Junque Journals!! Who Knew!?!

So, I was recently turned on to Junque Journaling. If your new to the idea, my understanding of a junque journal is that it's just a fancy name for a book of "junk" that you just can't part with, or might have a slight sentimental attachment to, or just aren't sure what else to do with it! My kids, God love 'em, are ALWAYS making me little treasures to have and to hold for EVER! Now I finally have a place to put all those little treasures and trinkets they offer.

A junque journal is great for concert tickets, Chinese cookie fortunes, receipts, canceled stamps from around the world, collage bits you just can't part with or bring yourself to use on anything, wine labels of your new favorite wine, beer labels from your favorite beer, miscellaneous doodles or sketches, favorite quotes of the day, a silly joke your kids made up, ANYTHING GOES!!! And the beauty of it is... it doesn't have to be beautiful! You can make it as junky, or arty, or crafty, or plain and simple as you wish! It's your book of treasures (aka - junk), do with it as you wish!

Some pointers I learned: Use one of those basic B&W composition books you can get at Wally-World for under a dollar. Add narrow ribbons along the spine, randomly throughout the book for extra support on the spine and for Glam! crinkle up various pages and ink them up with 2-3 colors of ink for pizazz! And best of all, glue all sorts of scrap pages you have piled up from your scrap booking days, and slap on some stickers, or a LOT of stickers and use those up as well!

Not only did I have a fun afternoon creating these with my kiddo's, but I put a SERIOUS dent in my scrap paper and sticker stash! YAY!!! Now, all I need is to start doing fun things so I have treasures to add to the junque journal! ha ha

Start With Art!

So my New Years Resolution for 2011 is to start each day with ART! Whether it be a doodle, a journal entry, an ATC, or a quick sketch, I plan to start each day doing a little something artistic. It doesn't matter if it's only for 10 minutes while I drink my morning Earl Grey, or if I'm lucky enough to sneak in an hour or two before the family wakes up! Each day will start with ART!!!

Here are a few of the things I've done so far.

"Love Life"

12" x 8" journal page
1-3-11

"Circus Elephant"

5" x 5" Canvas

1-2-11

"Bird Girl "

Standard ATC
1-1-11

I also hope to be a better blogger, and post regularly, but I'm not making any promises. ha

Art For Life!!

On November 18th the Humane Society of Hamilton County will be hosting an annual fundraiser dinner and silent auction called Tinsel and Tails Holiday Petacular! They will be sharing survival stories and pet adoption stories about the animals. It's sure to be a tear jerker, so bring tissues!

An art friend at AFA was wise enough to recruit several artist to create and donate pieces to include in the auction. This is one of my pieces I lent to the cause.

I looked through the Pet List for adoptable pets, and when I read Pearl's story and saw her face, I knew I had to honor her. She is the sweetest thing, and I hope she finds a good home!!! If I wasn't so far away, I would totally take her. And I would love to be able to attend the event. If you live in the area, I would encourage you to go. And bid on my piece.

My First Moley Exchange Begins!

Very excited to be a part of my very first Moleskine Art Journal Exchange! I get to participate in a year long art exchange with artists from Australia, to Canada, and throughout the United States.

A Moley Swap/Exchange, is where 8 to 10 artists purchase a Japanese Accordion Style Moleskine Journal, decide on a theme, and do the first few pages in the book to set the tone for colors, theme concept, and travel plan. Then the book travels to the first artist on the "Travel Plan" who will create a 3-4 page spread, then send it on to the next artist on the list. By the years end, the journal returns to me, complete with each artists interpretations on my theme. Cool huh!?!

I chose "A Days Dive ~ In Search Of Atlantis" for my theme. My idea for the layout is to have the diver just heading underwater in the morning out on her/his dive. Then the bulk of the layouts should depict underwater scenes one might encounter if they were looking for old ruins, relics, and the like in search for Atlantis. At the end, I've asked the last artist to depict the diver coming back up to the surface, under the evening sky! As if the entire journey underwater was merely a days dive.

Here is the cover of my moley book.

I wanted it to seem as if you were looking out through a porthole of a ship.

This is the Travel Plan page. Or in this case, I've called it the "Divers Manifest"

This is the list of artist and the order they will be working in my moley.

