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!

Comments

Paint and Palettes

I’ve always been a lover of paint and paint palettes. I vividly remember the excitement I felt opening that rectangular tin filled with round cakes of watercolor paint in elementary school. I was hooked! From that point on, I have wanted to explore and express within the inviting purity of paint. In 1988 I had a beach side shop where I hand painted women's clothing. I was using acrylic paint in abundance. One morning I had cleaned my palette off, and had peeled a large colorful piece of variegated and textured acrylic paint from it. Some friends of mine came into the shop (actually it was my minister and his wife). During our brief conversation, I showed them the peeled up paint and said, “This is too pretty to throw away, but I don’t know what to do with it.” The husband said, “Oh, you should cut it up and make it into jewelry!” We all laughed about it. It was like "Yeah right, I should try ...

Winter Work

Now that my show season is over, it's time for what I lovingly call winter work. Winter work is studio time. It's when I light the fire in the wood stove and sit down at the drawing table and/or easel, both of which are pulled close to the wood stove. It's winter work because when the weather cools off and the leaves fall, the studio is the most inviting place in my life. The warmth of the fire and the smell of the wood and the blank slate on the easel are what inspire and motivate me to work. At one of my shows I bought this glorious coffee mug from Paige @rockbottomceramics. It sits on top of the woodstove and keeps the coffee warm for hours. It's a studio staple. There is purposely a blank canvas on the easel, or in this case, a smooth panel which will eventually be gessoed and painted with an expression of light through leaves. The blank canvas is self care. It's a sign of hope for my future. What will go on ...

The Clearing, Revisited

I've been talking a lot about the importance of having a muted palette, meaning very little color. But lately, I've wanted to add color to some of the paintings that I did over the last few years. So that's what I've been doing. I just added color to this piece. It was called The Clearing, and it was a very monotone palette. It was actually one of the favorite paintings at my shows. But you know, it just didn't sell. So I decided to take a breath, (a couple of breaths actually), and re-work this painting, add color, and actually change the path of light in the painting. So what do you think now? I kind of like it! I like the new light coming through, and I like the blues that are in here now, that didn't used to be, and the light browns and yellows. And I like this little trunk, that gives you a place to sit when you're at the clearing of the woods. A limited edition print of the original Clearing is available here. ...

Parts of Art

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