Journal Post - 12/30/11 - Year in Review

The scrappy journal isn't too bad... just a little fussy. I finally found refills for my calligraphy pens so I'm excited about that (not that I do calligraphy or anything...). I filled an entire written journal with this pen!







This year went by soooo quickly! I filled three journals this year :/

January: Was such a dark month, I wasn't even writing down the correct year (with stamps even, geez). I finally got small prints made and was so impressed by their beauty. I still have some of those ones, sadly.

February: I learned how to play Minecraft, haha. It continues to steal my evenings!

March: Darkness continued for a long time, actually. I met Nolwenn downtown! I badly chopped all of my hair off after a bad day. Japan also had a very bad day. I watched every Suzi Blu video I could find.

April: I made a video! As it turns out, I'm not very good at them. I visited my parents which put me in a rather foul mood. The Receiving Project did nothing to help...

May: Someone threw me a birthday party! There wasn't anyone there hardly, but it was a nice gesture.

June: Arts2011 happened! It was nice having an actual painting in a gallery (rather than just trading cards). I will definitely do it again next year.

July: Our stupid cat got sick just before a camping trip. But I really took a liking to journal-making.

August: 400 cupcakes at work.

September: Finished my book for the sketchbook project!

October: Sent out my first newsletter! I've been enjoying it ever since.


November: Took a driving lesson

December: Crafty Affaire was so amazing and the extra etsy sales after that were nice too! It was sooo worth the trouble and fuss to go and do that.

I'm hoping to improve each year as it comes. I need a little more drive and determination next year. What are your resolutions?

Step by Step - Jewels 2

I suppose my painting pattern is:

Colour blocks and highlights
More and more shadows

I think you would do it backwards when using an opaque medium like oils and acrylics.









So sparkly things are pretty challenging I guess! I couldn't get a consistent grey because I'm using colours, but it's probably more interesting that way.

step by step - jewels

When I waffle and procrastinate about a painting, it's probably a sign that it isn't working out too well. So I've abandoned the dragonflies for a moment and decided to practice using watercolours to paint from life.

So I decided to focus on jewellery. I don't actually wear jewellery very much so I'll take this exercise as an excuse to look at sparkly things.

Lovely Autumn

Available here.

More macro:





So I've been wanting SOOO MUCH to make a zine (or a million!) for the longest time but never really did. The truth is, I don't know exactly what a zine really is. There are lots available online and I have bought electronic ones from time to time (because independant zines are awesome), but still don't quite understand it all.

Does it have to have information? Writing? Lessons? Advice? Education?

But then I consider the Sketchbook Projects - thousands of people filling up these little booklets based on a theme. I realize now that those are zines and I've already made two of them.

I actually miss the first sketchbook project I did, it was kind of cool.

New project?

Step by Step Painting - Dreamcatcher

Yesterday was a total write-off; I bravely marched off to a dentist appointment (read: dragged) only to sob like a child throughout the entire process in front of everyone during what was just a routine cleaning. Dental-related childhood trauma aside, I think I'm turning into a big whiny baby. This is the only logical explanation.



Afterward I was just too exhausted to do any of the other things I wanted to do (finish painting, label prints, ATCs) and ended up spending the entire rest of the day on the couch. Even Minecraft was too complicated yesterday.



We did watch Fear Dot Com out of curiosity, and it truly was terrible in every way possible. If it wasn't for the torture scenes you'd think the characters were just cardboard cutouts.

Anyway:



Dreamcatchers. They've been getting attention lately. Listening to people talk about how tacky they are as a decor item makes me cringe slightly. But then again, maybe a crucifix hanging on the wall would be considered tacky, too?



I originally had a different plan for how this painting would turn out. I expected some lines, a window setting, maybe a glimpse of the outdoor scenery. But this is much better. I like how the "night" oozes in. I like how the feathers are surrounded by a different "energy", as if the nightmares are trapped inside waiting for the burning sunrise.


Available in my etsy shop.

Where is my burning sunrise?

