Better an Oops!...

Well, you can see how well that went - I'm terrible at blogging! I get so caught up in daily life plus there just isn't enough time in a day to do everything. By the time I think about posting something, I should have been asleep hours before. I have managed to do a bit of art, some of it in journals and one on a canvas artboard, but I've got lot's more ideas in my head that I would like to get out on paper. 

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This was a journal page with molding paste flowers and Dylusions Funky Fuschia,Tangerine, and Pomegranate paints, Titanium White in a Fineliner bottle, and Lemon Dina Wakley heavy body paint. Oh and I used Cherry Pie Dylusions Distress Ink, Signo Uni white gel pen, and I think the white Molotow pen also as well as the Faber Castel Pitt Artist pen with the brush tip. I learned a few lessons on this one.

First, use caution when moving your very large journal while the molding paste is wet, because if it slides out of your hands you have to scrape off the smeared paste, wait for the whole thing to dry, and then apply more. Yep, it happened. Got all over a sweater too. Did you know that stuff doesn't really come off? 

Second, If you are going to use Dylusions spray inks, you better make sure it is the last thing you do because they bleed up through everything as you can see by my pinkish-white scribbles and drips that were supposed to be white.

Third, the white gel pen also needs to be one of the last things you do, because when you brush over it with gel medium it smears.

I think I need to have a journal that details all of my "lessons learned." I can print out a pic of the piece that I learned a lesson on and collage it down along with a description of the lesson. It will no doubt be a very full journal so maybe I should make my own so that I can add to it as needed. Just punch holes in the piece and use rings to hold it together. Hmmm...next project?

I played around in my much smaller journal also using Faber Castel Gelatos, Glimmer Mist by Tattered Angels in Frost, I think (it's white-ish so close enough), a black Pitt Artist pen, Wink of Stella clear, a silver Jelly Roll pen, and the white Molotow paint pen. 

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Hey There!

So I'm going to try to blog about my art adventures. And I'm going to try really hard to be consistent and faithful at it. No, really! See, I have this other blog about my life in a small town which nobody reads - or I should say that I get a lot of traffic but nobody posts, so I guess they're reading but who really knows? Anyway, my posting there has always been a little erratic because I get busy, life gets in the way, or whatever. It's been almost eight months this time, partly because school and work have kept me really busy, but church happenings were keeping me hopping also. I intend to revive it, because it is a good way to vent ;)

I am currently developing my art skills by exploring different techniques and mediums; drawing, painting, etc., and playing with different products. I've gotten into art journaling and mixed media and I love it because it is so liberating. There are no rules and I only have to please myself. It took me a bit to understand that, but I do now and it has freed my creativity. Not everything I do is a success, but I continue to practice and I have faith I will improve. I watch YouTube videos a lot and I have learned TONS, so I remain hopeful. 

I've thought about doing the YouTube thing at some point, but right now I'm not set up for it since I don't have a dedicated room or space for arts and crafts. (I'm using my kitchen counter) So I'll table that thought for later. Right now, watching talented others and learning is enough.

Another eventual goal is to enter some of my work in our local county fair. A few months ago we held services for a woman in her 90's and the family brought in some of her watercolors she had done that had ribbons on them from the fair. I was told by the family that it was a recent hobby and she was quite proud of her accomplishments. I found that really inspiring and decided that if she could do it at 90-something, I could do it too.

To that end, I plan on creating as much as I can. It makes me happy and it allows me to escape the everyday grind that life can become sometimes. My plans for this blog are to post at least once a week with pictures of what I'm working on, or what I've completed.  It might be more organic for some people to not have any specific goals, but since I am a horrible procrastinator, having some kind of rules or goals in place is a must.

Thanks for stopping by!