Art Journal Journey and October Gelli Print Party

I have to admit that I have bought a gelli-plate. Yes, I made one for myself quite a few months ago and loved it. Unfortunately, it started to go mouldy. I don't know why. It had been going along just fine. Maybe it was the old book I printed into. Perhaps it had some mildew, I don't know. Anyway, I revisited the idea of buying one. Last time I looked they were horrendously priced here in Australia. But I managed to find an 8 x 10in one for $40 inc p&p at Blue Bazaar. Bargain!

So here is my page for the October Gelli-Print Party using one of my hand-cut stencils. I loved it so much I just added a phrase and deemed it finished :) 

It's October and my northern hemisphere brain thinks the trees should be turning red and yellow and dropping their leaves. They're not as it's spring. Not that you get the whole 'springing into life' thing either. I feel a little cheated as there only seem to be two seasons here - the hot dry one and the cool wet one. 

And over at Art Journal Journey the theme for this month is SHE-art. This page came about after I did an exercise from Drawing Lab for Mixed Media Artists by Carla Sonheim. It involves making faces with ink in a dropper. You lose some of the control and the lines end up blobby, but that's part of the fun. I did a few on index cards and this was the one I liked best, even though it was only partial. 

I'm sure there are lots of us who wish our bodies were still only 25. But I actually like the wisdom of age. So, yes, there are more wrinkles and more white hairs in the mirror now, but inside I feel more comfortable with who I am, more sure of myself, more confident. I also have the reassurance that I am loved, no matter what the outside looks like, because the inside is what is important.

Journal Fodder 365 - Prompt #20

This week's prompt was turn up like magic.

It reminded me of the many times that this has happened to me. There'll be a niggling thought - go and see so-and-so. Now, at this point I can either ignore the niggle, or go with it. Usually there is nothing stopping me from going with it. And when I do, I usually find that there is a very good reason. For example, there was the time my husband and I turned up on the doorstep of a friend who promptly announced, 'I'm so glad you're here!' She had just had a large delivery of newspapers arrive but found that she was allergic to the ink and was having trouble breathing while sorting them all out with the various inserts they needed. We set to work and got the job done.

Now for our friend we were literally an answer to prayer. She had cried out for help and we were the solution. If we had ignored the seemingly random thought, we would have missed out on being that answer. So when those niggles happen, indulge them and 'turn up like magic'. You never know when you might be an answer to prayer.

One Little Word

Over at One Little Word the word for this month is DO. 

I made a time-lapse video of making this page. One of those things where you just have to get on and DO because there is no pause button on this little camera. Sometimes the pressure is good for you :)

I have to admit that I am one of those people who find it hard to cover up bits of background that I like, so this page was a challenge for me. I decided that if I just throw everything down on the page and make a big mess (which is what it feels like when I have so much going on on the page) then I'll find it easier to cover some of it up. Still, I managed to lose some bits I like, but hey, I just DID it.

Sometimes you have to stop planning and start DOing.

Running

Our family watched Jack the Giant Slayer the other day. A jolly good romp. Something that the princess said near the beginning stayed with me. She said, "Why do you think I'm running away? Couldn't I be running towards something?" (Or words to that effect.)

It makes you think, doesn't it? If I am running away from something, that is usually fuelled by fear. There is no thought of where I'm going. The priority is simply to get away from where the danger is.

But if I am running towards something, there is a goal in mind, a direction to travel in. There is purpose and intention.

Wouldn't you rather run towards something?

So kick fear in the teeth and run full-pelt towards your dreams!

My creative space

Today I thought it might be fun to do a tour of my art room, so be warned, this is a photo-heavy post!

Here are the drawer units where I store bits of coloured paper. You know how it is when you've cut into a sheet of paper so you don't want to store it with the full sheets because you'll only pull it out and find a corner missing? Well, those bits and pieces I store, colour-coded, in these drawers.

These shelves hold my journals in progress, books for altering, camera equipment, and you can just see my trampoline off to the right and weights on the top shelf. I use my art room as an exercise space as well.

These drawers hold all sorts of things from stamps to stencils to glue and tapes. As you can see, the drawers are labelled so I don't have to spend too much time looking for things. 

This is the bookcase where I keep most of my art and craft library. The crates at the top hold threads, sewing equipment, Hama beads, and old shirts to wear when things are going to get really messy. Also on this shelf a guillotine.

