Bulb Blossums

Bulb Blossoms

Sharpie pen and Tombo Markers

I know that fall is here but I'm nostalgic about Spring and new blooms.  I bought an old

book for a dollar at the Denver Botanic Gardens " Readers Digest Complete Book of The Garden" from 1966.  I'm not a gardener but loved the simple botanical drawings.  Great practice to use these drawings as a reference to draw from.  Just added a little color
with Tombo Markers.  I love working from living flowers but also love to work from
photos, drawings and painting.

Don't be afraid to draw from any source that inspires you.

Botanics and the Technosphere

Cone flower and Clouds

Collage, Tombo Markers, Gelli Roll Pens
Koi Watercolors, Copic Markers

It is the height of August beauty at the Denver Botanic Gardens.  Actually, many of the Cone flowers are faded from the intense heat of the summer.  But there still is a glorious riot of color.  When I am at the Gardens with the glory of color that is summer here, with lush green and happy bees having an orgy all around, I feel so blissful in in the moment and let go of my worries.  I become one with this beauty.  Think that is why I love the Gardens so much.

In contrast, on Thursdays, I teach my college class called Technology and Society.  Used to be called Technology,  Ethics and Society but at some point corporate dropped "ethics" although that is still what the book is called.  My students share articles from the web related to science,technology and society.  They mostly bring in articles about the changing screen size for the Smart Phone or Apple's lawsuits against Android.

I've made the list repeatedly for them: current events in science and technology that effect us all.  I know this class is meant to encourage critical thinking and awareness of issues facing the modern world but I am surprised that they are not aware of or do not care about the larger issues: genetically altered food and other food source concerns; regulation of polluting  industries; globalization and the third world; person to person communication issues caused by  over-reliance on electronic communication; global warming; radioactive pollution that is mutating wildlife and insects and many other human caused environmental issues that need to be aired.

So now you will often see indicators of my awareness, in my art, that the technosphere man-made technologies from the wheel to the latest development in weaponry) and nature are no longer separate.  We have taken and added to the natural world with ingenuity and ferocity such that even native crops can be found to have altered genes in their make-up.

I feel sad that I would probably become ill if I drank untreated water from a lake or stream. Rain contains pollutants that acidify soil and oceans.  We have changed the weather.

So you might see torn pages from news articles intertwined with leaves, stems and bloosums. I can still create art about the beauty of nature while acknowledging my pain about the ways we've altered our world in ways from which there is no returning.





ART SPACE Shared Journal

ART SPACE (cover)

Collaged photos of Mars and space,

packing tape transfer of Muybridge

motion study, young girl, text added

in the Picasa 3 program, motion study

picture altered with Gelly Pens

Mind-Map, Techniques, Reflection

Collaged border, mind-map with

Sharpie Pen and Tombo Markers,

scanned/printed strip from original 

I am very excited to be creating a shared journal with two other Art Therapists, Ginger and Sylma, who are with me in the ARTbundance training. We are making this journal to record our journey as well as integrate the ARTbundance information with our previous experiences as Artists,Art Psychotherapists and Creativity Coaches.


My son had brought home a pile of old  

Sky and Telescope magazines from his high school library and I had previously cut out pictures of space and the surface of Mars to use in collage. I also had a Discovery magazine that had a picture of a Muybridge motion study using a young girl, that intrigued me.I made a Xerox copy of it.

I started the shared ART SPACE journal cover using the space and Mars images in a collage.  I next altered the images of the young girl with Gelly Roll Pens adding a swimsuit, flying hair, flowing ribbons and a candle which later turned into a torch.  I scanned the completed image and added the text in the Picasa 3 program (free Microsoft download).

I next burnished a piece of packing tape to the motion study image and then used warm water on the back to saturate the paper.  The wet paper easily rubbed off, leaving the altered Xerox image on the tape.  I hung the tape up to dry.  Once the tape is dry it will be sticky again and you can stick it to any surface you wish.  I was so happy to find out that the Gelly Roll Pen transferred as nicely as the toner from the Xerox!  I applied the strip to the collage.