New Journals

I assembled three journals last night (!). The reason I am actually doing this (apart from fun) is so that I will have something more to sell at Crafty Affaire than just art and prints of art. I mean, these are art; they are each one of a kind and handmade. But they are functional art!

Revery Journal:




Today Journal:


Golden Birds Journal:




These books will available at Crafty Affaire in White Rock this december, but if shipping is no issue to anyone, I have a journal listing on etsy. Just tell me which specific journal you want (here is a list of the others).

With the sudden appearance of Fall comes eternal darkness. I can't believe it's another six months of taking drab photos by light bulb.

This is probably going to be it for journals until one of them finds a loving home <3

Journal Flip - Believe

The "Believe" journal is full, so I made a quick journal flip video for it.

It's very scary putting things on the internet. I mean, I'm not afraid of anything being pushed around or taken or whatever, because that is a silly thing to worry about. It's more of an extension of that "fear of rejection" thing.

Which is really just another silly thing to worry about.

I need to learn how to make videos. I chose this song because... doesn't it sound kind of like mariokart64???? I swear it's like a classier Koopa Troopa Beach. Love that.



Every time I finish a journal, I feel anxious.

Not just because now I have to work with something new and unspoiled, full of blank pages that might not achieve their full potential, but also because it's another "thing" floating around the house.

I look at my old written journals and how each one contains a few years worth of memories. With art journaling, a book seems to contain no more than a few months worth. So I hyperventilate when I think about the sheer volume of books I'm going to be dragging around as I age.

SO MUCH STUFF.

But for all I know someday maybe I'll be famous or something and then I could just sell them. Or they'll turn into dust before I do. Either way is fine with me.

Sketchbook Project 2012 - finished

Cover:


A couple of my favourite pages:



I did not rebind the book or change it in any way, actually. I did worry about halfway through and decide to do a running stitch over the binding just in case it decided to fall apart though.



I don't have a whole lot to say about it, really. I really like it and will be sad to see it go. I just hope sending it away will be actually worth it. If people look at it then it's okay, but if it's lost among thousands of other books...

I did not sign up for the scanning service, mostly because I already have a scanner and the images are up on flickr if you want to see the whole thing.

Overgrown

Available here.

I haven't been painting very much since... um... well gosh I guess the last one was Second which is entirely too long ago.

I think I'm getting the hang of this mixed media stuff... finally. It's like a whole new world has opened up for me.



Despite how long this little painting was in process (maybe two weeks?), it was probably only an hour or so of actual work, but I like it. I like the texture of the thick paint pushed through a stencil. I like the subtle shimmer of the gold pen. I like making collages out of book pages (this one contains a page from Orwell's 1984 - I need to buy some old books soon so I don't ruin the ones I actually like).



I don't think I quite "get it" yet... heh. I've been so foggy lately that I don't know exactly where I was going with this painting, and maybe that's all there is to it.

Foggy brain.
Heavy body.
Restlessness.
Standing still while the whole world evolves without you.
Being a few years away from 30 yet working a job more commonly suited to teenagers while acquired skills go unused.

Well maybe that last one is just me.

Endless Rain

I finally listed Endless Rain in my etsy shop. I really like this one. It looks fantastic in a snappy black frame.



This weekend was pretty weird. Milo kitty went to the hospital due to some urinary tract issues, and if you've ever met my cat, you'd know that it wasn't a great experience for him. He screams so loud when strangers are around it's like carrying an angry wolverine in a cardboard box.

I have no idea how they shaved his leg before sedating him. NO IDEA.

He came home last night, just waking up from his ordeal (oddly bathed and clipped...), and it was frightening to see him wobble around unable to move half of his body. His silence was unnerving. He's only just getting over it this afternoon.

But Maggie kitten doesn't recognize his smell and so it's pretty tense up in here. I can't imagine what that's like... to be a cat. To look at an old friend from a distance and go "oh hey, Joe! Nice to see you - *sniff sniff* Wait, you're not Joe. What are you doing in my house? GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!"

