Shape Up!

Michelle Ward's GPP Street Team Blog
Crusade No. 27 is called
Shape Up!
She challenged us to explore
a shape: think positive & negative,
large & small...

These Art Journal pages were first painted
with watercolors for the background.
Primitive bird shapes were cut
from paper and then pastels
applied to the bird shape. I laid
the shape onto the journal page
and rubbed the pastel from
the stencil onto the journal
page, creating a stencil of the negative
shape. Hand-carved bird stamps
were added & quotes in calligraphy.
I also included the stencil shapes
by gluing them to the page as well.

Mini Collages

3"x5" collages on spiral bound index cards
using acrylic, pen, scrapbook papers,
cardstock stamped with
hand-carved stamps,
vintage music,
paper towel & watercolors.

Open Your Eyes

--3"x5" collage in spiral index card book--
using acrylics, paper towels, pen, & magazine clippings
***
Circumstances recently forced me to look
at my world and the people I cherish
with new eyes...
a quick collage to remember
how precious life is...
in hopes that I will
be reminded not to
take for granted all that I
hold dear...

Recipe for the New Year

Someone forwarded the following "Recipe" to me in an email. I do not know who the author is, and do not forward every story or plea that I receive. However, I found this an effective list of suggestions to keep a balanced perspective for the coming year...

A GREAT RECIPE...

1. Take a 10-30 minute walk every day, and while you walk, smile. It
is the ultimate anti-depressant.

2. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day. Talk to God about
what is going on in your life. Buy a lock if you have to.

3. When you wake up in the morning complete the following statement, 'My
purpose is to__________ today. I am thankful for______________'

4. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that
is manufactured in plants.

5. Drink green tea and plenty of water. Eat blueberries, wild Alaskan
salmon, broccoli , almonds & walnuts.

6. Try to make at least three people smile each day.

7. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip, energy vampires, issues
of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead
invest your energy in the positive present moment.

8. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a
college kid with a maxed out charge card.

9. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

10. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

11. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

12. You are not so important that you have to win every argument.
Agree to disagree.

13. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.

14. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their
journey is all about.

15. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

16. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: 'In five years,
will this matter?'

17. Forgive everyone for everything.

18. What other people think of you is none of your business.

19. GOD heals everything - but you have to ask Him.

20. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

21. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends
will. Stay in touch!!!

22. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

23. Each night before you go to bed complete the following statements: I
am thankful for__________. Today I accomplished_________.

24. Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed.

25. When you are feeling down, start listing your many blessings.
You'll be smiling before you know it.

Art Journal Page-Tribal

"We evolve at the rate
of the tribe
we are plugged into."
-Carolyn Myers

This quote caught my eye and inspired
the use of tribal African art designs.
The drawing of the sculpture is from an image
in the book "Black Africa" by
Laure Meyer. It is
the crowned head of an Oni from the
12-15th century in brass & zinc alloy.
It is striking because the sculpture has
contour lines carved into the face.
The geometric forms are from
Plank Masks, used for family
rituals or funerals.
It is interesting that these
geometric forms also resemble
the forms of other tribal art, such as
Native American. Seems
that the triangle
is universal.

Fortune for 2009

This art journal page is the first I've completed in 2009...
it was inspired by the fortune cookie wrapper from a local Asian
restaurant.(I suppose this is a stereotypical image...no offense is
intended to anyone of Asian descent)
I loved the limited color palette, which I'm sure was used
partially due to the manufacturer's desire to limit printing costs.
I sewed the cellophane wrapper to the page by hand using yellow/orange
variegated thread. I continued adding stitches around the watercolor
and ink images because I liked the texture it created. It reminded me
of the old "sewing cards" I had as a kid, that were prepunched
cardboard that you threaded yarn through. The fortune
in the lower right corner reads: "You will have
many friends when you need them."
That is my wish for all of you
in 2009!

When we are young...

An art journal entry from 2006...I was sitting in the local shopping mall with the sketchbook I had just bought....couldn't resist sketching some of the teenage girls that walked by...those big purses covered with sequins, low-rise jeans, short tee shirts...and I wrote "It's better to find your own style than to follow the trends set by others..." I think I should get back to sketching more this year...

Altered Book Spread

I've been working on an altered book that has a different technique featured each month. I also focused on the holiday or season for that month. Past blog posts have shown July, August and September. This is the process for December's spread. I started by painting the pages with acrylics-in dark maroons & reds. Over the dark under painting I applied white, light green and pink by drybrushing, scrubbing, and blending with my fingers. I used a paper napkin to remove some of the paint
when it obscured the dark color underneath.




Acrylic paint that had been thinned with water was used to write words & create "swirls..."




Here is the spread with final collage elements added. I still have a few pages to fill at the end of the book, and the front & back covers to complete.

Believe

Art journal collage spread in a small black sketchbook.
The pages are roughly 8 1/2" x 5 1/2".
Materials include cardstock painted with craft acrylics,
watercolor paper, hand-carved stamps,
fabric, colored pencil, and calligraphy pen.
The dark red papers were created by my friend Diana.
The lines of varying thickness are a recurring theme
in my drawings and paintings...
perhaps symbols for layers of color, images, & meanings...
the geological layers of sediment through time,
or the layers of experience we each go through in our lives
which ultimately can effect the art that we make.