Quiet thoughts on a rainy Saturday afternoon...

While I don't have any real "following" for my blogs, I DO have wonderful people stopping in and leaving their thoughts whenever I put my art out there for one challenge or another... And that's pretty cool. 

What I DO have is an insatiable curiosity and love of seeing others' art. It has taken me the past 4 hours to wander through all the great entries for Artist's Play Room #26 and Photo Art Friday's 7-word sentence prompt. It is delightful to see what my "friends I've never met yet" have been DOing since last week.

So, it's especially fun today to BE able to help out Jenn with getting the word out about the new FEATURING magazine...

It looks amazing and delicious. Pre-order issue 2 and you're entered into a draw to win one of 30 free inchies that will be displayed on the back cover of issue 3. The giveaway ends September 21st. Here's the link.

Actually, you might want to check out this link to Jenn's post for more wonderful information and a closer look.

It looks to BE a wondrous magazine and full and overflowing with the smorgasbord of art that I have been marinating in today!!!

EnJOY!!

Learning Is My Heart; It Completes Me.

When Bonnie first put this prompt out there, I was drawn right in. I love words. Like I love to breathe.

Suddenly I was thinking about all the many words I have written on this Life Journey. I was waking up with one string of them or another.

And then...

The words right BEside this and every one of my posts, words that I actually feel came through me rather than from me, woke me one way early morning...

LEARNING IS MY HEART; IT COMPLETES ME.

There they are. 

7 simple words that speak ME. 

ME as an artist. 

ME as a human. 

ME as ME...

I wanted to "DO" this more with Photoshop Elements, and I wanted to tell you how I did it, and I even did another version... 

Ultimately I went with my heart, using a photograph I took on my move west to east in 2009, wandering one day in St. Augustine, Florida. And I added the sentence in Picnik and that was enough.

I suppose that just proves the truth of my 7 words.

Learning is where I live Life.

It is how I live.

It is what Life is all about for me.

JUICY DELICIOUS LUSCIOUS MANGOS APR#26

Learning curves are curious little bends in Life... they can BE like a rollercoaster, taking me up up up, higher and higher, the World looking tiny from way up there, and then drop me in a blink, utterly breathtaking [and literally taking my breath away] and unnerving.

And so it goes with me. I think I understand a thing but I don't, I mean, I couldn't explain it, couldn't tell you how I got from start to done. And I will ask questions and re-watch YouTube and other how-to video options, over and over [and did I mention OVER?!] again... 

And then, like the rollercoaster's sudden surprise, I shoot down and only when I realise I am heading back up again can I see where I was, no clue where I am heading Now.

This is how it goes, making art. 

For me. 

Here. 

In the Wee Cottage. 

In September 2012.

It is good. Even if it's unnerving. Somedays...

I am grateful for the challenge, the gentle nudge, the idea which then takes its time making itself clear to ME. Well, somewhat clear...

JUICY. That was it. The rest, well, I could try to explain how I got there, here, but it would take more time and room and frankly, this is enough.

For ME... 

Moving... Photo Art Friday 7 September 2012

After a brief hiatus, Bonnie has put out the call for Photo Art Friday. This week's topic, should I choose to use it as inspiration, is MOVING... 

Although it brought back a whole lot of way too many actual moves I've made,  it actually took me to a very old, 32 years, mayBE 33?! photo I took of my son running on the beach...

the original photo which I actually quite love as it is...

edited in Picasa, and I notice I AM getting a little more experimental even there since I've been learning more about PSE8

and edited again exploring the possibilities...

I am looking forward to seeing what others have been up to after the break. DO check it out when you have a chance!!!

Daily Paper Prompts #34-#36

I may BE having entirely too much fun... I'm loving these prompts, trying to interpret them simply, easily, and discovering that I really quite like the daily opportunities to get out of my nice and comfortable own way!!

DPP #34 was Puzzled... which puzzled me, at first. And then I said, Hmmmmmmm... what about?! 

Puzzling A Word Scramble

thus a whole new twist to bring along when I am teaching [playing] afterschool with kids...

Next DPP, #35, was Ten Tiny Things with Rhomany. I skipped right on past my automatic reflex that I "can't draw" BEcause all that really means is I can't draw like somebody else... I decided to meet the challenge in my own way...

First I picked out 10 tiny treasures that live here in the Wee Cottage...

I scanned them...

Played with them a bit in Picasa

And finally I drew on the scans, coloured them, and played with "drawing" them my own way...

