Imagination is the beginning of all great things. Albert Einstein is quoted as saying “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” Where would we be today if we didn’t use our imagination?
This is my newest abstract painting, Imagination. It’s painted on a 9×12 inch canvas with gorgeous hues of blue and pink. There’s lots of texture and splashes of purple and yellow plus a little glitter for magic. Imagination is available in myEtsy shop.
This is my newest abstract painting, Rise Above. I tried something new and painted this on a 10×10 inch wood panel instead of a stretched canvas. It had pros and cons but overall I liked using it a lot. It’s painted with bright happy colors of blue and pink and of course accented with a little glitter for magic. Rise Above is available in myEtsy shop. I have more coming so stay tuned…
I had some leftover paint from one of my paintings and didn’t want to waste it so I used it in my Strathmore 5.5″ x 8″ Mixed Media Journal. I tried a new face stencil by Jane Davenport and loved it! I added a quote by Dorothea Brandt that reads “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams, Act as though it were impossible to fail.”
What would you do differently if it were impossible to fail?
I started this painting with something completely different in mind but couldn’t stop thinking about beautiful blooms. So here it is, Flourish. It’s painted on a 10×10 inch canvas with vibrant and happy colors of blue and pink. It has lots of texture and of course a little glitter for some magic. Flourish is available in myEtsy shop. I have more coming so stay tuned…
I finished my second painting in this series, Bloom. It’s painted on a 11×14 inch canvas with bright happy spring colors and lots of texture. Plus a little bit of glitter for spring magic. Bloom is available in my Etsy shop. I have more coming so stay tuned…
This is my first finished painting in this series. It’s painted on a 9×12 inch canvas with bright fun colors and lots of texture, ready for spring! It’s available for purchase in my Etsy shop. I have more coming so stay tuned…
I was playing with my paints and wanted to try a new color combination. I loved how the background turned out so I started working on 2 canvases. Stay tuned for those.
I just got some new artsy ephemera in the other day and thought I’d use it for this layout. I found this quote by Maria Robinson that resonated with me “Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.”
When I was a kid and the teacher would bring out the scissors, paper and glue I knew it was going to be an awesome day because we would create some type of art. Sometimes it’s fun to go back to the basics and cut out pictures and simply glue them in a journal.
I’m not a textile artist but I look in awe at the quilts others make. I came across these photos in Quilting Arts magazine and decided to make journal pages from them. These were images of quilts created and designed by Jean Impey. They were simply stunning!
I onced used a hand wipe to clean inks from my studio table and it looked pretty cool at the time so I kept the wipe and let dry so I could use it for my art. It ended up finding a home in my journal 😊 The leaves and the heart were made using the recycled wipe. I thought they went well with the images and background color.
Hope this quote and happy journal layout inspire you in way today.
Last week I shared Page 1 of my journal with you. I had a lot of fun making these tiles using coffee as the background. This flower tile is slightly bigger than the other one as it’s a full 3″ square.
I loved creating with Shrinky Dinks when I was a kid. So I found this heart that I had made quite some time ago and thought it went well with the page as I made it part of the quote “True Love Always comes back.”
Supplies
Watercolor Paper, 140lb, Cold Press
Micron Sakura Pen 003
Assorted Bright Watercolor Pencils
Coordinating Acrylic Paints
1 Cup of Coffee
Ephemera/Embellishments of your choice
Posca Pens: White and Black
Pencil for shading
Instructions
Make a cup of really strong dark coffee.
Cut your watercolor paper to the desired size.
Using the Coffee, paint your watercolor paper. Let dry.
Paint the pages in your journal with acrylic paints, let dry.
Using your watercolor pencils, draw and color in your design. Activate the colors with a little water but try not to over mix the colors. Let dry.
Using the Sakura Micron 003 Pen outline your design on your tile and glue it to your page.
Add doodles, embellishments and ephemera to pages.
Add shading with a pencil and highlights with the Posca pen.
I have a tendency to make little pieces of art, then put them away until I’m ready to use them. I read an article where they made art using coffee. I’m not a coffee drinker but I do love the smell of coffee so I decided to give it a whirl.
I used watercolor paper for my 2.75″ x 3.5″ tile so I could be heavy handed with the coffee and get a nice background color. The trick is to make really strong, dark coffee then paint your paper.
Once the coffee is dry, you can create your art. I used watercolor pencils to make my drawing and activated the colors with water. After the paint dried, I went back over my drawing with Sakura Micron Pen 03. As always, I couldn’t resist adding that little bit of sparkly magic with glitter to the tile. (Note: When painting your tile, don’t be afraid to go bold and bright with the watercolor paints because they become muted and toned down when the colors mix with the coffee.)
For this journal page I used my Strathmore 5.5″ x 8″ Mixed Media Journal. I started by putting a good coat of gesso on my page and let it dry. Next, I used assorted acrylic paints that blended with the tile but at the same time made it stand out. After I was happy with the page, I glued my tile in place, added a few doodles and that was it.
I’ll post the second page of this layout next week so stay tuned as the adventure continues!