A peek at my journal pages

About a year ago I started keeping an illustrated journal. It’s just a simple watercolor pad sketch book, about $5 at the local art supply store. I love it because it’s watercolor paper and I can paint on it, draw with pencils, markers, pen and ink, I can write, I can do mixed media collage, and then repeat. And the thing about keeping an illustrated journal is, it’s not for finished art to sell. It’s really pretty private, just a place to start ideas. It’s not about showing it to people. It’s about having a place to record thoughts, plans projects, ideas, etc, and then illustrating them.

My winter morning routine involves going out to the studio, starting the fire in the wood stove, feeding the cats, and then opening my journal to a new page and giving it a fresh wash of watercolor.

It just gets the juices flowing, so to speak, to get some color on a plain page.

I don’t even like the art on this page. I would never actually do a painting like this. But that’s not the point. I worked out my thought patterns and a lot of design issues on this page, and recorded some thoughts on harmonious blends. I learned from it, and will use what I learned in the future.

Last Spring I took an online workshop from fellow blogger Alisa Burke. She’s the one who got me started with the whole illustrated journal. Thank you Alisa! You can find her here.

I totally recommend her workshops and classes. Although her art is completely different from mine, the workshops really helped me find new ways to get out of the box and make my art process fun!

Stay tuned for more pages!

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Where it All Started

I have always believed that people love to see behind the scenes in the artist studio. It’s like looking behind the curtain and seeing what goes on backstage, to see how the art is crafted, what tools and materials are used, and how the artist thinks. To this end, I am thrilled to unveil a new video that tells my story of the origins of Parts of Art. A big shout out to the producer and videographer @Moguefilms . Here are some of the pieces seen on the video. Want to see more? visit my shop here

Just add paint!

It’s just that simple when painting with watercolor. This is how I start my day in the studio. Open to a new page, fill a brush with sparkling clean water, and fill the page or pages. Then, add watercolor paint and let it do its thing. The daily studio routine is this: clock in at 9 and paint that page in my journal. I realize that the painting on this page could become a beautiful fabric design, a batiked collage, or an amazing painted wall hanging. But my POINT is that I start my studio day with water on a page and go from there. As far as the illustrated journal, yes it’s true. Any thing done on these hallowed pages could become some great masterpiece someday. But that’s clearly not the intent. The journal is the place to play, to experiment, to express, to answer the question “what if ?” It’s about the inspiring and refreshing place my mind enters once that water on the page turns to color. It’s where it starts. Does it matter

The Making of a Show piece

Earlier this month I made the decision to compete. The competition is for a monetary prize that will be awarded in an upcoming show. This is an art show in which I have participated for the last three years, and, for me, the awards are fairly substantial. I am not usually one to go after awards, but I figure I’m going there anyway, so I might as well compete. The other motivator for me is that I need a new jury image or two. Somewhere along the line I learned that jury images need to show a constistency; the pieces need to look like they are all from the same DNA, so to speak. I have had a concern that my jury images are too dissimilar, and someday I need to make them more cohesive. So someday arrived this week. I had three days off work, so I scheduled studio time to design and build a show piece that 1) could possibly win a prize, and 2) be photographed for a jury image for next year’s shows. I thought I would show you some photos of the w

Parts of Art

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