Traveling Time

My wings have been clipped and I have not been out and about much since having the lower back surgery in January. Journal 52 2014 has kept me in art projects. I had fun doing the travel page for week 22.

The world map in the suitcase is a maybe dream, as is taking a cruise. The map shows my current travel area.

Sailing ships or large crusing ships would be nice, but my boundries are much smaller currently. I have only been roaming from DeKalb (home town) to Lake County IL, Kenosha, Racine and Milwaukee in WI, then toward Chicago. That is what inspired this journal page. My travels had been mostly by car early in the year after surgery during the recovery period. Back to work full time May 1st took the wind out of my sails! See the Windjammer on the page? Work, home and a few days of therapy after work before getting home. Now I am doing aqua therapy in the pool at the apartment complex with a friend to "babysit" and enjoy the pool with me.

My travels had been mostly by car

1st GOTB trip north to Racine and Milwaukee

I took my first Get On the Bus Trip with the Friends of the NIU Art Museum to see the Frank Lloyd Wright newly opened tower at the Johnson Wax campus in Racine. Closed to visitors for decades we could only view the structure from the outside on a previous visit when I went on the Brut-Art GOTB trip mentioned in a previous post. This time the tower was open to visitors and we had the full tour.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/frank-lloyd-wright-designed-sc-johnson-research-tower-finally-goes-public-b99252995z1-256287561.html
TOUR info
http://www.scjohnson.com/en/company/visiting.aspx

In November my horizons will expand to visit Brown County IN on another GOTB trip. I do love to travel see the stamped hearts. This trip my body will do much better. I still tire easily and stamina is at a low ebb, but we have pain on the run!

Recycled

There is another new term for recycled that sort of means the same thing, re-purposed. Taking something and using it in a new way. Hmmmm. Well the prompt here for the Art Journal 52. 2014 used recycled. I found an old mono print from my "man of blue" series that just never seemed to be finished or framed. I began by adding some black ink lines and some white lines. I liked what was happening. I thought it would be fine to put on this journal page.

A detail of the page shows this little mono print which is about a 4 inch round. It was just what I needed to begin my page.

The man of blue was somehow entangled with a unicorn! I decided to end that experiment there. I had some other objects gathered for my recycled page. There is a piece with a quote from a box of tea, a round gold closure from an old note card, a bit of a printed article and some card crafting ephemera (a scallop punched item and a key stamp).

I set off using an acrylic blue to get the background on the page started and then added the darker blue spots. As I moved on I added the gold circle and the eye like image appeared so I developed that. I just kept adding paint. I felt it needed something. Yellow. That was it. I thought the print would pop more with some yellow along the one edge. Then I glued the print on to the page. The edges of the print were not glued so the key stamped paper and the one with the words could be tucked under a bit. More yellow went in the upper left corner to balance things out and the tea box fit just perfect. At that point the eye did not look finished so I added  a yellow ring around the gold the lavender ring around the eye and some ink lines.  It was just about finished when I put the little white dots on the lavender ring and blue dots. I think the key to some meaning may be in the eye........comments?

Art as a Cause

Another Art Journal 52 2014 prompt. Art is my personal life raft that I have been riding on for a long time. Actually as long as I can remember. There are so many things that I counted on and when they failed I climbed aboard. I cling to my art to help me get past the trials and tribulations. For a while the waters have been calm and the choppy treacherous waves have not washed over me. Suddenly I faced a difficult physical  challenge and just before I had to run the gauntlet I found the Art Journal 52 project. I thought it a good way to sail through the days ahead. I knew I would not be able to attempt too much in the way of art projects, but this art journal seemed doable.

Mixed media is new for me to do this year. I love that there are no to rules to follow for this mixed media journal project. A lifetime of rules sometimes stands in my way, but I am having a wonderful time with the projects Chelle Stein posts prompts for the group members every week for inspiration. She offers a project of her own and some words to set us thinking. Then each artist is free to go our own way. Art as a cause was shared by many in the group. This time I did it for me.  

How Does Your Garden Grow

Completed "How Does Your Garden Grow" page.

What comes to mind is with silver bells and cockle shells....but that is from another time. My garden now is just in my mind and gets out into my artwork. I also take lots of photographs for reference too.

Detail of little poem.

