Portion Control

Michelle Ward's Green Pepper Press
Street Team Crusade No. 28 is
"Portion Control."
The idea is that a portion of an image,
obscured, embellished, or cropped, etc.
is much more interesting than
the plain complete image
in the center of the paper.
Some of my supplies are
shown above...

These are my Art Journal pages
created with the goal of "portion control."
My previous post showing the
exploration of the primitive shape
of a bird is continued...

I used crayons & watercolor
for a resist, portions of poems
in my own handwriting,
hand-carved stamps,
black acrylic paint,
and both the positive and
negative portions of
my stencils.

Quick Sketch

Quick sketch while sitting
in a fast food restaurant...
not a fan of drooping britches.

Mixed Media Tag

A chipboard tag from a clothing purchase
recycled into art through
mixed media collage...
it was laying on the table with the
Sale sticker still attached...

The silver background on the tag and
my supplies still laying out from a
previous project just
begged to be made into a
quick collage!
Thanks to my friend Elizabeth,
I have some lovely handmade papers
that she gifted to me,
and I want to use each
tiny scrap, because I know
they were so time-consuming to make!
Used: painted fabric, acrylics
painted brown paper bag (gold)
hand-made paper (peach)
vintage sheet music
scrapbook papers
fibers

Respond to your environment

"Azaleas," Dianne Bishop Carey, 2009
watercolor, pen & ink
Artistic inspiration comes from many sources...
and generations of artists have fallen in love
with a particular geographical area or
culture...the way the light falls on the
architecture or plants--
the colors and shapes of the
countryside...the exploration of traditions...
the atmosphere of the place.
Georgia O'Keeffe found unending
inspiration in the light, colors
and shapes of the desert...

Hills--Lavender, Ghost Ranch, New Mexico
1935, Georgia O'Keeffe

Frida Kahlo's images of pain and
self-examination nevertheless often
reflected the bright colors and culture of the
Mexican folk art traditions.
The environment that artists find
themselves in, or choose to respond to...
can have a dramatic impact on their work.

Self-Portrait "The Frame"
1938, Frida Kahlo

That is not to say that artists must travel
to exotic places to create---
on the contrary, it is vital that we create
wherever we are and whenever
we are able. But, a change of
scenery can inspire just because it
is different from what we
usually see...
Palm trees, white-capped waves,
cream-colored sand and sun-bathed
colors; as opposed to gray skies,
the sparkle of 'diamonds' on snow,
intricate patterns of leafless trees,
and graceful spruce laden with
heavy snow. One isn't better
than the other--just different--
and each inspires in its own way!

Mini Collage

Mini-Collage on spiral index card:
watercolor & acrylic paints,
hand-carved stamp
and paint splatters.