Joe: "...Why does she keep YELLING AT ME? *sob*"

Pressed Flowers Journal

As planned, I made journal #6 look like the journal spread I made the other day. I'm rather pleased with it.



This is it for journal-making for the next little while. I'm out of paper and have decided to take a little break, even though I think I like making these more than I like painting.



A neighbour received her Sketchbook Project in the mail yesterday, and since I'm pretty sure we ordered within hours of each other, I'm hoping to get mine today! So excited.

Of course things never seem to arrive on fridays, or if they do, they don't fit in the box and then ride around on a postal truck all weekend and then I have to wait until monday knowing full well that I should have the parcel! Blllaaahh! *crosses fingers*

Let Love Spread Like a Weed

Now that Canada Post is more or less up and running, I've finally posted this painting in my etsy shop:



Available here.

Love it.

Due to the sun being on the other side of the building, I won't be able to post last week's painting on etsy until a bit later ;)

...

Running out of time to sign up for Kira's True to You (2) workshop!

If you've never visited her blog, you are seriously missing out. She needs more sign ups! It would be nice to have more people to play with!

Lovely Time Journal

I'm not excited about this particular violet colour but there it is.



There's nothing quite as satisfying as building a book. Even painting doesn't quite compare. I finish a painting, I scan it, I put it in a book and that's it. But these books... I have them stacked together on my desk and I can't stop touching them. Piling and repiling them.



I like flipping them open, turning them over, touching the covers. Part of it is definitely the possibility of each one. Will they find a new home someday? Will someone fill them with amazing memories and colours and words? Will they end up staying here?

Blank journals blow my mind. If I open a blank page now, I am looking at the future. Parallel dimensions open up and I can see myself writing. Something. Maybe I'm a few weeks older, maybe a few years. Maybe something horrible has happened, maybe something wonderful. This must be what it feels like to go back in time, open a journal and find all of the pages blank, all of my memories have disappeared.



How would someone else fill a journal like this? Endless doodles? A jumble of words? Pasted movie tickets? Spraypaint?

Corrugated ribbon journal

I love this journal!



I kind of want to keep it for myself, but I probably wont. I'll just have to make more of this style because it's so pretty.



The binding thread is a deep dark burgundy colour. Paper inside is heavy strathmore like the others.



What I need to do is get an old book for ripping the pages out and reusing! Right now I've been tearing out less useful pages of actual books we have and that can't go on for much longer.

Workspace Peek

I love looking at artist studios! Particularly the at-home kind that are just tucked away somewhere. Visiting a studio is a lot of fun in a "let me read your diary" sort of way.

There is an industrial building in Vancouver that is all artist studios. You could probably access the studios during the culture crawls. A few are dark and crampy little concrete dungeons. Others are actually beautiful little art galleries buried in shabby, winding hallways. Keep your eyes peeled!



Useful note: Peg boards are awesome. Once you get a pegboard, you will want to fill your house with them. We've got two. I'd like to get one more in the kitchen! :D

I had photos of this workspace on my old blog, but since I tidied it up, I'm posting updates! Would anyone be surprised to know it's only been a couple of days and my desk is buried under a mess already?



Everyone's got these little ikea drawers, it seems. Mine goes through a makeover every once in a while. Today it is blue.

I don't actually call this a "studio". I just call it a workspace. It's a corner of my living room!



My precarious bookshelf! My palette on the lower left side there... it's just a white plate. But look how clean it is!!! :D Usually it is a hideous lumpy rainbow of colours.

My workspace doesn't actually look quite like this anymore. It is always evolving, bigger messes, smaller messes, new things here and there. A new blue stain. This is just a snapshot of one rather productive afternoon. :)

Lucky Clover Journal

This one is a tad bit "shabby" looking, and has the same heavy Strathmore paper as the others. I've been trying to use all sorts of things as "stencils", but it's difficult to do with the watercolours.



I'd like to try some of those nifty looking ink sprays someday.



Maggie is chasing down a lazy fly this morning. Best part of summer!