QUIT SMOKING! DON'T START SMOKING!

I like to explore ideas by using images of unknown people to create scenarios. The unknown images often sparks ideas that I would have never thought to journal otherwise.

I wish that I had photographed the spread before I started painting and drawing over for comparison. In my journaling journey I like to revisit where I came from.

The idea of time "dragging" on and how time could be affected by a "drag" on the cigarette is the scenario I am exploring.

I feel powerless and sad when I see people smoking. Making art gives me some sense of control. 

QUIT SMOKING! DON'T START SMOKING!

Journal page – Good versus Evil

AN INTERNAL DIALOG FOR CLARITY,
PONDERING THE MERITS OF GOOD VERSUS EVIL.
I was working on a figural assemblage today. I cut a circle out with the face from the photograph. Instead of throwing the faceless photograph away I decided to make a collage in my journal. Not sure which direction I wanted to go I decided to flip through a library discard book for another face to replace the missing one. Instead the picture of two men, one wearing white, the other black caught my eye. I immediately though of good vs evil. I originally had them placed behind the head opening so that their heads were representational of eyes. In my excitement to glue the pieces down this idea escaped me until seeing the collage on this blog.
Looking at a photograph of your ART is often a good way to see it with fresh eyes.
I decided my figure needed arms. I found a pair but discarded them in favor of the ones pictured. I found these arms when I was looking for the legs. The arms holding glasses further added to the theme I was developing.
I had not intended to work on a collage today but working in my journal to make something for myself was freeing.
Pondering the merits of good versus evil on this Memorial Day!

Adam’s Apple

 

More fruition from the cabin retreat. This collaged journal page is title “Adam’s Apple”. I’ll let you draw your own conclusions…

July Sketchbook Challenge – Circles

 

I know, I know, I didn’t work on this page in my journal until October, and I am not posting it on this blog until November…but I did finish it!  Well almost, if you look closely I don’t have the month written in because I was unplugged from the world at the cabin and couldn’t look it up. I only knew that one of the theme’s was circles. There, I just finished it    J   U   L   Y.

Wow, and now that I look at it here, there is some powerful symbolism tied to the cabin and my Dad that I didn’t consciously place. I often find that if I photograph my work, I see it from a different perspective.

What I was thinking about, while creating this piece, was of course the theme circles and developing a color palette that I like. I consciously thought about adding some straight lines to balance the curved ones and their placement. Incorporating collage was also one of my goals.

For some reason I really like how the one torn edge of the collage paper looks. Perhaps because it is different or maybe because the page itself has torn edges.

I don’t usually work in abstract, but I find working in other styles helps to make my art stronger all around.

December Sketchbook Challenge

The theme for the December Sketchbook Challenge is "Trashed, ruined and decay". Not a real strong tie to the theme for me other than the stamps I saved from being trashed.

Keep Your Eye on the Prize is my title for this art journal page. I worked the design by drawing the image of a trophy over the face of my daughter Brook. I painted around the trophy with gesso trying to maintain a balance between the trophy standing out without covering the image of my daughter entirely. To further support the theme, I inserted a blue ribbon into a slit that I cut in the page. The writing chronicles some of the recent wins showing dogs that my daughter has accomplished.

Art Journal Page - Andy Warhol Quote

I found this Andy Warhol Quote:

Don’t think about making art…just get it done…let everybody else say whether its good or not…and while they’re deciding…keep making more art.

I found this quote to be so relevant to my creative journey that I have placed it at the top of my side bar.

My first idea was to find a picture from the Shaker book that I have, illustrating someone making art. These two ladies fit the bill. In serendipitous journaling behavior I found Andy Warhol’s famous Campbell Soup Can art in the American Craft magazine that I have been collaging from. This art was the inspiration for my tomato red color. I don’t use the color red very often so this was leading me out of my comfort zone. I like the combination of red coral and turquois in jewelry and decided to play with these colors together on my journal page. While flipping through the magazine later, looking for more inspiration, I found the tiny Campbell Soup Can image. An "M" with a brush caught my eye because of the color. After tearing the "M" out of the magazine I found it upside down on my table and seen a “W”, for Warhol. I admire the craftmanship of the Shakers but decided to “shake” things up a bit and add some bright colors and quirky designs to their clothes and décor.