What comes to mind is with silver bells and cockle shells....but that is from another time. My garden now is just in my mind and gets out into my artwork. I also take lots of photographs for reference too. This is again a prompt from Journal 52 200014. I painted a rosy pink sky, then added white for clouds and the irises. Something seemed to be missing so I added the complimentary green leaves. I could not bring myself to add more to the original composition (in progress below) so I made a color copy of the original.  I added stamping, drawing and my little verse (detail above).

Original painted composition in progress.
My intent is to complete this later.

Some Inspiration from the Stars

Art Journal 52 2014. For the inspiration from the stars prompt page I wanted to look into space. A favorite web page I love to visit is Astronomy Picture of the Day http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/  Each day there is something interesting posted.  With the influence of the universe I did the background painting using acrylics. A few fun ready made silver star stickers were added.  The lyrics from Les Miserables entitled Stars written on an overlay completed the project,  Adding words to art is a difficult thing for me. Since I did not want to mess the surface of the painting I used the clear overlay with the lyrics written in gold paint. The effect was what I wanted. See both below.

The background painting with the stick-on stars above.

The final presentation with gold lettering.

What do you think?  I think I may do a larger painting with just a view into space. I welcome comments!

Have I made it_where I wanted to be when I grow up?

Another Art Journal 52 2014 prompt "When I grow up." Since I am long in tooth I wonder if I arrived. My dream, my hope, one of my important reasons for living, that which has sustained me is my art and my faith. ART! Making things, drawing, painting, printing, going to art museums, art shows, reading books about artists and how they work. Yes that is art. Sharing ideas and talking to other artists, continuing to experiment, standing in awe when a work is completed by my own hands to my expectations and beyond, loving it when viewers respond. That is art.  Trying new things like the art journal, foraging into mixed media and experimenting with ideas, adding words, using techniques from other disciplines all in one place. Now how cool is all that. It inspires me and others. That is art. 

Brushes, tubes of paint, an apron and palette. There is a canvas on the
easel. Painting is one of my favorite art media. Follow the link to Carbonmade at the top
of the page to see a few portfolios of other work. Check past blog posts
too.  

I wanted to be an artist as soon as I knew what an artist was I knew that was me. Art is a way of life. An artist is a problem solver and that is a characteristic that translates into many other aspects of life. Art can be a path to the divine producing a  meditation-like place in the mind. I go into a magic zone when I am working on my art. Time seems to stand still and all things seem possible. My mantra has been to paint beautiful things or to paint all things beautifully! The Art Journal 52 prompts are to inspire ideas or a direction for work and that is sustaining my connection to the world of art.

I would like to hear from you. Please leave comments below. Watch for posts of more pages soon.

A Found Poetry Prompt for Journal 52

Found poetry? What is that? A new experience for me, for sure! Another prompt for a Journal 52 2014 page. To begin, a suggestion was to search for words in printed material or go through the stash of cut out words you collected looking for interesting fonts, colors, or meanings. Another suggestion was to take a printed page, select words that attract your attention and work together to express a coherent thought, then block out the remaining words. I used a combination of these ideas for my poem

"A Change of Focus."

A Change of Focus

Expect good things you can value

How do I find my passion?

Why fret?

Obessing about SOUL SEARCHING?

More serious about it—see our lives as a kind of game.

Certain rules of the game track your progress.

To win makes life stimulating!

You are approaching a time in life when you can

Not only choose the games you wish to play

You’ll finally have the time and freedom

To experiment and play with hobbies and new occupations

Your way meets a wonderful GIFT

Perfect

Perfect

***

That poem was a very new experience. It was fun and like all of the prompts was stimulating and stretched my imagination. The page background of the work was done painting using acrylic paint. My colors are meant to give a happy uplifting feeling. The poem is just to share a thought.  

I have many more pages completed for Journal 52 2004 and ready to share. My goal for posting here at Paintspatters Project more often has been reached. Now to keep up the pace. Please leave comments. For an n artist it is always good to find out how others view the art work. Until next post have fulfilling adventures.

Way Out of Comfort Zone

This prompt from Journal 52 2014 has pushed me a bit further from my normal execution of subject matter. The prompt: "Inspired by Abstract Art."

This abstract piece has a noticeable X to the composition. Much of my work has this. There are also hidden images, also in many of my pieces. I pushed or pulled some flowers and butterflies into recognizable shapes. That was to satisfy my little voice saying it is only a beginning!

