12 Months in View Summer

Over at 12 Months in View, Bernice gave us a wonderful poem Summer by Robert Louis Stevenson and set a challenge to use it as inspiration for artwork.  I didn't quite know what I wanted to do until I was inspired by a journal page on Pinterest by Claire Barker.  The technique seemed to fit right in with the poem.  I didn't exactly copy it but "interpreted" it in my own style.

Have I mentioned lately that I'm a Pinterest addict?

Thanks for stopping by.

~Pam

Journal Page Swap - Milliande Art Community for Women

I have been involved in a monthly journal page swap on the Milliande Art Community for Women web site.  This is a wonderful community of women artists involved in many different mixed media projects.  I can't even remember how I stumbled onto it but I am so glad I have.  There are many different groups that you can join and I felt compelled to join this journal swap group.  Since January we have swapped 2 journal pages a month with the lovely Dawna Quinn as our host.  She provides us with two prompts each month that we interpret on our pages and then sets up the swap lists.  I usually don't post these pages but I do save a photo of them as I do with all my projects and journals.  But this prompt really made me think and it brought something of me into the page.  I am writing about it here for me so that I can remember what those feelings and events were that I put down on the page.

The prompt:

Prompt One: Pick a medium that you may have been putting off trying, or perhaps one that you have the supplies for but haven't explored for some time. Through this exploration dig into the traditions that are part of your life and share the event or feeling evoked through the practice of that tradition in your life.

I have recently purchased black gesso.  I wanted it so badly and ordered it through Amazon and then couldn't wait for it to arrive.  When it did I looked at it in horror because for the life of me I couldn't think what to do with it.  I also ordered some distress markers and haven't really used them either.  So these were the supplies I decided to explore.

The next part was the hard part.  I wasn't quite sure what to make of this.  "Traditions that are part of your life"?  Feelings evoked?  Practice of that tradition?  Huh?

So I sat down with my blank 5 x 7 inch piece of water color paper, my black gesso and distress markers.  And sat.......and sat.....and stared.....and stared...... And then it came to me.  I am a Radiologic Technologist or as lay people call us an X-ray Technician although I cringe when I hear that.  We have a running joke in the field that we "do our best work in the dark".  This came from all those years of having to process those x-rays in the darkroom.  And we like the lights down fairly low when we are actually trying to do those x-rays so we can see our light field.  Perfect!!  Black - dark. 

I covered my paper with the black gesso.  OK.  Now what?  Thinking about what I do made me think of the x-ray images. I am very proud of what I do.  Taking the time to get the perfect image with everything just right takes a lot of training, knowledge and experience.  And those images can help a physician make a diagnosis that could help save a life or help the physician know how to set that fracture.   I think the images themselves are quite beautiful.  The black background with the white bones and the varying shades of gray in the soft tissue densities.  OK.  Beauty.  I had just received a new stamp of a rose.  I stamped the rose image onto some script paper and colored the rose with the distress markers.  I decided to use a much loved stamp with a quote that picks up the sentiment I was trying to convey.

I hope my swap partner for June loves it as much as I do.

Thanks for stopping by.
~Pam

Summer of Color -Week 3

Week 3 at Summer of Color the color combination of the week is Lime Green and Purple.  Never before, have I used this combination.  So I really wasn't too sure of it but I kind of like it.  I made two ATCs using the combination and like the way they turned out.  

I am entering my "Heard it through the grapevine" ATC in the Getting Messy challenge #22 at Anything But A Card.

Thanks for stopping by.
~Pam

Pinterest

Hello my name is Pam and I am a Pinterest addict.  There, I said it out loud.

As I was perusing pins a few days ago I saw something that just spoke to me.  It was a large clothespin that was decorated with lots of flowers and ribbons and such.  I was mesmerized.  I quickly got on the iPad and opened my Amazon app.  Within 2 days I had my jumbo clothes pins .  I wasn't quite ready for just how jumbo they are.....

