Today’s artist is the lovely and talented artist Mary Beth Shaw, creator of StencilGirl Stencils. I own a *lot* of their stencils, and love them, so was delighted to see Mary Beth’s name pop up. Most of the work I do for #cjs each year is in a cheap A5 journal; today’s piece is one of those times when I wish I’d worked on better paper. Damn it!
The artist for day 23 of #cjs20 was John DuVal, a painter who specialises in watercolour. He captured the light and the feel, more than the details, and that appeals to me. Initially I wasn’t going to try it, even though I do landscape painting. Tony asked why not and I didn’t have a good reason! I’m pleased I did because actually his approach suits me.
I visited Pukakaiki, on the West Coast of the South Island, in December with Alan and was fascinated by the rock formations. This small watercolour is based on one of the photos I took.
I’ve been busy for a few days, so I’m working backwards, scanning things as the pages dry. Day 24 of #cjs20 was Rachel Greig, from Darkroom Door, who I have followed for years so it was great to see her pop up as one of the artists. It was my kind of project so I leapt right in; I used my fav Dina Wakley mixed media album and discovered I only have a few pages left. Eek!
I skipped day 20 for various reasons, despite it being a great project. Today’s #cjs20 artist is Andrea Chebeleu. I hadn’t seen her work before and like the project but, again, it wasn’t something I could make straight away so tried her ideas on my manilla storage folders. It’s come out brighter than I intended and I didn’t follow the instructions well (the writing should have been reverse printed then gel transferred – oops) but am pleased with it all the same.
Today’s #cjs20 artist was Marsha Valk, whose colourful work I’ve seen (and liked) before. Her entire project wasn’t something I wanted to tackle in an evening so I used elements of her style to decorate a manilla folder. I use plain brown manilla folders for storing collage elements, painted papers, gelli prints etc so this was a useful project and a lot of messy fun.
Today’s artist at #cjs20 – yes I’ve caught up again – is Gwen Lafleur. I’ve admired her work for a long time, so loved seeing her name pop up. As I expected, I enjoyed it and am really pleased with the paper doll I made. I’ll be using the technique again, that’s for certain.
Rae Missigman was the #cjs20 artist for day 16. I love Rae’s work and her project was super cute. I know from past experience if I made a tiny book I wouldn’t use it, so opted to practice her style in my art journal instead. I’m pleased I did and know I’ll use those new skills again.
The day 15 artist for #cjs20 was Nancy Curry. Her project included adding clock hands and a motor. I hate ticking clocks, so decided to try her alcohol ink technique in my journal instead. It’s got quite a lot of gold, so hard to capture in the scan.
The day 14 artist for #cjs20 was Jodi Ohl. I really like her work so was quite excited then, uh oh, she wanted us to draw an eye. I *don’t draw* but – hey – this about learning new skills. I found an image in a magazine that had lots of drama, with vivid eyeshadow and huge eyelashes. Unfortunately the paper I was using didn’t cope with the technique Jodi was teaching, so it broke down a bit and the lines are fuzzy. But it’s more than recognisable, so I’m pleased I gave it a try!
Cath Sheard 