Journal Post 11/30/12

Here is a way to use a page in the back of the journal where I test or clean off stencils (I got a new one! I think it's a chain link fence, and it's very cool).

Also, a colour I don't use often - black!



I drew orange swirls with a watercolour crayon and scribbled them into poppies with a pen. I can still see the pattern of the stencils right through them.



The black is another watercolour crayon. I actually don't have black in my regular watercolour set. It DOES have white though, which I never use. I'm sure one day I will discover why there is a white watercolour pan, what it's used for, and that it's amazing. Or something. 

Liquid Pearls

There is a set of these "pearls" at Michaels which piqued my curiosity, but were priced a little too high for me (like most scrapbooking toys). I found some single bottles and decided to splurge on one.



This one works way better than the 3D paint I bought at the dollar store. This one does seem to hold its shape much better (though it does shrink a bit after drying). It takes sooo long to dry, that even after 8 hours the tops got a little dented after closing my journal page.



It makes for some fun detail work, though. :3

Refresh Your Surroundings

For a while, this blog layout was feeling a bit "dark" so I finally came around to redecorate. Now it looks a bit more like my website, and consistency is good.

PLUS! It's almost winter where I live. It's already dark by 5pm most days, and it really puts a damper on my spirits. Who wants to go out or do errands when it's dark?

Not me. I'm a day bird. My apartment walls are bright yellow. I paint butterflies and flowers all winter long to remind me of nicer, drier days. Keeping an art journal is also a source of comfort; there's nothing like a little colour therapy!

So this winter, why not take 20% off of anything in my shop with this coupon code: WINTER2012

What do you do to fend off the winter blahs?

Journal post 11/24/12

I haven't taken much advantage of the absorbant surface of the pages; these are the last few layouts of the book where I clean off the stencils and they end up sticking together and tearing. So I'm using up more of the many many many scraps of things hanging around. I love the colour scheme, though.

Inner Turmoil

"Negative thoughts, grudges, unfinished business planted in our hearts and suppressed there. They grow and mature and eat away at the flesh until there is nothing left, when they suddenly burst forth and expose their wrath to unsuspecting witnesses."



Available Here.

When You Feel Flightless

This weekend, before I left for day two of A Piece of Work, a Varied Thrush hit our window. At first, I thought the sound was our cat Milo's paw hitting the window, as he happened to be looking through the glass and naturally tried to catch it. When I looked outside to see what was the matter, I expected it to be a windblown leaf, not a bird frozen in shock!



It seemed to be in good shape (just a little woozy), so I paused to marvel at its pretty colours. It sat in the dry bucket with an old towel for nearly an hour before taking off.

I thought about the bird periodically throughout the day, so naturally I was drawn to Shannon's little paintings she'd brought to the show that morning. 



We made a trade!

I chose this particular one because it really is terrifying to take a chance and fail. And there is a lot of failure, don't get me wrong.

A lot.

Of failure. 

But I think once you fall down a few times, jumping just doesn't seem as scary as it once did. There will be bruises, and embarrassment... but there is also exhilaration!

That's one of the nice things about collecting art, in that it is an in-your-face reminder of something lovely. When I look at this painting, I will remember the pretty bird that visited us that morning. I will remember all of the people I met at the show and all of the lovely things they all said. And I will remember it everyday, instead of only on the odd chance I flip through my scrapbook. 

This is good, because when I'm not thinking about this potential, I do feel a bit flightless. I hope that this will continue to remind me of things that truly matter :3

Post Fair Bliss

Ohhhhhhh I am floating on cloud 9 right now! I am resting up from the weekend show in White Rock which was a ton of fun! While there was not much profit to be had from this craft fair, I got to meet up and chat with some cool people!



Finally got to meet Violette Clark in person, and traded goods with Shannon Ganshorn. I got to taste some pretty amazing wine vinegars (I think I have more wine vinegars now than actual wine - oop!).