These are huge!  So after my initial surprise, excitement set in.  With all this real estate to play with I should be able to put something together.

So there you have it.  It is so big it stands upright on the table and can hold a photo or a recipe card or something you want to display .  Yay Pinterest.

Thanks for stopping by.

~Pam

Summer of Color Week Two

Week two color combination over at Summer of Color is hot pink and orange.  I decided to do a tag.

I didn't think I would like this combination but I really really love it.  I didn't even realize that I had these colors in my stash.  I cut the butterflies out with my Cuttlebug using orang paper and hot pink paper that was sprayed with Dylusions pink spray.  I found two buttons that were the perfect colors but had smiley faces as their centers.  I took a little bit of black gesso and painted the centers and then some diamond sticklers finished them off.  The other flowers and leaves are actually a ribbon with net backing.  Perfect.  And there you have it.

Thanks for stopping by.
~Pam

Summer of Color

I am so excited to be participating in the 2013 Summer of Color.  Check it out and see you want to participate too.

This week's color combination is citron green and turquoise.  This is an artists choice challenge so we can make anything we want as long as we stick to the color combination.

My choice was to go small.  I made Twinchies  which are tiny 2 in x 2 in square artworks.  My plan is to use them to make some cards some time in the future.

I love the way the colors pop on the black card stock I used to photograph them.  I will more than likely use black to make my cards.  

Can't wait to see what the combo is next week.

Thanks for stopping by.
~Pam

12 Months in View

Time to make our summer Zine. I decided to use a sheet of watercolor paper.  I did a quick peek to find out how to fold the pages and place the cut.  Then I gessoed the paper.  Once the page dried I laid it in my kitchen sink and sprayed with inks.

I sprayed with lemon yellow, blue and green.  After allowing the ink to set for a few minutes I used a roll of paper towels to clean up the ink.

I thEn payed a doily on the page at random areas and sprayed through it using white Linen spray.

Now the color is toned down and looks excellent.  I let this dry before refolding into the little booklet.

Then I decorated the front which is my summer page and the next is my June page.

Thanks for stopping by.
~Pam

Visit WithThe Folks

Made the trip to visit my Mom and Dad this weekend.  Wonderful visit and got to do some art with my niece.

I also finished a canvas to give to Mom and Dad.

Thanks for stopping by.

~Pam

Summer Scavenger Hunt

I am going to try to participate in a photographic challenge called Summertime e Scavenger Hunt that is being hosted at Gallo Organico.  Maria "Rinda" Ontiveros has set a challenge to obtain photos of a list items.

SCAVENGER HUNT LIST

You have until the last day of summer (September 21) to find and photograph the following items:

1. Open air market

2. Theater for performing arts (not a movie theater)

3. City Hall, Capitol or other similar civic building

4. Airplane

5. A sunset

6. Someone or something taking a nap

7. A sign that is intentionally or unintentionally funny

8. A tower

9. A photo with someone or something that is clearly out of place or doesn't belong

10. A bench that is outside

11. An animal in a zoo, aquarium, nature preserve, etc.

12. A cloud in the shape of something (please specify what you see)

13. A fence

14. A stained glass object or a mosaic

15. A fire truck or police car

16. A windmill 

17. Candle(s)

18. Your local pub/bar, coffee house or tea shop

19. A fisherman

20. A dinosaur

21. A photograph of you with an artistic tool or craft supply (you cannot substitute for this item)

Bonus/substitute items. If you find any of the above items too difficult, feel free to substitute either (or both) of these items. You can substitute up to two items, but you cannot substitute Item #21:

A person wearing an outfit (or item of clothing) that symbolizes your country

A sundial

From time to time I will post the photos I have taken for this challenge.  My first photo is #16 a Windmill.

A WV Windmill

Black Gesso Experiment

I received my order yesterday of Claudine Helmuth's Black Gesso.  I wasn't sure exactly how to use it but with brush in hand and my smaller journal I took a deep breath and waded in.

