Enjoying the Spring

Spring is my favourite season, and this stamp by Great Canadian Stamp makes me smile.  I've stamped it in Versamark ink and let Pan Pastels add the colours.

Greeting by Biblical Impressions

Happy Easter Everyone!

Or should I say "Hoppy" Easter?

Image by Rubbermoon

Greeting by Studio G

Hey, Over Here!

Collage ATC

Mix Up Those Magazine Pictures

I'm still having fun playing with collages, this time using magazine pictures:

A Few More Collages

 I hope van Gogh doesn't mind!  These collages were made from an old calendar.

The Collage Workbook

I'm working my way through Randel Plowman's The Collage Workbook, and it definitely lives up to it's subtitle:  How to Get Started and Stay Inspired.  It includes 50 Project Prompts that I'll definitely want to try.    Here's my latest Artist Trading Card:

If you see this book, I highly recommend it!

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Experimenting With Collage - Part 2

Here are a few more ATC's created from a large collage background:

And here is the background I created to start the process.  This time it is with torn rather than cut papers.

Experimenting with Collage

I've been experimenting with collage lately, on backgrounds created "serendipitously".  Here are a few ATC's created this way:

This is the 8 1/2 x 11" background I created first before cutting it into ATC's and adding the focal points:

Unification

My art journey is largely a learning process, whereby I travel from one technique, system, or process to another as I want to experiment with something.  Design is one of my frequent obsessions, and lately I have been concentrating on unification.  It will be an ongoing project in my Acrylic Visual Journal, but I have found a new way to experiment in my other journals also.

The left side of this journal spread was created a year ago, and is simply a copy of one of my pages in a collaborative book journal described here.  The insertion of this copy on the left side meant the right side of the journal spread was blank except for the purple background, and I haven't known what to do with it.

Last night I decided that this would be an excellent exercise in unification.  I've got many blank pages in my journals so I think I may continue this exercise for awhile.

The Pebble in the Brook...

...secretly thinks itself a precious stone.

These ATC's were done by placing a wrinkled dry cleaning bag on wet watercolour, and letting it dry.  (You can use cling wrap too.)  They seemed to call out for this Japanese proverb!  The monoline alphabet I used is called "CRISS-CROSS CAPS", and was taught to me by Kathy Guthrie at http://www.letteringart.ca

Simple Stamped Watercolour

Stamp by Magenta

Stamp by Crafty Individuals for Magenta

Stamp by Magenta

Agapanthus Cluster

Just a little playing around with watercolour and clear resists:

Stamp by Stampendous

Serendipity Collage

These ATC's were inspired by Hanna's blog post..  It appealed to me because of its serendipitous nature.

I'm not good at taking "in progress" photos, though, so I'll have to describe the process in words.  First, I ripped up pink paper scraps and collaged them randomly to an 8 1/2" x 11" piece of cardboard.  Then I cut the sheet into 10 ATC's and overstamped with a hand carved stamp.  Fun!

A Visual Journal

I'm a sucker for a new art journal, and this time I've made my own out of materials available in my studio.  It is a hard cover journal measuring 6" X 9", with four signatures.

The signatures are made from painted papers, most of which have been kicking around for many years.  Once the pages were folded for the signatures, I had to choose how they would be ordered to become full spreads.  Many of them are quite different from each other, and the project for this journal will be to unify the pages using all kinds of mixed media techniques.

This was inspired by the fabulous artist Jane Davies. Here you can read more about the process involved.