Dine & Dash

I love this time of year and often enjoy creating from our back deck where I can keep an eye on the orioles and other "Geographic moments" that happen to unfold.  I'm often gifted with surprises (and horrors!) from mother nature among as assorted creatures stop in for a visit. (I count praying mantis larger than hummingbird among the horror!)

Friday was a lovely day perfect for creating on the deck, so I gathered my supplies and several projects and headed outside.  I've been working on another "Outside the Book" journal project, "I", and finished that to near completion. ( I know you can't wait - I'll be posting that later on in the week!) I then turned to my journal. 

I really had nothing in mind when I started.  I only knew that I really felt like writing about some of the things I had been thinking about as I worked on my "I" project, so I used a marker and began to write.  When I finished writing, I covered my writing with a thin layer of  yellow, white and orange colored craft acrylics.  I like the look it creates.  What I wrote wasn't important to my finished spread, but it added great texture and I got my thoughts out on the page.

I still wasn't certain of where my spread was headed, but I knew I wanted more paint dripping, oozing and splattered.  I wet the left vertical edge of my spread and dropped in blobs of turquoise and purple and let them run in horizontal streaks across the entire spread.  While I was waiting for it to dry, I watched the orioles come in to feed.  They had been amusing me all afternoon as they swoop in, chatter at me, and indulge heavily at the feeder all in a matter of about 40 seconds.  That's when the idea of "dash and dine" came to me, and all the turquoise and pumpkin colors in my background were a perfect background for a jar of grape jelly and the bright orange feeder and orioles.

I began by adding "Dine & Dash with white acrylic.  I then lightened an area for the sun and sketched it in lightly along with the feeder using a marker.  Next, I added a rough sketch of my generic grape jelly jar.  After those items were completely painted, I added the birds.  Lastly, I added the white highlights in the lattice and around the bird on the feeder.  

I included 2 other regular feeders and lovers of grape jelly; the house finch and the cat bird. The orioles have begun to take chunks of jelly with them as they fly off - I think the babies are here!  The finch are very fleeting and don't like their photos taken, and the cat birds are comical and brazen and have no fear of me.  I love their little "mohawk" hairstyle.  They all get along very peaceably at the feeder with the exception of  the occasional squabble.  I think there might be a lesson in that for all of us.  Happy creating from my fowl friends and me!

Photo:  Nick Thompson

Materials For Creative Journaling

PART TWO

Most of the materials for "Creative Journaling" are easily found at your favorite local dollar store or super store.  You may need to visit your local craft store to purchase watercolor pencils.  If you are already a practicing artist, you probably have most of these materials on hand already! 

1. Composition Notebooks.  I recommend using the original black/white Composition notebook. I have tried some of the composition notebooks with cute, brightly colored covers, but I found the quality of the paper to be too poor for extensive handling.

2. Watercolor pencils.  Buy the best you can afford.  You'll be happier with the richer pigments.

3. Colored pencils. It's possible to find satisfactory colored pencils that are on the inexpensive side.Try Crayola's.  The pigments are rich and they have a smooth texture.

4. Pencil Sharpeners. Yes, I said sharpenerS as in multiple.  Years ago I used to watch an oil painter named Bill Alexander on PBS television.  He believed in washing his brushes frequently to avoid muddying his colors.  He used to say, "First, you are brush washers, then painters."  I say, "First you are pencil sharpeners, then journalists!"  There will be lots of pencil sharpening!

5. Colored Markers.  Once again, as with most art supplies, buy the best you can afford.  You'll be happier with the quality.

6. Fine or extra fine point Sharpies.  I use these for writing in my journal.  They write nicely on almost any surface.

7. Old Magazines, newspapers, junk mail, receipts, doodles. Don't limit yourself to the types of magazines you like to read.  There are amazing photos and fonts in that "Guns and Ammo" magazine that you would NEVER dream of having in your possesion.

8. Glue sticks.  I use Elmer's. I found a mega pack of them at our local wholesale club for around $6.00.

9. Scissors. A small pair for cutting single letters and other details.

And there you have it!  The basic list of materials to get you started on your way to "Creative Journaling".  I'll talk about each item in further detail as I explain the method.  See you next week!

NEXT WEEK: PART THREE "EXPLORING THE METHOD"