More……….

 

The weather has been hot, well for Oregon, three days of 100 degrees, or near, so I’ve been staying in my cool house and making pages for my nature journal.

Here’s are the pages I’ve accomplished, so far…….

I shared the hydrangea blossom and fir cones with you last week.  This week it is sunflower, butterflies and what we call, Deadly Nightshade.

The Sunflower is painted with acrylics on a piece of canvas and trimmed out with a ruffle of lace, pieces of paper and button….with yellow handmade paper for the backing.

 

To attach the canvas and papers to the handmade paper I used my sewing skills, such as they are.

 

 

 

These are real butterflies that I picked up, framed, from a flea market.  I’ve coated the page with PVA glue that’s what is giving it the sheen.  The French phrase interprets to “catching butterflies”.  The page is fastened, with grommets, to handmade paper and backed with a thin purple paper and trimmed out with a little butterfly tape.

Today is much cooler.  So, I took another walk in the park where I picked this Nightshade vine and came home and drew it.  I’m still working on the watercolor part….I need more practice or lessons, maybe.

I’ve been dating my pages but I’ve noticed that some artists do this little box “thing” with the date….I like that!  I’m doing it from here on out.

I may not have as much time next week, but I’ve got another butterfly page started so, hopefully, I will get a couple more pages finished. 

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week and join me at Julie's Art Journal Everyday.

Nature Journal pages…….

 

Hi, I’m getting into this nature journal I told you about the other day!  It is so fun when the ideas come fast and furious instead of the normal, slow and uninteresting.

Here is first journal page I’ve completed…….I’m going for the specimen page look.

I laid down a thin, watery layer of blue gouache before I sketched the flower, then I went back in and added some high and low lights to the petals.  The leaf is real!  Glued it down with Mod Podge and put a coat over to protect it.

 

Added a label and typed, yes, typed with my vintage typewriter the plant name!

Finished off with a circle from a dictionary page and a touch of orange postage stamp!

 

This is the back side of the page…simply a beautiful napkin glued down!

 

The next journal page is all about sketching items I picked up in the park while I was walking the dog.

 

 

 

 

 

 

You know what, I’m learning a lot on this project, too.  When you draw a fir cone or a feather you see the fine details that we don’t see when we just look at fir or pine cone hanging from a tree.

Stay tuned, I have a lot more ideas I want to try out in this journal.

 

 

I have been journaling everyday, so I think I will join Julie Belzer’s linky party at Art Journal Everyday.  Please join me.

New theme…….

 

I’m starting my first “themed” journal!  Since I’ve spent so much time lately in my garden and creating fun projects with fruits and vegetable….I decided my theme should be nature!

Starting off with one of my Farmer’s Markets photos of carrots trimmed with marks from a leaf stamp I carved.

Then I added a watercolor sketch of one of my favorite lawn chairs and that I bordered with the saying “ Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished”……..

Also, started drying some rose blossoms in silica gel crystals and air-drying hydrangea flower heads . 

 

 

I plan on incorporating the dried flowers into my journal in some fashion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These are pansy blossoms that I placed between two pieces of paper and then pounded with a hammer to make these prints.  I’m excited to use them in this journal, as well.

I’m looking forward to working on this project!  I’m starting now while the flowers are still blooming, the produce is abundant and soon the leaves will begin changing into their beautiful fall colors……all the things that make my heart sing and should make for some outstanding journal inspiration.

Blogcation?

 

I’ve been on a bit of a “blogcation”…..no, I didn’t go out of town or lounge in the backyard.  I’ve been busy.  I just haven’t been blogging, reading or writing.  It’s only been a week, I know, but I missed you.  So, let’s catch up…….

First, I hung my prayer flags outside in the garden to allow their positive messages to flow into the world…….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then my husband’s youngest son and his wonderful family came to visit from California.

 

Saturday, we managed to attend a fun street sale in the small town of Aurora, located nearby.

 

 

 

Always interesting stuff to look at……….rockers and deer and porch swings and graniteware…….

 

 

Somebody has all their chickens in a row………..

 

 

 

 

 

 

then there was a wood carving, some Japanese glass fishing floats, antlers for the deer above, and more graniteware…

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the treasure I couldn’t live without

so, it had to come home with me…..the spelling board!  I’ve always wanted one and for $12. I wasn’t leaving without it!

Today, a trip to visit a lovely gallery near by, in the town of Silverton.  Lunaria is a co-operative gallery that features many very talented local artist.  A friend and I went to see the work of Dayna Collins, a Salem artist, who does these great assemblages.

I even entered three pieces of artwork in the art show at the county fair this week and I managed to do a little work in my journal, too.  My, I have been a busy girl.

It has been a fun and busy summer, so far, and I’m lovin’ it.  Thanks for stopping by, it was good to see you!

Printmaking

 

I messed up my knee recently, so walking and standing are a bit of a pain right now, but that’s O.K.!  I’ve decided I can sit and make art…….PERFECT!  Hubby is cooking, mowing, weeding and walking the dog and I’m sitting in my chair, with my ice pack, making stuff like this….

a rubber stamp/printing plate!

 

 

The July/August issue of Cloth*Paper*Scissors had a feature  article about…….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

carving stamps and making a stencil mask written by Lisa Thorpe.

Intrigued…I bolding set forth by first drawing a sketch of three figs, because we have a fig tree loaded with fruit, so they were cheap models!

Then I traced the drawing onto a piece of rubber stamp material and carved the stamp that I showed you, above.

 

 

 

Cutting the stencil masks was a little more difficult….you have to think about positive and negative space and you know that is never easy!

Finally, got those two cut……

 

 

 

 

 

after putting the “fig stencil” in place to mask that area, I then stenciled the background, shown here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next you go in and use the background stencil to protect the background and then you paint in the figs!

 

 

If you are still with me, here is where the stamp/printing plate comes in……with ink or paint you stamp over the painted background……..and this is the result…..

The colors I choose for my first printing attempt were too dark!  So, I trimmed away more rubber from the stamp and used a little lighter shade of paint colors……this is the result.

Same stamp, using only black StaZon ink………

The colors are brighter in real life, not this dark…..but here is finished product!

 

It is clearly worth the effort.

Inspiration……

 

Saturday’s trip to the Salem Farmer’s Market inspired several fresh ideas, as well as, fresh veggies.

This photo……….

inspired this sketch………

…..and this photo……….

 

……inspired this sketch…….

Some of you have already seen this,

a collage of a beautiful display of fresh vegetables and my sketch of the scene!

As I say, I keep playing with my food!

Art Journaling Everyday

 

Well, here it is almost Friday, already, time to join up with the journalers at Julie Balzer’s Art Journal Everyday!

I’ve been playing with my food a lot, lately.  That’s because, in my world, there is such a wonderful abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables this time of year.  About three years ago, I planted four blueberry plants in my garden and this year they really produced….so, I journaled it………

I used, both, photos from a magazine ad and from photos that I took of my bumper crop of berries along with some beautiful gold tomatoes from the garden….blue and gold/orange, now, that is one of my favorite color combos!

Some of what I’ve been doing this week in my journal when I wasn’t eating or picking blueberries.