Weekend Journal

It's been a busy couple weeks!  After just one week of vacation from the usual daily grind, Keith and I both found ourselves struggling to get back into the "groove" of things.  It felt as if we'd taken off more like a month!  I think we're finally back on track.

I spent a little more time playing with my new watercolors.  I gessoed the page and then poured and splattered blue and green watercolors wet-into-wet, wet-into-dry, and everything in between.  What I could see was this tree and landscape, so I enhanced what was there.  I added violet and yellow to liven things up a bit.

I had torn the top Blue Jay image out of a magazine, and it kept falling out of my journal.  What was I to do except create a page around it?  One of my students saw I was working with it, and as it turned out, she had the mate to it and happily gave it to me.  This is a mixture of acrylic washes, Mod Podged magazine images and text that I assembled in the "intuitive playing" method.

This is another intuitive playing spread, created in much the same fashion as the spread above.  I'm surprised to see myself using so much green and yellow.  I guess I needed the change.

This spread was also created in an intuitive fashion, only this time, I didn't use any magazine images.  I started this page with a dip pen and black India ink.  I drew a random pattern of squares and it evolved into this.  It's mostly craft acrylic.

Here's the latest addition to my journal, a WIP begun in my journaling class last night.  The lesson was using your hand as a self portrait.  I may have to detail that in a Tuesday Tips and Techniques in the near future.

WOMEN'S  CENTER


I can't believe it's that time of year again - my art workshop with the women of the SMART (Single Mothers Achieving Real Triumph) program!  We had our workshop last Friday, and I met a terrific group of women in the final days of the quarter.  I'll write more about this after next week's graduating ceremonies.

NEW VIDEO


I've been on a roll with the videos lately.  Thanks to my "tech guy's" help, I've been able to get Windows Movie Maker to cooperate with me!  The real test will come when I try to record and publish actual video footage as opposed to stills.  Here's my newest video, "Inside Out".  Please enjoy and check out my other videos if you haven't seen them yet.  You can watch them on YouTube by clicking on their icon in the lower right of the video screen.

Everyone  have a wonderfully restful and creative weekend.  Pamper yourself, ok?  I took my own adivce.  I used this wonderful coffee cup that Nadia brought me all the way back from the Kiltrea Bridge Pottery Company in Ireland.  The photo doesn't do justice to the beautiful glaze on this mug.  She also brought us into the current century with this awesome electric teapot, and dark chocolate from See's in California.  YUUUUUUMMMMMM!

 I had been savoring one piece of chocolate a day, but yep, I ate all three of these with my favorite cup of Chai.  Now I have to go walk!  I'll see you back here on Monday with some more of my musings.

CELEBRATE * LOVE * CREATE