Masonite

A friend of my mother's gave me a bunch of masonite scraps quite a while ago. They've been in bags at the back of the studio closet for ages, gathering dust. While looking for a certain tool the other day I came across them and decided it was high time I did something with them!

After applying a thin coat of gesso to a few pieces I started in with the glazes, paints & collage. A few of them are still in progress, but this one is finished. I think.....

A Few Journal Pages

Last night I managed to do 7 journal pages. I'd planned on doing 2, but once I got going I just kept at it for hours. A very satisfying feeling to get so much done in one evening!

Altered Books

I love altered books. Long before they were the in thing I had been taking old books and transforming them into mini artworks. Granted, I didn't really think I was creating art. It was just a wicked cool thing to do. I know a lot of other people of "my generation" altered books too. Again, with no intent to create art just a cool activity, rather rebellious and annoying to those who believed we were a group of juveniles defiling books!

These days we have so many techniques, resources and supplies available that altering a book can be far more creative than it was back in the dark ages. When the dinosaurs roamed all we had was junk mail, some low quality paints, a handful of rather mundane stickers and a few ink pads stolen from the office supply closet! But we still managed to create some pretty amazing stuff.

The supplies available today are amazing and a bit overwhelming. Most of them I can live without, but there are some I consider must-haves. Like the decorative tapes used in the journal page shown above. There are so many uses for it and it can really pull a layout together. If I had a pile of money I'd stockpile decorative tape. And Sharpie poster paint markers. And gel pens, and.......

A New Beginning

The last 6 months of 2008 were painful ones. Both physically and emotionally. Naturally, the majority of the art I made in that time reflects this. Dark images, vivid splashes of color that signify anger, grief, disbelief, frustration and all the other "dark time of the soul" adjectives you can think of were there in abundance. A group of work that is raw and full of deep emotion ,these pieces helped me to release the darkness so that I could return to the light.

Many people are afraid to let their darkness in for fear that it will take over their lives. I'm not one of them. I know that each one of us is made up of many facets of dark and light. That we all need those times of darkness in order to appreciate the gifts life has to offer. In order to renew our Spirituality and become whole again.

However, the art and journaling I've done for the past few months will remain private for now. Even though I've returned to the light I'm not ready to share the dark parts with the world. With friends and family, yes. With strangers, no. That's just the way I am. I'm definitely not one to expose my wounds to the world at large so they can be examined, poked at or analyzed.

Luckily my brief sojourn through the dark valley of the soul has given me renewed energy. In the past few weeks I've spent many hours working on my art journals, on mixed media paintings and creative pursuits in general. My creativity hasn't been confined to the studio, but has expanded into every room of the house. Sitting on the back porch watching the snow fall while doodling in a journal, curled up on the couch with scissors, glue and an altered book or painting pages in the kitchen while making a pot of soup are some of the creative moments I've enjoyed lately.

My life is FILLED with art. Every aspect of it is being touch by the creative spirit and I feel as if this is a new beginning. A new chapter in my life unfolds as I journey through each day. A desire to blog again, laugh again or share time with friends is what the Yuletide season brought me. I hope the end of the old year and the start of the new was just as good to you.

Life Gets Rough

Life has been rough here for quite a while now. There's been a lot of distressing things happening to various family members/friends, my Nana passed away in early October and I tore the ligaments in my ankle earlier this week. Like I said, things have been rough. Hence the reason for the abrupt halt to my daily blogging. But, I've worked out a system for stress relief that has had amazing results so I thought I'd share it with you all:

1. Drink morning coffee while soaking in the hot tub

2. Have afternoon tea while soaking in the hot tub

3. Drink after dinner tea/coffee while soaking in the hot tub

4. Gaze at stars while soaking in the hot tub, NAKED!

Give my total stress reduction plan a try. If it doesn't work for you I'll take another soak in the hot tub and think of your stress being reduced while the hot water and jets work their magic on me.

Blah, Blah, Blah

I've been feeling a bit blah so I've been staying away from the computer. My Nana has been in the hospital, she's home now but needs a lot of help. She lives with my aunt in Florida so I can't run right over there to help out and that really bothers me. She was always there for me growing up and I want to be there for her now.

My one and only sister is moving to Florida at the end of the month so I've been spending a lot of time over there helping her pack. I'm sad to see her go, but am excited that she's moving back to a place she loves so much and this time is doing it with the man of her dreams.

I've been busting my butt working in the gardens, cleaning and clearing out the house and generally getting things in order before winter sets in. It's a great feeling to de-clutter everything and start fresh.

In the past week I've made 2 journals, a cool set of wind chimes from found objects, a wood burned and painted Goddess image done on a wood slice, played with my dried herbs mixing up various remedies, made up a few batches of flower essences and harvested a bunch of produce from the garden.

Fall is a busy time of year, full of harvest activities like apple picking, canning tomatoes or reworking garden beds. It's a moist, fruitful time. A time for reaping what we've sowed and giving thanks for all our many blessings.

It's also a time of great change, as is evident in the color of the leaves, the migration of birds and the business of insane squirrels and chipmunks. Right now my life is full of changes, but it's all good. Different, challenging, a bit heart wrenching but good none the less. Living isn't always easy but it sure beats the alternative.

I'll be back soon with loads of photos of my new work. I can't wait to show off the wind chimes made from driftwood, copper wire, shell and beads. They are truly cool.

Off The Grid

Hubby and I watched this movie the other night. As much as I'd like to live off the grid and more back to nature, these people were freakin' nuts! One was a crack addict, most were packing some serious heat and had no qualms about shooting someone if they felt it was just, they burned a bunch of cars one night while drunk and the small children brought in a truck along with a bunch of guns while they confronted 'The Nowhere Kids'.

Like I said, I'd love to live back to nature and all but not with a bunch of fruitcakes for companions.

A Gargoyle In the Garden

I have always loved gargoyles. There is something about them that captivates me. Some folks find them creepy, but not me. I love everything about them; their history as water spouts and guardians of cathedrals, their diversity of expression and their presence all captivate me.

When I was in France I gazed upon the Notre Dame gargoyles with awe. They are as awesome as I always heard they were. I could've spent hours looking at them, but didn't have the time to do so. One day I'll go back and spend as much time with them as I want.

I have several small gargoyles around the house but have always wanted one for my garden. A big one to guard my home and yard.

After many years of wanting I finally have one! It arrived yesterday and is truly awesome. He's not made of stone, which is the only part of my wish that didn't come true. But, the stone ones are BIG bucks and that's something I just don't have. So Emmett (the name he came with) is made out of faux stone. But it looks like the real thing, which is cool by me.

Fainting Goats

I Love goats. Always have and always will. I especially love Tenessee fainting goats. Yes, fainting goats. Don't beleive me? Well, MythBusters certainly does. Tonight they did an episode on the goats and found out that they do indeed fall over as if in a faint if you scare them.

There are also numerous you tube videos out there. Take this one for instance. It shows the goats in a total faint.

Even if you don't love goats (something I cannot fathom) you gotta love a farm animal that keels over when scared!

And if you don't, then maybe you'll like this collage I did instead. It has absolutely nothing to do with goats, but there are a couple of wolves in it:

A Few Journal Pages

These journal pages were started in the classes I took with Kelly Kilmer then finished at home later.

The first and third ones were created by painting, stamping layering opaque and transparent images then using markers to highlight images and add text.

The second page has layered collage and paint on the left-hand page and decorative tape over paint on the right-hand page.

If there's one thing to remember about mixed-media it's layering cannot be faked! In order to have rich, interesting pages multiple materials are a must.