Actually this process taught me a LOT and I have to say I am grateful I didn't just go so-so with it!!

And next up... Daily Paper Prompt #36, Found Words with Natasha and while I DID use paper in the found words, the real treat for me on this one was finding out HOW to finish a painting I have had sitting looking at me, half done, for well over a month!!!

And with that...

I am off to see what's waiting to prompt me today!!

My Favourite Colour?! How About ColourS?!

Artist's Play Room #25

This week's challenge for Artist's Play Room Jenn asked,

I want YOU to show ME YOUR favorite color. Go, make a piece of art that celebrates your very favorite color. If you just can't pick then I guess you'll be submitting a rainbow! Hehehe.

I am pretty sure she had me with "rainbow" as that actually IS my favourite. I have been this way for a Very Long Time. And while I tried, really I did, to nail down the one that stands above all others, I ultimately surrendered...

I've been on a bit of a tear for months and months Now with funny fish, odd octopuses, silly seahorses, crazy crabs, twisted sister sea turtles, and loony lions of the sea. I did finally manage to get above sea level in one painting, but still, I seem to BE all about the sea...

Funny thing, the pair of paintings I am submitting I'd painted turquoise awhile back when Jenn was asking us to combine turquoise and lime, which happen to BE her favourite colours, and then I went an entirely different way in that challenge.

So here are two of my Under the Sea series which clearly explain my dilemma in choosing a single colour as my favourite...

And this painting, where I actually got most of the way OUT of the sea, again, the colours are rainbow with a side of sunshine and sea...

Imagining Santorini

A New Month of Daily Paper Prompts

At the start of each year, well, the last 3 anyway, I declare a word for that year. In 2012 it's DISCIPLINE. Curious at the outset, Now I just keep seeing it taking root in me, deeply, and there is much in my "harvest" too.

The Daily Paper Prompt, following on the heels of ICAD2, has been an inspiring resource for a discipline of creating and making and exploring my art each and every day. It's also more fun this way, as I live a very solitary and quiet Life. It lets me BE connected in a Very Real Way with others, and especially when I get to share what I have been up to.

This month of September, I have an intention to DO my DPPs on these 4 by 4 inch pieces of cardstock. Of course, NOT knowing what the daily prompts will BE, I am certain I will have to "punt" to make that intention hold.

Such was the case for DPP #32 with Repurposed Paper. I don't sew, don't have access to sewing materials or a machine, so I interpreted the prompt my own way. Actually, this is something I DO regularly, so I did it deliberately. I had a bunch of scraps of all kinds that I have been sifting and sorting all summer, so I did a BIG clearing-out to take 99% of it in for the kids' stash at the museum. Clearly repurposing on several levels!!

What I did DO that I can SHOW were these 4 little squares of strips, as described only shorter...

Daily Paper Prompt #32 Repurposed Papers

and without any stitching or stapling... It's fun to see the bits of the bigger bits I have ready for the kids' stash. I am quite sure I will use these, if only for backgrounds...

Daily Paper Prompt #33 with Lauren came with this invitation:

making a collage which incorporates *LOTS* of layers! Your layers can consist of different papers, images, ephemera, techniques (sewing, drawing, writing, folding, beading), media (ink, paint, mist, gesso, charcoal, pastels), colors, ideas, artistic styles... in short, a "layer" can be anything you want! Don't worry about achieving a lovely end result, concentrate on the creative process, on trying at least one thing that's brand new to you, and-- especially-- on having ♥FUN♥! 

What ever was I going to DO on those weensie baby squares of cardstock!!??? NOT to worry, if nothing else this daily practise I've been at since 1 June 2012 has taught me the power of improvisation. So I dug deep into some of my older art, knowing that I had done something just like this and surprised myself at finding this:

Daily Paper Prompt #33  *LOTS*  of Layers

Scanning it and photographing it, I discovered that I have some treasures in that box that I'd just considered old and NOT all that worthy of revisiting... I also learned more about the way my scanner and camera are similar but NOT the same. I'm pretty sure, too, that I will BE able to carry this over into getting more comfortable with Photoshop Elements. 

Yet for Now I fiddled in Picasa, came up with a bunch of variations, and fulfilled Lauren's instructions. This was the first piece where I used layer upon layer of collage, paint, texture, stamps, stencils, soft pastels, and even oil pastels. And Now I have used Picasa. Who knew?!

Stay tuned... I am going to try to keep up with an every other day post. It's another form of Discipline for me to keep moving along, keep writing, and sharing.