I like this one – Liquitex brilliant lemon yellow and Atelier cobalt turquoise light. The Atelier is an old tube of series 5, so expensive, which means I’ve been hoarding it. Don’t do that Cath! Because acrylic paint separates if you leave it in the tube too long and you end up wasting it. Love it? Use it!
I have a couple of days leave – replacement days for working Easter – so have been creating all kids of things in amongst working on the newspaper and some other bits that I need to get done. As you can see, when I get really into creating mode my desk can get a bit overloaded. Mind you, a friend who is moving countries once her house sells just gave me a huge pile of beads and glitter, which hasn’t helped the state of chaos because I’m not sure where to store them in my stash yet! (thanks Doris – I appreciate it and will love using it all up)
The journal page was inspired by one of Donna Downey’s Inspiration Wednesday videos I love the way she works in layers, her videos are always fun to watch and she’s really good at explain both her thought process and her art process. If you want to check out her videos a quick search of Donna Downey on YouTube will do the trick.
Started with a collaged background, gesso through stencils, drippage, collaged gelli tissue paper, stencils direct onto the image, a bit of splatter. Brighter than my usual colours – must have been feeling extra happy! This might just be the sample for a new class I’m teaching 😉
Here’s some late afternoon shots showing the progress in wee patches of detail. The layers now include very dilute fluid acrylics, heavy body acrylic and spray inks.
A few days ago I commented that since Mum died I haven’t achieved much, and have done plenty of art journaling etc but no real painting. Tony was away last night, due back late today, as he had a medical appointment in Hamilton, so it’s been just me and the furkids.
I decided to prepare some canvas and see what happened. Not push it, but just give myself the chance to really paint. I’m not sure where these are headed but I have a sense that I might be starting to paint again. That would be so cool and Mum would be pleased. No doubt she is watching me and mumbling about the mess I make 😉
My wee painting companion
Remember I said I was burying the evidence? It’s now lost under gesso and ink, stenciling and more ink! It’s not finished but it *is* starting to make me happy. Even Tony could see what was happening once I hauled out a photo of the gardens in Aquino (or was it St Angelo?) that we photographed as we walked down to the bridge over the Rapido River for the yearly commemorative service with the American and Italian soldiers. Edit: my geography and memory is poor – see correction in comments – thanks Kay. Here’s a progress shot, including a blurry one showing the layers, and the original photo I’m using as inspiration:
Mum’s funeral service, conducted by a local JP who had a lot to do with Mum, has made me think about what I do and don’t believe. Mum was an atheist, as was her dad. I spent some time in the church as a teenager but I suspect that was about belonging more than anything. I certainly don’t call myself a Christian. Thinking all that through seems to be a recurring theme in my journal, as does my changing relationship with my now-retired husband, and career/art time, now that Mum is gone. Here’s what I have been creating with all this in mind:
600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 6,300 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 11 years to get that many views. In 2012, there were 57 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 559 posts. There were 129 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 190 MB. That’s about 2 pictures per week. The busiest day of the year was June 10th with 177 views. The most popular post that day was New home office / art room.
These are the posts that got the most views in 2012.
Visitors came from 98 countries in all! Most visitors came from The United States, New Zealand and the United Kingdom were not far behind.
I’ve been converting an A5 notebook into an art journal for the coming year. I usually have more than one art journal on the go. This one’s role is to encourage me to draw more often, and make notes of ideas as they flash though my brain. I coated all the pages with gesso, and have spent a few afternoons painting, inking and stenciling to get rid of much of the whiteness. I’m nearly finished and the process has been very therapeutic as I mourn the loss of Mum, and incredibly messy. I can’t wait to start gluing bits and bobs into it, drawing on top of the paint, and generally just using it – not storing it, putting it on the bookcase and leaving it there or making it too precious to use.
I’m tired, stressed, upset, and sick of the weather as well. Hence the angry red sky and summer snowfall.
Cath Sheard 