And now I'm totally poooooped and relaxing on the couch with a hot meal (after a day of nibbling on dry crackers) and a yummy iced mocha.

mmmm. 

WIP - Turmoil

This is very very close to being finished, but I'm not sure if there is more that truly needs to be added. A third of the paper is left blank? Gasp! For some reason, this just makes sense in my head. I'm giving it a few more days of thought.

Invitation to A Real Piece of Work

This weekend! Come hang out with me in White Rock, it looks like a super tiny adorable community center. I can't wait to see it!

Sneak Peek - Turmoil

"Art washes from the soul the dust of everyday life"

- Picasso

Personal Journal Post - 11/11/12

I am sitting on my aging, yellow couch (futon, actually) and quietly considering Remembrance Day.

It's refreshing, actually, for the world to just stop for a minute. For the reminder that the world is so much larger than our own backyards. Just one minute of peace from all of the drama.

And oh... there is drama.



My family is e x p l o d i n g after years of petty build up, because my grandpa died this weekend.



And of course there is drama. Excruciating, uncomfortable drama. Sleep-stealing and heavily depressive drama. A minor incident turned into Epic Fantasy.

Lest we forget, or something.



Let's take a break. Let's take a breather. Let's turn off the phone and be quiet for a while.

The drama can wait.

Journal Flip - notebook journal

Isolation

Yay, a new painting!

"Isolation and loneliness, a need to feel connected to the world, to have a simple conversation or a lovingly cooked meal. The feeling of becoming stir-crazy and unproductive, sitting on the edge of your seat in anticipation of upcoming events, wishing the wait to be over. Not really living in the moment. Tunnel vision. A buzz. The beginning of a long, rainy and dark season."

Available Here. 



It's quite subtle, but I tried to use the watercolours to create a glazing effect as one would do with oils; I painted the original sketch in greyscale and then added colour on top. It's supposed to create richer colours, though I'm not sure if I noticed much of a difference with the watercolour.



I mixed some of the "Champagne Gold" paint in with the gel medium for a warm, shimmery yet transparent overlay here. You can't tell from the photos but I used the stencil of the birds perched on a branch.

I need more stencils.

5x7 and 8x10 reproduction options are already listed!

Back from the Enchanted Market!

It rained all over our Enchanted Market yesterday, though I didn't expect it to have much effect on the turnout, as the market was indoors. That, and if we refused to leave the house whenever it rained, we'd only come out maybe two months out of the year!

Well in spite of this, the turnout was pretty low and no one had a very good day. Art in particular is a tough sell because the benefit of art is inspiration and entertainment from a beautiful image, and that happens just by looking; it's hard to pay for something you get completely for free.



Most of the people at the market did have nice things to say, which was really sweet! Thank you :)

This show in particular had a really friendly feel to it, actually. I met some nice people, so there was never really a dull moment. Sometimes even this is worth all the stress and prep and investment... and an animal rescue center got a small boost yesterday as well :)

Sweet Postcards

Awwww yeah, check out this fat stack of sweet postcards I ordered from Vistaprint!

I would have preferred Moo, because of their printfinity option, but I'm not sure if postcards are the right fit for me yet, so I wanted to test it out with the least expensive place I could find. You do indeed get what you pay for, though.

I decided that if I was to have only one design, I picked one of my favourite paintings: "Good Morning".  I can't wait to use these as thank you notes and try sending them through the mail! Unfortunately, "postcards" aren't commonly used as postcards anymore, so it's hard to find some that actually meet postal standards.

So here's my Vistaprint review:

The paper is maybe only half the weight of an actual postcard, so they are quite flimsy. Also, they charge extra for matte finish! This is a bit tricky because it's required.

It will be an interesting test to see if one actually makes it through the postal system. :3

Regardless, I can't wait to play with them! This is definitely a much larger quantity for the price (I forget how many... 100?), so I can't complain.