"Painted pages as skins" evolving into "it is what it is."

 I am looking over some of my painted pages in order to possibly use one or more for making skins for my Amazon Fire and Touch.....yes, more electronic toys.  Love 'em!

My Kindle 3 has a skin made from a past painted page and I really like it a lot.   That one I showed you in an early post.

This page is one of my favorites.  VERY cheap water color paint and water color paper, tons of water, and a plastic bag were the tools for this one.

 These two pages were made with the good old technique of using many layers of scraped paint and sprayed water.  I find painting these pages very meditative and really like making them.

Some of them actually do get used in making books.  Photographs attached to them and more media applied as the muse dictates completes the page.  Then the journaling can begin.....or not.

It is strange how it is so easy to write some days and the well runs completely dry on other days. But one cannot worry either way.  Acceptance.

One of the many life lessons I am continually trying to learn is the fact, "It is what it is."

It is only when we fight the "what is" that we have issues and hurts and pain.  If we accept all things as they are, all people as they are, giving thanks for each and all, that we can be happy and at peace.

I know I am not the first to say this. I hope I am not the last as we all can be far less frustrated if we go with "what is".  Maybe if I try to teach this a bit more, I will learn it!

Journal Pages.....Fall in Estes Park Altered Just a Bit

This photo was taken in Estes Park, CO and then altered with sand paper and India Ink.  It was then placed on a page in one of my painted page journals. Caran d'ache watercolor pastels were used around the perimeter of the photo to help meld it into the page.   Journaling will be added, perhaps with a color very close to the color of the page to partially obscure it.

I like going back to pages in this type of journal to add things; this process is almost like having an adult coloring book to return to in quiet times.

The photos are never in chronological order so when you read your journal memories of many different events are recalled.

Caran d'ache and sandpaper altering on painted journal page

A Tiny Book and Colorful Angels

This tiny book was made in a class with Doris Arndt.  We carved a design into the bookboard covers, covered the board with papers and pressed into the carving to make a beautiful relief design.

 

The pages were washed with pale colors and the wet pages were sprinkled with salt.

Measuring the spine for the stitching was a real bear, but making a template made the job much easier.

In case you have not yet figured it out, I do love making books.  Tearing the paper for the pages, painting the pages, folding them into signatures......all relaxing activities.  Then we get to the binding of the pages! It is at this point that I sometimes get all tensed up!  This is not a good feeling for someone who works with books and papers to relax!

I have a solution to this stress problem.....now my imaginary book-binding angel is always standing at my right shoulder telling me to breathe and calm down. It works!  He wandered into one of my classes at Art Unraveled, and got me through a frustrating time with fumbly fingers.  He now is always present when I need him, shining brightly in orange and pink. Thanks,  EGE!!

(Do kind things for people...be real, be helpful and caring;  you never know how you will affect someone and help them out for years to come.) 

Since I brought up art retreats, I must add that I believe that one of the best parts of all the art retreats is the friends one makes at these events.  Every year we greet our art buddies and enjoy being in the company of people who "get it". In many of our "real" lives, we are surrounded by people who humor us, give a compliment or two, perhaps, but they don't understand that we HAVE TO create.  Some have even wondered, "It's nice, but what's the point?"

For a look into what happens at art retreats (AND some actual class lessons), check out the new book by Ricë Freeman-Zachary, now available at Amazon......the book, not Ricë.  Destination Creativity is now available for shipping.... MY copy is on it's way!!

Go forth and Create!

Before and After

Pages never end up looking like they do in the beginning, but, instead, go through many transformations. Perhaps this is a metaphor for our lives, but I won't go there right now!

Both of the pages on the left started out with very several very bright colors.  Burnt Sienna was glazed over the top, and various stencils were used to calm them down.  A lot of moooshing and blotting also helped to tone them down.

The bottom left page (more blue)  started out as a depository for leftover colors from other pages.....see its beginning as a yellow sheet with blue and green blobs and smears in the right photo.  With the addition of many more layers, the glaze, and the stenciling it was totally changed into the complex page that you see here.

The right photo also shows one of my work tables which is at standing height.  The red surface is a very large teflon sheet on which I paint the pages. It cleans up beautifully and the pages do not stick to it. (usually!)  This is important as I often work on both sides of the page at the same time.  The two left pages in this photo are really the front and back of one sheet of Wausau cardstock.

