Yes, it's been a very long time since I posted anything to this blog.  In the interim I have moved, gained a new furry friend, and reconnected with a lot of old friends.  I have a beautiful studio space to work in too.  So I have had a lot of distractions and new routines to build, and I have been fighting with myself to get back to art journaling and I have made some progress, especially being in lockdown due to a worldwide pandemic. I have also been dealing with eyesight issues (I've been diagnosed with photophobia- not so great for me, since I haven't been able to drive since April, but we are in a lockdown with the pandemic, so there really hasn't been much reason to drive anyway).

I did this page back in March 2020. I did one other page on the COVID-19 pandemic, but I really don't like to dwell on negative things so this is all I will post on the scourge of 2020.  I have some great art journal pages to share with you, so there is more to come.

Now off I go to start scanning in some of those journal pages, many of which are still works in progress (if they are ever truly done at all).

 

Every dog has its day.

In November of 2015 I said goodbye to my faithful companion, Cailean. She was 15 years old, and had cancer.  She was a tough little Scottie dog, and fought against showing any signs of pain until the last week, when she slowly lost her battle and the vet at the emergency animal hospital told me that there was nothing they could do for her.

I will always love you Cailean.

Dream a little dream of me.

Happy New Year!  It's 2016 and I am hoping that this year will be another great year for me.  I have selected the word DREAM to be my word this year.  I need to dream more, and dream big.

Like 2015, the year has started off with death. My mom passed away last Tuesday. She was 84, and it had been a struggle for the last few years with her health, and the last few months were very hard, with her bouncing back and forth between a rehab facility and ICU at the hospital. We had a great visit with her on Christmas Day when she was back at rehab, and it was a good day for her. That was our last visit with her before she passed away, so we have happy memories to end on.

Cleaning through old family things has brought me the following photo, one I didn't think existed. It's a photo of me and my brother, I was five and my brother was four years old.The best part about this photo is that I am wearing my blue daisy raincoat.  This raincoat was very special for me. So special I devoted a page in my art journal, trying to recreate it from memory.  See how close I got to the real thing:

Frida Kahlo is my inspiration....

Here is the followup for my last two blog posts.  The two page journal spread- which I showed a page where I had only worked on the background:

This is what I added to the background, inspired by my trip to the New York Botanical Garden's current show on Frida Kahlo:

I really am happy with the way this came out. I had a clear idea in my head about what I wanted to do on the page and I was able to make it happen (which is so rare for me.).

Frida Kahlo exhibit at the New York Botanical Gardens

I had the pleasure of visiting the current exhibit at the New York Botanical Garden: Frida Kahlo's Garden. It was a truly perfect day. The trip was sponsored by Gallery North, a not for profit art gallery in my town that I spend a lot of time volunteering at. This trip was a treat I gave to myself after a very hectic month at work. The weather was perfect, the bus was completely full and I was absolutely delighted with the gardens NYBG had curated using photos, Frida Kahlo's paintings, and visits to Mexico City to see Casa Azul and other gardens connected with Frida Kahlo. I found the gardens intriguing and peaceful, and spent more than an hour rambling around smelling fragrant flowers, admiring the abundant varieties of cacti and tropical plants. It was much more than I expected.

I confess that the only other time I have been to the NY Botanical Garden was last winter for their Christmas Train show, which was a completely different experience. So I had no idea of the scope of the grounds of the NYBG- or that they had a building called The Library. On the sixth floor was an exhibit of six of Frida's paintings (I have only seen one of Frida's paintings before this- I believe at MOMA). They also had sketches of hers on display. On the fourth floor was a display called "Two Fridas" which was a tableau of her Two Frida's painting- using her dresses with a vine work mannequin form of sorts to fill them out. It was very striking. On the first floor they had a timeline of Frida's life on the walls.

I highly recommend going to see this exhibit if you admire Frida Kahlo, and if you are a gardener- this is an amazing garden.

Work in Progress

June was a crazy month for me at work, so it is taking a while with art journaling. Here's what I've been working on.

I did a two page spread in my art journal, starting with Dylusions Ink Sprays in Lemon Zest, Squeezed Orange, and Postbox Red. I used a paper towel to spread the ink spray around to create the blended colors. Then I used a magic market to write inspirational mantras and sayings crossed both pages.From there I sprayed with Tsukineko Walnut Ink. Then I used a Heidi Swap spray stencil (dots) and stenciled with Craft Smart Acrylic Paint in White.

This is page two of the spread. I have already begun collaging with images clipped from magazines, using the images as my 'paint' finding the colors I wanted to make the face, hair, and leaves. The eyes were from separate sources (obviously) the left from Dover clip art and the right from a magazine ad.

I will continue with this image by adding pinworm soon.

The top page will get another collaged image. I have some ideas for what that will be. Stay tuned.

Seeking

Materials: I used Tim Holtz Distressed Stain in Wild Honey and Vintage Photo for the background color of the page along with spraying Tsukinek Walnut Ink. Stencil- Crafters Workshop with airbrushing Copic markers. More Copic markers and a Signo Uniball white pen. Moon phase rubber stamp by Stampers Anonymous. Collage materials from magazines and Dover clip art (eye). Song lyric from Enya "Anywhere Is". Other quotes I picked up here and there on the internet and reading books.

Hope you enjoy.