day

and all your jokes today are nice ones...

Have fun!

Joker

Index Card Collage- 3" x 5"

Assorted collage papers, music, clip art, playing card, scrapbook paper and magazine image.

Face hand-drawn in Sharpie permanent marker.

Black and White Art

Collage created from magazine and clip-art images, a scrap of the inside of a security envelope, and fabric.White gel pen and Pigma Micron pen.Surrounding doodles inspired by Dover clip-art, and handwritten script is a portion of an Edgar Allen Poe poem.

Art Journal Page

5 1/2" x 9" flap in watercolor journalBorder made with scraps of fabric,painted papers & scrapbook paper; drawing in permanent marker.Quote written with calligraphy marker.

Play is Knowledge

Work-in-Progress completed, for better or worse...Recently watched a late-night talk show,and Yo-Yo Ma, the famous cellist,was the guest.This statement that he made struck meas very important, not only for artists but as any human being who wants to experience joy and renewal.

When we have children and grandchildren,we get to re-experience life as they discover things, grow and learn.As artists, we follow a path of creative discovery...in color, emotion, expression...have a creative day!

Watercolor Art Journal

Created a little Art Journal from Fabriano watercolor paperusing the instructions posted on Teesha Moore's blog.Mine is 7" x 9" instead of the 8" x 10"that Teesha made. This journal is simple to make andso much easier to scan than my thickerhardback journal. Teesha posted videoson her blog explaining her process.

Watercolor background withscraps of hand-painted papers, fabric,stamping, scrapbook papers, & found images.Chalk pastel, Sharpie extra-fine point marker,and white gel pen for added depth.

Collage in Art Journal

Magazine images, scrap paper,drawing in Sharpie extra fine point marker

Art Journal Pages, part two...

Completed journal pages with Sharpie permanent marker, bullet-tipand extra-fine tip, purple highlighter andSigno Uni-ball white gel pen.Journaling inspired by a poem entitled"Roads" by Rachel Field.

Funny that of all the places and typesof Art that I mentioned on this page(and of course I didn't cover them all)I noticed I didn't mention museums...I love museums and the inspiration they provide,but I guess I think of Art as a more"living " entity...integrated into our verylives and culture...and I know I should pay more attentionto the rich diversity surrounding me...where is the "road" leading you?

Art Journal Pages

Had fun doing the images on these pages,but for some reason "writer's block" struck...so used some quotes that I found inspiring.Watercolor background...

Assorted scrapbook paper snippetsadhered to outside borders, magazine clippingsof flowers and the girl's body. I drew the headand glued it above the body, having fun withthe exaggerated proportions.Doodling and writing added withMicron Pigma pen. A few bits of addedcolor in Sanford Uniball gel pen...

Retrospective: FACES

2009, collage on recycled cardboard, above.Scraps of painted papers & cardstock,hand-carved stamping, acrylic paint,Sharpie drawing over pieced collage.

2009, Collage on recycled cardboard, above.Cardboard cut into profile shape and collaged.Watercolors, scrapbook papers,hand-carved stamps, magazine words,negative & positive shapes utilized.

2009 crayon drawingglued into my art journal--I colored right along witha 3-year old...

12.26.08 Blue Facesa "use up the paint on the palette"painting, in acrylic

2009 pen drawingof African mask,in my art journal.

2008 "Botanical" collage.Magazine images, drawing offemale face in Sharpie, columnar paper.

2008 "Flower & Face"acrylic paint, painted cardstock, fabric,sticker, hand-carved stamps,magazine image, in myart journal.

2008 "found poetry"and drawing in art journal...'strata of rocks' theme resurfaces...

2008 pen sketchafter DaVinci..."Why does the eye see a thingmore clearly in dreamsthan the imagination when awake?"

2007 pencil drawing inmy art journal--self-portrait in reading glasses.

2004 watercolor in my art journal--Muslim woman's face.

Playing with collage and paint,2004 art journal page.

2003 matte acrylic painting froma magazine photograph ofa Mayan sculpture & glyphs--in my art journal.

My 2003 drawing from a magazine photoof a Mayan artifact that wascarved from bone."In painting or anything, you cannot have hate. If you have hate, you destroy the picture and yourself. You can have hunger, you can have thirst, you can have great feeling for texture, you can be sensitive to touch, you can be sensitive to color, but for the head you've got to be sensitive to love. Otherwise it will not work...Now, that love won't change the shape, but it will add something...this radiates out from the person...it's in the air between myself and the object I'm looking at."- Ivan Albright, painter