Right Now. Right Here.

“Whether you succeed or not is irrelevant, there is no such thing. 

Making your unknown known is the important thing.”-Georgia O’Keeffe

Do you journal? Or are you like me, jotting thoughts and sayings on random bits of paper? I have often purchased beautiful journals fulling intending to fill them. I just never do. I don’t know if it is the fear of the blank page, or what seems like the vast the number of pages that puts me off. But whatever the reason, there they sit, on my bookshelf, spotless as the day I purchased them.

Some time ago I bought a pack of inexpensive Ace playing cards. The flying biplane on the backs won me over! Who wouldn’t want to fly off to a new adventure in that wonderful plane? It was then I decided to use them as a journal. With a deck of 52, completing one card a week didn’t seem beyond the realm of possibilities. To kick off my venture I knew the best place to start was with the Artistcellar Pocket Stencil series Creative Words: Believe, Trust, Seek, and my favourite, Create.

Have you ever noticed the lovely sayings tucked away on the inserts of your Artistcellar Stencils? To me the stencils alone are creative cake…the inspirational quotes are the icing. Creative Words were just that…the catalyst I needed.

The playing cards have a plastic finish. To allow the media to attach, I sanded the cards and applied a quick layer of gesso. I didn’t want to totally cover the suits and numbers, so I removed some of it with a paper towel. On my work table, I assembled my stencils, acrylics and stamps. I wanted to have a bit of fun and see where my journey would take me. I revisited an old technique: applying rubber cement through the SEEK stencil. I tried a new idea as well: dabbing Dye-Na-Flow colour through the TRUST stencil. When dried I positioned the cards in a row and completed the backs. Though not identical, they have the same “feel”…a record of a time and place.

In the end I was happy with the results. Best of all, the stencils stood up to everything I threw at them. Clean up was a snap with stencils back to perfect condition. The cards are now part of my new journal, safely tucked away in a pocket page protector in a three ring binder.

Time seems to be racing by for me. Is it the same for you? Journaling is a wonderful way of capturing the essence of who we are. The perfect journal format is whatever suits you best. We owe it to ourselves to take the time to make our unknown known. Not only to ourselves, but sharing it those in our life. Right now. Right here.

 

MATERIALS USED

• ARTISTCELLAR Stencils: TRADITIONAL JAPANESE SERIES (Arrow, Ocean Waves), BLOCKS SERIES (Open Work), HALFTONE DOTS SERIES (Midtone 1 & 2), and POCKET STENCILS (Creative Words)
• Ace Playing Cards
• Liquitex Gesso
• Golden Glazing Fluid
• Avery Glue Stick
• Elmer’s Rubber Cement
• Memento Tuxedo Black Dye Ink
• Dye-Na-Flow: Midnight Blue
• DecoArt Peacock Pearl, Desert Turquoise,
• Plaid: Aquamarine, Bright Red, Plum, Sunflower, Bright Orange
• Reeves: Rose Red
• Dina Wakley: Blush, Lime
• Dylusion Spray: Bubble Gum Pink
• Rubber Stamps
• Sandpaper
• Post It Notes
• Natural Sponge
• Paper Towels
• Baseball Cards Pocket Page Protectors
• Vintage Paper

Where Is Your Art Taking YOU? All On Board the Train!

Wouldn't you know we're riding on the Marrakesh Express
Wouldn't you know we're riding on the Marrakesh Express
They’re taking me to Marrakesh
All on board the train, all on board the train
All on board – Graham Nash

We are in a cycle of dark dreary days filled with rain and humidity. Not the most advantageous to inspire creativity on these late Spring days. I needed an escape!  I wanted the sun! I wanted warmth! I wanted exotic locations! With a bit of imagination and the best tools at my disposal I magically escaped the monotonous and travelled into a world of colour and exploration.

Opening the box from Artistcellar that arrived at my door was like grabbing my passport and getting on board to an exciting journey! Included with the supplies was the CHRIS COZEN - PLAYFUL PODS SERIES stencils. As with all of the Artistcellar stencils, they are made to last and perform perfectly with a variety of media. Clean up is quick and easy, leaving the stencil in like-new condition. Lately I have heard a lot about the use of Rubber Cement. It seems to be the “go to” everyone is discussing…from Google+ Communities to Workshop details that land in my Inbox.

I selected the Bodacious Pods stencil from the series. They reminded me so much of Moroccan pouffes…the lovely Ottoman footstools that take lounging to the pinnacle of relaxation.  In my collection is an exquisite image of Sir Francis Bernard Dicksee’s "Leila", which I purchased on a Digital Collage Sheet. The woman, painted in the Oriental style, at last found a home.

My idea was to give the art a rough, almost sun worn finish similar to the buildings I photographed in Marrakesh. I chose a heavy watercolour paper for the substrate.  I dabbed the rubber cement through the stencil with my fingers…varying the amount from thick to thin, hoping this application would produce a mottled effect when covered with paint.

The rubber cement dried relatively quickly, even for impatient me. As an impulse buy, I recently purchased  pearlescent watercolours. I go weak in the knees for anything with a shimmer, and the selection of colours looked scrumptious. I covered the paper with a wash. I chose all the gorgeous Bohemian colours available on my pallet: Hot Pink, Vermilion Orange, Cyan Blue, Turquoise and Bright Violet! I blended the colours using a tool new to me… The SAKURA KOI WATERBRUSH. If you haven’t tried it you must! The brush is made of flexible nylon fibers that are fed with water from a refillable reservoir. When I was finished blending, the paper was once again set out to dry.

With my fingers and an eraser I removed the rubber cement. The result was as I had hoped…patchy, worn, sun-kissed, with a dazzling shimmer…just as I remember my travels in Morocco.  It would be the perfect home for Leila. I scanned the altered paper and revised the image of the woman. I wanted to keep as much of the paper without further alteration, so I only added Graham Nash’s lyrics…the inspiration for the piece…surrounding her.

Art, I am sure you will agree, can take us to the places as far and as wide as our imagination. With the proper tools at our fingertips we can re-experience the wonders of travels past. Or we can dream of places we’ve yet to see.  Either way, won’t you join me? All on board the train, all on board the train!

MATERIALS USED

• ELMER'S RUBBER CEMENT
• CHRIS COZEN - PLAYFUL PODS SERIES – Bodacious Pods
• SIMPLY SIMMONS ONE STROKE BRUSH
• SAKURA KOI WATERBRUSH
• ROYAL LANGNICKEL & ARTIST'S LOFT FUNDAMENTALS PEARLESCENT WATERCOLOURS
• HEAVY WATERCOLOUR PAPER
• DIGITAL IMAGE- Sir Francis Bernard Dicksee’s Leila (1892)