I am loving this.  The colors just pop off the black.  I painted the center of the page with the black gesso making sure to drag some swipes up and down into the areas I left white.  I used a stamp loaded with titanium white Liquitex soft body acrylic paint to stamp over the black gesso.  I then painted some pyrrole crimson and iridescent rich gold Liquitex soft body acrylic making sure to overlap and mix them in some areas.  The mixed areas became this beautiful rich rosé gold color.  I then used a white gel pen to place a few scribbles on the page.  The pen marks just weren't bold enough for all that color so I used a Bic Wite-out Pen to make a few more scribbles.  I then got out the black Alpha chips and spelled the word "respect".  At first I painted the letters with the same colors I used on the background but they faded into the background a little too much.  I wiped the paint off with a baby wipe to soften the colors and that made the letters pop out just enough.  I am really liking this page.  It is so different than anything I have ever done.  I think that is why I love art journaling so much.  It allows me to stretch my creativity without too much pressure to come up with a masterpiece.  I can either share it or not.  

I am so happy that you stopped to visit.  I would love for you to leave a comment and stop by anytime.

~Pam

12 Months in View Journal Page

I finally got brave and dug out the HUGE journal.  I bought it awhile back but I found it's size so intimidating.  All of my previous journaling has been done in a 5 1/2 in. x 8 in. Strathmore Visual Journal for mixed media.  This one is a whopping 9 in. x 12 in.  But I bravely pressed on even though that huge blank page was daring me to create something.  So I did.....

I made another Summer page using the colors that were chosen for summer on 12 Months in View.  After gessoing the page, I painted a strip in the middle of the page using Liquitex acrylic in Turner's Yellow.  Then I used Tim Holtz Distress Inks in Mowed Lawn, Salty Ocean and Tea Dye to ink through several different stencils.  I love the quote that I came across for summer. I am quite pleased with the results and I managed to fill the page quite nicely.

I will be entering my page in the Simon Say Stamp Challenge "Brought to You By The Letter S" since it is titled Summer and I stamped and stenciled the page.  Lots of "S"es there!

Thanks for dropping by.

~Pam

The Summer of Color 3

I am participating in a new blog event for the Summer.  The Summer of Color 3 looks like it is going to be great fun.  Hope you join in. 

I took the color quiz and here are my results copied from the website.  I had my husband help me so it would be fairly accurate with who I am not who I think I am.  We differed in a couple of answers but not many.

you are deepskyblue
#00BFFF Your dominant hues are cyan and blue. You like people and enjoy making friends. You're conservative and like to make sure things make sense before you step into them, especially in relationships. You are curious but respected for your opinions by people who you sometimes wouldn't even suspect.

Your saturation level is very high - you are all about getting things done. The world may think you work too hard but you have a lot to show for it, and it keeps you going. You shouldn't be afraid to lead people, because if you're doing it, it'll be done right.

Your outlook on life is very bright. You are sunny and optimistic about life and others find it very encouraging, but remember to tone it down if you sense irritation.

Yep, that pretty much is me.

Thanks for stopping by.
~Pam

12 Months in View - Summer/June

My husband and I went to our weekend place on Friday.  I decided on Thursday evening to set myself a challenge to take only a few art supplies with me and to use only what I took to create a journal page.

I took my journal, Inktense pencils, 5 distress markers, a waterbrush, a set of clear stamps, black ink pad, and two Pitt pens as well as my gesso and a couple of brushes.

Here is the set up on Saturday on the table:

Over at 12 Months in View, the challenge was to make a journal page for Summer.  Using what I brought this is my page and my June page on the other side.

I have to confess that when we went to the dollar store I found a package of pink and clear sticky gems and bought them and used them on my page....so I guess I failed the challenge!  But I am very happy with my results.


Thanks for stopping by.
~Pam