Journal Challenge for Myself
In October my friend Connie presented me with a journal she made, it is stunning. She made it using a cover of a vintage book. She decorated every single page. Each one is so thoughtful, so full of texture and imagery that she glued, stitched, drew and collaged. Most of you know that I normally work on white pages, so this journal was a bit of a challenge for me, both because it was already so beautiful to look at, and because I was not sure how to approach a page with so much content already on it. I decided to try and work with the pages so what Connie did and what I added looked...
Read MoreDoodling with Dawn
Dawn DeVries Sokol is a friend, an author, a doodler, a journaler, and an energetic artist. She has just published this journal for the inexperienced journaler, the fearful of white pages, the personal who does not currently know how valuable journaling is. All characteristics that do not apply to me. I have always been a white page lover, a no-prep jump-in journaler. I don’t need thoughtful prompts and ideas on colorful backgrounds. Well, that was until I dove in on this one. Each page has a bit’O magic built in color, small amounts of text, ephemera and prompts that make it...
Read MoreCalifornia and Haiku
It is the week after Christmas and I am in California. This is where I was born and raised, and where my heart is. I love the sea, the salt air, the palm trees with their ridiculous trunks. I have been journaling. I have been crafting it up in my mom’s extraordinary sewing room, making creatures from socks and parts of socks. Even crafted a sea monster. We have been visiting, drinking tea, eating fabulous meals, watching old family movies and running the dogs on the beach. We went whale watching, and saw no whales, but had our faces in the sea air watching dolphins and their babies,...
Read MoreBack from the Dead and San Diego
My website and this blog have been down for ten days. It has been horrendous. My host, StartLogic, took the site down without even sending me an email. Needless to say, I would tell you not to do business with them. Last week I taught a class in San Diego, and it was magnificent. We painted pages based on the work of Hundertwasser and Wayne Thiebaud, then deconstructed the page and fit it into a hard cover with a small shadow box at the fore edge. Here is the class. Some important classes are coming up. October 1-7, 2012 Portland, Art & Soul retreat. Journal texting and painting class,...
Read MoreBamboo and Haiku
Yesterday I went to the Denver Botanic Gardens with my friend Liz Kettle. There is an exhibit there in the gardens, of sculptural bamboo. It was hot, really hot, so we found a shady place to draw these sinuous, flowing and tremendously exciting pieces. This one is at the entrance. Liz has wonderful pictures of what we drew on her blog. Here is my sketchbook page. The bamboo moves through the gardens with amazing grace and beauty. Some of the sculptures were floating on the ponds. They looked architectural, nautical, lyrical. The rest of the gardens were bursting with color, which quite...
Read MoreLove Letters?
I am teaching my last class ever at Valley Ridge Art Studio (she is closing those beautiful doors!). This class is about poetry, love letters and lettering. We will try lots of lettering techniques to snazz up your art, and will throw in collage and some illustration. No experience is necessary, and I promise to keep you very busy learning new things. In October I head to Portland, to teach two journal texting classes at Art and Soul, and one art making class based on artists that I know and love. The video for that class is coming up, but for now enjoy these, a collaborative effort between...
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Released!