You can see the spray bottle, paper towels, and baby wipes; all are my major tools along with old motel key cards.  Latex gloves are very helpful!  The paints are any brand of acrylic you have on hand, expensive to very cheap.  Each brand works a bit differently and learning about them is part of the play.

The App used to make this composite photo is PhotoWall for the iPAD.

Time to grab some tubes of paint and play!

Sketch a tree.......

Here is another process that I use in my journals.

I would love to have a sketch journal, but my sketches have a lot to be desired.  I do have an inner artist that can draw splendidly.... too bad she can never come out to play!  Here is a way to draw without having the necessary skills.

The tree photo was taken on a vacation and then altered with an iPAD app.  It was reduced to a light pencil sketch, which I am now using as a basis for "my" colored pencil drawing. Some of the branches are continued onto the page which was first painted with several layers of the typical scrape, wet, and blot technique. The left page is darker in the photo than it truly is.

I like not finishing a page so I can come back to it, almost as a child with a coloring book, spending several hours in peaceful contemplation.  A theme reoccurs.... getting away from the world into a quiet place with my trees.

...and other pursuits

What joy can be found in many activities of life!  Can anything be more special than visiting the grandkids?!  (Well, seeing their parents was also nice.)

We had a wonderful time reading, playing games on the iPAD, and doing some art activities.  I can hardly wait till they visit here one day so we can paint some pages and bind some books.   Alli and Amanda already have a small studio set up in their basement with a storage area for supplies, hooks for aprons, and an easel. It is never too early to start and they do love art time.

We were using the light rail and heading to the airport when the east coast earthquake was felt.  There was excitement and wonder expressed on the train as many were calling people to see if they were ok, and if they felt the quake.  Many buildings in Philly were evacuated and people were sent home from work making the train station a very crowded place. Trains were delayed and some tracks were closed.  The airport even closed for a short time and the security lines were the longest we had ever seen.

Back at home, the mail had piled up, but I quickly found my new Kindle 3 skin made from an image of one of my painted pages.  I had uploaded a photo of one of my pages to Gelaskins.com and here it is applied to my Kindle. Pretty cool!!    

                                                                                               

                              This combined photo was made in the Photowall app on the iPAD.

Well, back to the studio!  More donations for GW need to be sorted out and boxed up!  Purging time!!

Leaves of Green...This Time

Leaves and trees are part of my place of peace.  I could stare up (or down, as the case may be) at them for hours, loving the interplay of colors, lights, and shadows.

In this spread, the pages are painted, paste paper is adhered, another small page is tipped in, and the photos are altered.

The leaves on the plant on the left have additional color pencil added with the leaves being drawn out onto the page.  This photo was also altered with the Color Splash app on the iPAD.  That app turns the picture to black and white and then you draw with your finger over the areas you want color to reappear.

The plant photos on the right are scraps cut from another photo.

Written journaling will be added at the proper time.   WHAT is the proper time?  When the words come, when the thoughts need to be poured out onto the page....THAT is the proper time. Until then, turn the pretty pages and enjoy the colors and photos as they are.

By Golly, It's Gear Time!!

Mary Beth Shaw, through the website stencilgirlproducts.com, offers a multitude of high quality stencils for us to use in painting our pages.

This page, a signature in my art retreat journal, is many layers of paint, textured with blotted sprays of water, and a top layer of burnt umber wiped off through Mary Beth's gears stencil.

LK Ludwig got me started on this process and I am playing with the possibilities almost every day. Painting papers is totally meditative to me and there is no stress about "getting it right".

 Love those "It is what it is!" activities!!

The Man on a Bike

We were on a small ship cruise from Rhode Island to Chicago when we came upon this hard working guy in front of the art museum in Manitowoc, WI. Made of bronze, riding an old fashioned bike, he was going as fast as he could with coat tails flying in the wind.

I love the determination in his face....exerting energy, yet peaceful and wise. There is still far more showing in those eyes that intrigues me....I just cannot decipher the meaning.  What would he tell me if he could?

"Keep calm today as you endeavor to do that which must be done."

He is trying to get me to understand that and much more.

Painted pages,  Caran D'Ache water soluble wax pastels, photo

The Yellow Book

The binding is a sewn-over-tapes binding using waxed linen and a thrift store belt. LK Ludwig taught me this binding one year at Art and Soul.  The covers are re-purposed book board covered with paste paper made in an Albie Smith class.  Inside, the pages are a variety of colors and textures using very inexpensive watercolor paints. Making the pages is a great way to play in puddles of water and pigments....no stress. What you get is what you get!