Acceptance

Acceptance is going from resistance to submission, even if you don't like the circumstances.

Accepting something doesn't mean you have to like it, approve of it, or want it. But it does mean that you stop resisting it. Now, obviously there are some things that it is good to resist - oppression of all sorts for starters - but when we are in circumstances that can't be changed, accepting them is a lot less stressful than resisting. Accepting that these are our circumstances means we start facing them. It means that we start to see more clearly because we aren't constantly fighting.

What do you need to accept about your life?

Canvases in progress

A short post today. I haven't done much work in my art journal in the last week as I've been working on canvas instead. These are all works in progress.

Finished canvases

I've finished three of the twenty canvases I recently bought. They are all 20 x 20cm - slightly smaller than my usual art journal pages - but I like the square format.

I'm tackling them in the same way that I would a journal page, using the same techniques and materials as far as possible. I found that some things, such as Neocolor IIs aren't as easy to use on a canvas. The way I usually scribble with them doesn't produce the same result unless it is on top of a piece of collaged paper, and even then the give in the canvas makes it harder. It's all an opportunity to learn.

Brickwork or pebble-dashing?

Brickwork or pebble-dashing? One shows the structure, the other covers it up.

The top left corner of this page has a brick pattern on it. The black and pink area on the right made me think of pebbles, hence the journalling on this spread.

When we build things, we can do it in a couple of ways. We can let the structure show - all the places where the bricklaying didn't go exactly to plan, the bricks that aren't the same colour as the rest, the flaws in the bricks, the joins where extensions were added - or we can cover it up, like with pebble-dashing. With the latter, it all looks neat and precise, but is the structure sound?

It's like with other areas of life: will you put a mask on it, or let things show, even if they're not perfect?

Interlocking

Interlocking: You do not stand alone. What you do affects others.

The wheels/cogs on this page made me think about how if you move one part of a clockwork mechanism, it affects all the other parts. We are much the same ourselves - what we do affects other people, sometimes directly and sometimes indirectly. We all interlock when we live in community.

How can you affect others for good?

seeds to trees

What will these seeds grow to be?

When I started this page I had no idea where it was going, which is nothing new. The circle kept calling for an image. I had a hand-carved stamp of a tree that fit perfectly, so I put it in there. For some reason it felt like I was looking into a crystal ball, which made me think about looking into the future. If I was seeing a tree in the future, what was it talking about now?

All plants start from seeds, so what seed am I planting to have a tree in the future? Am I thinking ahead and being deliberate in my planting?

Streamlining

Lots of places do things in certain ways because they've always done it that way - offices, workplaces, churches - but it's not always the most streamlined way to do things. When you arrive somewhere with fresh eyes you can see ways to improve efficiency; ways to do things differently.

The trick is how to implement new things without treading on any toes...

Adventures on canvas

I'm having fun at the moment playing on canvas. I use all the same techniques that I use in my art journal, just in a form that could be - deep breath! - hung on a wall.

These are the three I have on the go, plus some close-ups of different areas.

Below is a part of the canvas where I've applied paint and then taken it off with a baby-wipe through sequin waster. Just looking at the three canvases together, I can see that I've actually used this technique on all three, just in different colours.

The brick pattern in the corner of the canvas below is a gelli-print on greaseproof paper with alcohol ink. This is the ghost print after the stencil was lifted.

I love using foreign (to me!) language papers as collage items. They give texture without me trying to read the text through the paint.

Love the colour combo in the corner below. Must do a canvas in that orangey red, yellow, and lime green.

Chill mornings

Some days my art journal pages are just about the mundane things of life. There are no deep thoughts going on :)

At the moment I'm enjoying the crisp air in the  mornings. I'm looking forward to a chill Christmas where the days are short and carols really are by candlelight. Small things can bring joy.

Painful growth

None of us likes change, not really. 

We like 'comfortable'. 

We like 'familiar'. 

We like people who are like us. 

But there is no growth without change. Any growth will cause a change in you. Growth is a sign of life, even if that growth is painful. 

So embrace change, even when it's uncomfortable.