Pages 5/3/12

Not too much going on in the studio right now. I've posted a page I am working on in an old journal. I'm working on priming some pages in a brand new book. This is the boring part, right? I have a couple more pages to prime and then I'll stitch them all together. That's when the fun starts. ;-)

Pages 4/23/12

A couple more finished visual journal pages. Both for a round robin I am in. Not sure now, looking at the 'Secret' pages if I need to go back and do a bot more. Hmm. Some open spaces I think might need 'something'. I'll sit on it a night or two. ;-) The 'Secret Family Recipe' spread was inspired, believe it or not, by the label on a can of Bush's Baked Beans.

Pages 4/20/12

Been working on some round robin journal spreads this week. Top design is for the 'Malice in Wonderland' themed altered book. It's been fun messing around with a darker theme. Bottom is for an open themed journal. I've used those handy dandy carved lino stamps I did awhile ago and then painted the girl with a variety of acrylics, gel pen and pastels.

Pages 4/16/12

Here's a finished spread in my personal art visual journal. It's the last one to finish before I do the cover. Top image is closest to the true colors in the book. The second I included because I loved the colors the Hipstamatic photograph put on it. It really enhanced the blues.

Pages 4/3/12

A couple visual journal pages for a round robin I am in. Bottom skeleton hand incorporates a stamp made by another artist for a stamp swap we were in. Ironically, it's her journal I am working in so I thought it would be cool to try and use her stamp. Top piece has a lyric from a Tori Amos song which worked nicely with the artwork.

Pages 3/30/12

This is another altered book spread I've been working on for a 'Dark Art' round robin I am in. The book's theme is 'Malice in Wonderland' and it examines the word 'Malice'. I found a cool quote by the writer Taylor Caldwell, "I have been the victim of heartless malice".

I began by prepping the background with a variety of acrylic paints. and then scratched down to the undercoat layer. I went back in with other colors, and pens and gold paints. The illustration on the left is a hand colored lino stamp. If you look back on older posts you can see the original stamp. I collaged some french words around the image. Then I used my trusty dymo plastic label maker to punch out the words. I'll seal it before sending.

Pages 3/5/12

Here are a few more pages of the journal I've been working on. Big fun. I'm enjoying working  on paper again.

Pages 03/08/08

2 Visual Journal Cards. I drew these quite awhile ago, but only just got around to painting them. The card 'Honestly' was in reaction to a friend losing a long loved dog. The dog was really old (17 years) and the last time she came over to play with our own dog she'd seriously gone downhill. Our friend was in denial that it was time she be put down. Seeing her, deaf and blind and moaning when she laid down just went right to my heart. A few weeks later he took her to the vet, and the vet told him it was time. Honestly ... it was a huge relief for me and I was glad she wasn't in pain anymore. Is that terrible? The second card is of random thoughts and doodles. Me, trying to get my act together and do some create work, but too tired to do anything.

Pages 01/26/08

Sketchbook collage. Got some new pink paint (so NOT a fave color of mine, but I wanted to expand my range of colors a bit) and a cool new Frida Kahlo stamp which I bought from stampcamp.com.

Pages 06/22/07

"Rule #1 - Be Wierd" I've been taking a class on travel journaling with Jackie Ernst. I wasn't terribly interested in learning to journal while traveling, but I was eager to hang out with some like minded folks. It's been fun. It's good to go back and learn the basics like contour drawing. I pretty much sucked at it, like I sucked at it in Art School. But, it got me collaging and journaling again, which is good. It's amazing how a little comradary with some other creative types can spark your inner artist.

Pages 04/29/07

He. Saw her across the crowd.
(Colorized version.)