The abstract is where my work begins My initial ideas are put on the board in a very abstract manner. Then those of  you who know my work  or as you look back at older posts will see samples of finished products. I always say I keep slowly resolving my images or tuning them in until my eye and sensibility are satisfied. For myself abstract work has not been complete. Like a lot of my work there are areas I might follow into other compositions. The mama painting can be allowed to birth her children which nurtured and coaxed become  stand-alone individuals in time. A fitting thought for a MOTHER'S DAY! That just came to me. Enjoy. Feel free to leave comments. Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers out there.

Willing to Start Over

This is another page from Art Journal 52 2014. The prompt was building character. Some artists followed the prompt into actually designing a cartoon-like figure or  an avatar for the more computer adept. I went on a another inward journey using watercolor pencils and ink to express my ideas.

The face in the lower left corner represents me. I was willing to sort of start my life over and became a college student when my children went to college. The face is the face I saw staring at me from the rear view mirror as I commuted to classes each day. I did a lot of driving since I found myself alone following that yellow brick road.

I thought about what character is.What are the traits that make up character. There are both the good and the bad. I thought about what positive traits I would like or maybe already have to make up my character. Bad traits are banished ASAP to the garbage can located on the right side of the page. 

My road has been pretty long and maybe a bit hard. Building character is a tough uphill adventure. We arrive with a pretty clean slate. Experiences, family, friends and strangers all add to the character we build along the journey. I love fairy tales so my adventure follows a yellow brick road that climbs a mountain. Going to the top of the mountain takes persistence. Along the way traits are added and tucked into cracks, crevices and places along that yellow brick road. Take a closer look at the full page above and check out the detail examples too.

An inventive free spirit goes on to another adventure flying high into the sky. 

Lost art of love letters prompt 6 "Journal 52 2014"

My Journal 52 has more work to share.   

Look closely for hidden images often found in my work.

The lost art of love letter is the prompt. Several details below show close-ups of the writings.  

Across the top edge

"Emotional healing is much like physical healing
If I am hurt about a  broken relationship or suffering a loss of any kind,
APPLY the ANTICEPTIC of LOVE ......."

TOP EDGE

The quote finishes up along the side detail below:

... And the Bandage of forgiveness and allow healing to begin.

Then I add the powerful medicine of affirmative prayer..."

Unitie's Daily Word

SIDE EDGE

In the tree at the bottom is a quote from Deepoc Chopra:

"Desires are seeds waiting for the season to sprout.

From a single seed of desire,-

Whole forests grow"

TREE on BOTTOM EDGE

More pages from the journal will be posted soon.

What DO You Want

A meditation exercise inspired this page for Journal 52 2014  prompt.. A spiral seemed like a simple place to me. Art is a simple choice for me.  ART is the only way to run away without leaving home.  A single flower can be simple. Of course, it depends on what you want to do. As the artist you set up the question and how complex the answer is.

Somewhere A Simple Place

A thought popped up that nothing is simple. Maybe a place could be simple. I think I was going within to find a simple place. Sort of the idea of hiding in plain sight. That is why I put art. It is a simple place where art is in my mind. It is quiet, much of the time peaceful and a safe harbor. My art is where I go to relax, to heal, and often to survive. For years art has been my life raft.

I featured 3 of my sunflower painting series for the prompt: "You Make Me Smile." Sunflowers are cheery happy flowers and working on this series of paintings makes me smile. I smile because of the flowers and because I have created the images which other people enjoy too.

Sunflowers Make Me Smile

When more sunflower paintings are completed I will post them too. Please leave comments so I know you have stopped to visit. Thank you.

Sherry is back doing projects

I cannot believe how long ago I last posted! I had developed a BIG problem! Mostly in pain for several months minimized how much I could do. There were some art projects completed and I will figure out a few to get out for viewing. Jan 13th I had major surgery....Jan 16th the kids decided Mom was back. Recouperating with my youngest son and family.

 Grandma Sherry with Kayla and Logan.above. Below not a boostie' a back brace which will be my friend for the next several months. Falling short, but giving Madonna and Lady G competition. Tee hee.

 Somewhat serious display.....

Here Sherry is sence of humor back!

Page 1 in process for prompt, "Up up and away". Week 1 Journal 52 2014