September 2013 Calendar Spread

Ember: the banked fire

Dylusions Spray Ink (Pure Sunshine), inked edges (could have been Ranger)
Leaf stamp (Rubber Stampede), metallic markers.

Gifts of the Muse Journal Pages: It's OK to Go Inside

Credit card scraped acrylic background, stenciled acrylic spirals

with Tombo Marker detail. Clipped out raised wall-paper scrap colored

with stamp ink, spray ink, Tombos. Magazine clips of sea vegetation.

"It's OK to Go Inside" page left

Recollections "snow" opaque marker, Pitt Pen, Office Max metallic marker
fish cut-outs recycled from copy of my prayer flags

"It's OK to Go Inside" page right

Recollections "snow" opaque marker, Pitt Pen, Office Max metallic marker
fish cut-outs recycled from copy of my prayer flags

In my visual art journaling group I've been opening each session with a 

guided imagery taking us down to a garden to meet with our creativity

muse.  In our meetings we've asked to receive a symbolic gift (like a shell,

etc.) or a message of insight and encouragement.  I've begun to call this

activity "Gifts of the Muse".  In this group my muse (yes, I meet with my

muse while doing the guided imagery) reassured me that "It's OK to

go into your shell".  I do a number of extrovert seeming things in the

world like teaching in the classroom and running groups but I am a

dyed-in-the-wool introvert.  In the US the extrovert rules and sometimes

I feel guilty or weak because I need alone time and become exhausted

when I overextend myself in the outer world.

I recently showed my psychology class this great Susan Cain

TED Talk about introversion.  

http://www.ted.com/talks/susan_cain_the_power_of_introverts.html

It reminded me about how our culture treats introverts like failed

extroverts.  Introverts need to remember the gifts available to 

those who turn inside to be inspired and energized.  Because I am

blogging for creatives and we tend to be an unusual and thoughtful lot

I just wanted to share my muse's words:

It's OK to be an Introvert

It's OK to be Reflective

It's OK to Think and Dream

Go inside

It's OK to go into your shell

Go inside. 

June Botanical Sketch A Day

June Botanical Sketch A Day Journal Page Left

Watercolor pencils, Office Max metallic markers, Copic markers, Sakura Souffle Pen,
Martha Stewart Craft Markers, Derwent Metallic Watersoluble Pencils

Fireworks Craft Spray, Sharpie Pen, Sakura Souffle Pens,
Copic Markers, Office Max Metallic Markers, watercolor pencils.

This is my first Art Journal calendar spread.  I was inspired by Effy Wild's "Book of Days" videos,
my own daily sketch books and all the artists online who seem to be doing monthly and yearly art
challenges.  I've seen, just for some examples, page a day, face a day, sketch a day, cloud photo
a day, artist trading card a day, oil sketch a day, collage a day, postcard a day, handmade card a day.
I do botanical sketches often but like the idea of a thumbnail sized sketch each day. 

My plan is to make some sort of botanical or nature related drawing a day in my homemade
calendar pages.  Taking one month, and especially, one day at a time with this!
Still have to do a sketch for today. 

See anything unusual about this calendar page?  The dates are on the right days of the week, but
after I had drawn this page I realized that my weeks started with Mondays instead of Sundays.
Think I am going to leave it this way, though, because that's how my life works---five "work" days
and the two weekend days outlined in gold.  Ever get that feeling?

My World Laughs in Flowers

My World Laughs in Flowers

Compass, Office Max Metallic Markers, Copic Markers, Recollections
Opaque Marker, GellyRoll Stardust Marker, Pelican Opaque Watercolors,

Art at the Center

Pelican Opaque Watercolors, Office Max Metallic Markers,
Pitt Pen, Copic Markers

I've been writing a lot, lately about what art means to me.  This spread is also about what botanical
art means to me in particular, and how I ended up being so attached to this subject matter. 
Feel like I've been working on this spread forever, and it has been a long process. 

The right page started as a stand along mandala "Letters in the Round" (Joanne Sharpe Lesson).
I wanted to integrate it into my larger journal.  I actually wanted to make this into a mind map with
the letters in a circle format, as the mind map components, but it has turned into decorated pages
that I still need to write in.

While I've made these pages I've been thinking about flowers and where I got connected to this
subject.  Here's what I think: I've had a special spot in my heart since I was a child.  Both my
mom and her mother had green thumbs.  One of my sisters is a Botanist and my other sister
has a lovely fence with climbing roses.  My grandmother lived on a farm and I remember her
bushes of lush peonies in the front yard, her row of Hollyhocks by the pump house, her brilliant
orange and black tiger lilies by her front door.  I associate my mom with blooming trees as well
as pansies and flowers of all kinds.  And the Lombard Lilac Festival, and, of course,
Georgia O'Keefe.

I remember my mother reading a beautifully illustrated book about flowers and fairies to me
when I was 4 or 5 and not wanting to return the book to the library.  What sealed it for me,
though, was a third grade teacher who showed us a slide show of flowers and vividly
communicated her love of botanical images.  I can't remember what she said about the
flowers she showed us but the beauty of those images is with me yet.

In art school I painted Matisse influenced portraits and then moved into Neo-Expressionist
canvases.  But while I worked in my work-study job in the media lab I drew pages and pages
of botanical drawings.  I used my trusty botanical field guide to make my drawings.
I never for a second considered this my "real art" but should have gotten a clue when someone
begged me to sell a page from my floral sketchbook to them.  Then I went off to get my
Masters in Art Therapy.  It's been an interesting and rewarding life.  For the last 20 years I
have either worked in private practice or as a college teacher.  But now, after all these years,
I've picked up my great love again.

It happened by accident when I stopped into the local free school to ask if I could teach an
artist trading cards class for them.  They told me it was too rarefied a topic (not true in my
world) but would I be available to teach a drawing class at the Denver Botanic Gardens?

Thank You Mother-Father God!  I've been doing it for two years now and it has been so great.
I don't care how girlie or sentimental some think flower paintings are.  They are my passion!

To me, as Ralph Waldo Emerson said "The Earth Laughs in Flowers".  My world too.

Below are the pages in their final form, with journal entries added.

Play! Practice! Write! Repeat!



Play! Practice! Write! Repeat!
Letter Love Lesson 3

As you can see I am inexperienced with my lettering but Joanne was right to recommend that we make a sign for our work area encouraging us to Play! Practice! Write! Repeat!.  I discovered two big things.  One, Copics can bleed through watercolor paper.  The other revelation is that my Office Max Metallic Pens act as a resist with Copics.  I just meant to outline my letters in Ultramarine Copic but discovered the resist effect.  Then I couldn't stop.  Turned out pretty crazy but I'm glad that I had a chance to Play! with markers, Practice! my lettering skills, Write! and embellish.  I know I will Repeat! this activity SOON.  Decided that I can't really afford a good Copic marker color range so I bought some Sharpie Highlighters (great colors) and Prismacolor Markers as well.