This is what the beginning of my layout looks like. I drew the diver separately, and glued it in after the fact. I've also added the diver buoy that has the title of the moley on it. But I didn't get any photos of it.

Favorite Artists Inspiration Swap

I recently joined an ATC Swap at atcsforall.com where we are to create an image inspired by our favorite Famous or well known Artists. I love color! I love the energy and movement and depth the use of color can create. That is why I chose artists, who I feel, really express color in this way. These are the four examples I submitted.

The first artist represented here is Katie Sevigny. She is actually an Alaskan Artist who I just LOVE her style, and use of color! Whimsical, and natural at the same time. I think her work is just beautiful, and I hope to someday have one of her pieces in my art collection. And I love that she is an Alaskan artist who isn't just painting the usual Mountain Landscapes that you mostly see around these parts.

(above)

My rendition of "Blue Octopus" by Katie Sevigny

"Blue Octopus"

by Katie Sevigny

Joan Miro, a Spanish artist, known for his surrealist/abstract paintings, is my next favorite artist I chose to emulate. I love examining the timeline of his work because it is evident to me that some of his inspirations could have come from Matisse, Kandinsky, Van Gogh, and Picasso. And I love the use of color and line and the freedom of expression I feel when admiring in his artwork.

(above)

My rendition of "Daybreak" by Joan Miro.

"Daybreak"

by Joan Miro

The third artist of inspiration shown here is Henri Matisse. I love teaching about Matisse, I love learning more about Matisse, I love most everything about his work. His "Green Stripe" ~ Madame Matisse, is one of my favorites.

(above)
My rendition of "Green Stripe" ~ Madame Matisse

"Green Stripe" ~ Madame Matisse
by Henri Matisse

The last of my four favorite artists is Russian artist, Wassily Kandinsky. If you go do an image search of Miro's work and Kandinsky's, I think you will see the similarities I referenced to earlier.

The piece I chose for inspiration was more challenging than I originally thought. It is also I piece that isn't my favorite example of his work. But, it is one that I was less familiar with, and I wanted to get to know it better. It is very different from the 'high energy', paintings of his that I love from his later work. Much of what I am typically drawn to in his other paintings, is his use of organic and geometric line. To me, that is where the energy comes from in his work. When I look at Kandinsky's paintings I hear music! Often lively and full of energy, and at times, poetic and rhythmic. I could stair at his paintings all day. They just make me feel good.

(above)
My rendition of "Farbstudie Quadrate" c. 1913
or "Squares with Concentric Rings"

"Farbstudie Quadrate" c. 1913
by Wassily Kandinsky

Out Of Africa!

So here are some ATC's I did for an Out Of Africa Swap that Joss, in London, is hosting. I missed out on her first swap, and didn't want to miss out on this one. This time we could do people and animals, so I did a couple of both. Giraffe Resting

(acrylic)

African Mama

(acrylic)

Mother & Child

(acrylic)

African Zebra

(soft pastels)

One Eyed Monsters! Oh My!!

So I was a little obsessed with making One Eyed Creatures Yesterday.

These are just a few of my creations!

One Eyed, One Horned, Flying Purple People Eater.

Lonely Monster With Red Balloon.


Far Sighted One Eyed Monster

Red One Eyed Monster Taking A Stroll Through the City.

Orange Dust Monster Under The Bed

Purple Deep Sea Monster

Send In The Clowns!

So I started a swap all about clowns over at atcsforall.com and have been obsessively drawing and coloring clowns for the past week or so. These are just some of the warped little dudes I've made recently.

A Clowns Gotta Eat - pancakes!

Happy Clown & Black Bird.

Chipped Tooth Clown Close Up.

The Family!

The latest installation in one of my Art Journals.

I was thinking about how different everyone is in my family and yet we are still a unit of Unconditional Love! The family above is not exactly like mine, but some characters do share resemblances to actual family members. I will not name names.

The quote reads:

"We were a strange little band of characters trudging through life sharing diseases and toothpaste, coveting one anothers desserts, hiding shampoo, borrowing $$$ (Money), locking each other out of our rooms, inflicting pain and kisses to heal it in the same instant, loving, laughing, defending, and trying to figure out the common thread that bound us all together.

~ Erma Bombeck

I love the little dude at the end ~ my kids said it is Papa, their grandfather. lol