Who Says Summer is Over?

 

Flowers keep blooming in my world of Art Sparks 3!:  Pockets full of Posies.

A Tag-Pocket

Art Sparks 3!:  Pockets full of Posies

Everything is fair game for a pocket.
 

Still Using Up Art Bits

 

Art Sparks 3!:  Pockets full of Posies

These pots were cut from some small scraps of acrylic ink on watercolor paper.  Years ago I played on full sheets of paper, and over the years I've used them for everything from book covers to artist trading cards.  The scraps are getting smaller and smaller, but nothing goes to waste.

Thoughts on Unfinished Journals: You Don't Have to Finish the Way You Started

Gelli Print

The second journal I'm working on finishing began its life as a sketchbook.  Most of the pages are kraft, and a few are cream.  I stumbled upon a You Tube video by Robyn McClendon in which she prints in a kraft journal and a light bulb lit up in my head.  I may change my mind again, but so far, I'm having lots of fun!

Each day I work with a different color palette.

A few trees are making an appearance.

Patterns

Acrylic

Strathmore Watercolor 6" x 9"

 

One of the artists that I follow on Instagram is Anika Starmer.  She provides weekly pattern prompts under the hashtag #patternswithanika.  I don't often need prompts for inspiration, but I did last week, and I've been thinking about trying some patterns for awhile.  It is a pretty dismal start, but it got me creating something, and that's the objective.

 

She's going to focus on the color green during March, and the prompt last week was avocado. She does say that you can take as much creative license as you want, and I was more inspired to paint avocados than to paint with the appliance green of the 1970's.



To Everything There is a Season

 

Acrylic Ink, Sumi Ink

Strathmore Watercolor 6" x 9"



Patterned Paper

 

 Uni-ball Vision pen on Gouache

 

I had a stab at making my own patterned paper.  The idea was to use it for collage elements.

 

 



 

Pencil Crayon on Acrylic Ink and Watercolor

 

I used to buy patterned paper, and loved it so much that I couldn't bear to cut into it.  Surprise, surprise, I can't bear to cut into this either.

 



Breaking In a New Sketchbook

Acrylic Ink

Fabriano Sketchbook, 8.5" x 11"

I had the absurd(?) idea that I want to work a little bigger, so I bought an 8.5" x 11" sketchbook.  Whenever I get a new book, I test out some materials on the first page.  This allows me to see how the paper reacts to various media:

I like the paper, but the jury is still out on the new size.  It certainly is nice to have options, though!

Main Street

ATC

Acrylic Ink
Stamp by Frog's Whiskers Ink

Singing in the Rain

ATC

Acrylic Ink

Stamp by Stamping Bella

Up, Up, and Away

ATC

Acrylic Ink

Stamp By Stamping Bella

Magenta Angels

ATC

Acrylic Ink

Stamp by Magenta

Several years ago I mixed up some acrylic ink by diluting heavy body acrylic paint in water.  I sponged it onto large sheets of water color paper and onto journal pages.  Some recent posts by Catherine Scanlon inspired me to get it out again and paint with it.

Turning Off the Inner Critic

It isn't easy.  Sometimes the only thing to do is to shout down the noise in writing.  That gets me started.

Rainy Days

This May has been particularly rainy in Vancouver. I woke up one rainy morning to an email reminding me of this Sunday's Vancouver Artist Trading card swap. Here are the results of all of this inspiration!

These backgrounds were created on large sheets of watercolour paper using acrylic ink. After applying large swaths of colour, thin black stripes were added using a eye dropper. Then, I quickly dry brushed the strips for this "rainy" effect. When dry I cut them into ATC sized pieces.

A Taste of Something Different

After some encouragement from my sister, Dianne, I thought I'd share with you a page from my Art Journal.  This is where I experiment with different techniques and don't worry at all about perfection.