Next to the bookshelf is my much-coveted filing cabinet. This was a fabulous find of my husband's. The drawers are just the right depth to hold ink bottles, embossing powder, ink pads, punches, texture plates, and all those lovely things. I also use these drawers to store leather for book-covers and bags, paper, metal foil, moulds, tools such as brayers, bubble-wrap. A miscellany, really.

This is my desk where there are two work-stations set up. The one on the right is where I do my morning journalling, Bible study, and prayer. The one on the left holds my laptop, so that's where I do my blogging from, writing materials for retreats, children's stories etc. 

This is a vestry cabinet with an MDF top on it. You might notice a lip on the left side. This is to attach a bench pin for doing jewellery. You can see the pin lying on the desk along with a couple of blowtorches and a heatproof mat. This is where I do my 'other' journalling, the pages I publish on this blog. I don't share my morning journal - that's my private prayer journal. 

This is a close-up of the basket at the back left of the picture above. It holds books in other languages, music books, and graphic novels that I use for collage. On top you can see a pack of baby-wipes for applying paint.

This storage unit holds jewellery tools. Here you can see a doming block and a saw.

A drawer full of tapes.

Part of my alphabet collection.

This is what is on the shelf above my morning journal desk. These are the things I use a lot: gesso, PVA, gel medium, scissors, Copics, water spray. There is also a small tray with shells. I like to look at the colours and shapes for inspiration.

These boxes sit between my two desk work-stations. They hold paints, stamps, scissors, post-it notes, and memory sticks. 

So there you go - a tour around my creative space. I am so blessed to have a space where I can just leave everything out, get messy, lock myself away, and just have fun.

How do you store your materials?

Journal Fodder 365 - Prompt #19

This prompt is Come out and Play. How often do you let go and just play? With no agenda, no rules, just downright having fun?

I spend time playing in my art room most days and I'm happy to potter about on my own, but I really enjoy have time to play with other artists. There is so much we can learn just watching how others do things, seeing which materials they reach for first, what colour combinations they like. Playing with others can push us to try new things that we might not even think of. How often do you watch someone do something and say to yourself, Huh! I never would have thought to do it like that!

I found a great post here about doing collaborative journal pages. Must give that a go some time :) For now I'm happy to be part of a circle journal/round robin and am looking forward to being inspired by everyone else's work, and hopefully inspiring a little myself.

Copper jewellery

Like many artists I like to work in lots of different media. I recently found a piece of copper that I'd forgotten about so I pulled out the jewellery tools and had a little fun. 

Some cutting, annealing, folding, doming, and texturing ensued. I spent a happy afternoon wearing a face mask :)

I like the aged look that the finished piece has.

Spikes and vegetables...

First the spikes. Once I'd stamped and stencilled on this page it felt a little spiky, much like the world feels to me at the moment. A few too many prods have meant lots of tears. Do you ever feel like that?

And the vegetables? Well, as I peeled a beetroot last night, the peel fell to the work surface and when I gathered them to throw away, they left a fabulous pattern. Hmmm, I thought, I wonder if that will work on paper? A quick trip to the art room proved that, yes, it does! I just let the peel fall on to the page. I love how there is a pattern like a fingerprint when you look closely.

close-up

full page

And some close-ups of the spikes:

Journal Fodder 365 - Prompt #18

This week's prompt is Self Talk. What is the 'tape' that goes around in your head? How often do you berate yourself for something that is said and done and can't be changed? What lies do you listen to and allow to direct your behaviour?

As a Christian I have an antidote to the negative self-talk that goes on in my head: I listen to God. He always tells me the truth. Sometimes He has to tell me more than once as I don't always believe it :) 

But in the end He removes the corks that stop up my ears and speaks truth to me; truth that my heart recognises and my spirit holds on to. Truth that eventually drowns out the lies.

So remember: you are loved always, absolutely, and unconditionally. Grasp hold of that truth and believe it.

Direction

This page started out with a gelli-print. Then I added some stencilling, trying out the new stencils that I cut last week. The circles are done with water-soluble graphite. A couple of strips of washi tape and then it sat on my desk for a couple of days.

I looked at the chevrons and they were saying 'direction' to me. Which direction?

I started to think about how people decide which direction to go in. Do you ask for advice when you need to make a decision? Who do you ask? Or do you wait to have a destination in mind before you start moving?

I'm all for moving first and being open to course-correction along the way. I start to head out and pray as I go. The first step is the hardest; once you've overcome the inertia the rest just flows. It is easier to change the direction of a ship if it is already moving than trying to haul the prow around to face the right way before moving. So step out!

And here are a couple of close-ups because I love the many layers showing through and the great textures they make.

Have a fun weekend!