I next scanned in the image and added the words ART SPACE to the image in the Picasa 3 program.  I printed out the collage with text, cut out the text portion and added it to the collage.  I glued the completed collage to the journal cover.

Sylma and Ginger and I agreed that it is important for us to include a record of our techniques, process and a reflection about each entry.  On the inside cover I made a collaged border and then added the motion study strip from the printed copy.  Above the strip I made a mind-map
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_map making associations to the images in the journal cover.

Love mind-maps because they are a non-linear way to use words which means you can stay connected to your intuition/subconscious while you are finding words. I often have my clients mind-map when they make collages, then reflect/journal from their mind-maps.

I found, from this process, that art making connects me to hope, life and strength as well as keeps me moving and determined to bring light to others.  I realized that the candle the girl carries is actually a torch, allowing the light to be carried to a shared place.



 ART SPACE, first page

Printed copy of ART SPACE collage,
printed on red paper.  Gelly Roll Pen details



When I first printed out the original collage I printed it on cardstock that ended up having a red side.  I ended up liking the red image, especially since Mars is the "red planet", added gold details with a Gelly Pen and glued it into the journal as the first page. Love those happy accidents!



June Botanical Sketch a Day & Finishing Things

Botanical Sketch a Day, June 2012
Tombo Makers, Sharpie Pen, Sakura Gelly Roll Pens

I started this sketch-a-day in June but just finished it last night.  One of my areas to work on:
I start a project or challenge with great gusto and get distracted by another shiny project or idea
and leave the previous project unfinished.  This is not just with art projects but also weight loss
plans, reorganizing plans, and the list goes on, throughout my life. 

I do need to acknowledge myself for completing my BFA and extensive graduate work
(three Masters) while admitting it took me from 1969 until 1988 to complete the BFA (sigh).
The masters were easier--two (or three) years, easier in some ways.  But think I am a sprinter
and not a distance runner.  That makes it sound so...athletic, doesn't it?  Chasing whatever leaps
or dazzles within eye shot has meant that I have often been confounded by narrowing down
my intended destination.

Images and ideas excite and inflame me!  New art techniques and materials are akin, for me,
what others gain from that expensive new purse or pair of heels.  Me, just show me a pretty or
intriguing flower, leaf, fruit, seed and I'm in artist heaven.  Don't know what it is about color,
curve, line, texture, that seductive negative space and shape. 

My life is heaven and hell, the pain of forgotten things, unpaid bills, unfinished things, living
space messes; the ecstasy of being a witness to beauty and the pleasure of noting my visual
impression of what I experience.  I haven't given up on learning to steer a little straighter
on my path, but I have to quote one of my favorite contemporary artists, in a CBS interview
series "Notes to My Younger Self": "I am confident that no artist has more pleasure, day in
and day out, than I do".  I believe that what you say is true, Chuck, but ME TOO.

I've provided this link before in this blog, but think it is worth repeating, in case you did not get
around to  viewing it.  http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7404806n

ARTbundance Muse

Creativity Muse "Flo"

Pencil, Sharpie Pen, Yasutomo Metallic Watercolors,
Sakura Gelly Roll Metallic Pens, Tombo Markers

Taking a course from Artella called ARTbundance ACT 7.  Our first ARTsignment was to make a drawing of our creativity muse.  My muse is named "Flo" and she is a genie who lives in a teapot rather than an Aladdin's lamp. Tea and tea pots to me represent comfort, friends, conversation, warmth and energy.  The Goddess necklace seems to represent a connection with the ancient, the earth and the creative energy of the Great Mother.  Her third eye represents being awake and aware, intuition and insight.  The palette looks like a seed and represents the growth that comes from my labor as an artist.  The paintbrush tree grows and produces fruits in the form of saleable artworks.  All the rainbows flow from my work as an artist.  The rainbows not only fill my cup but also the cups of others (counseling, teaching).   Art related books also flow from the inspiration and ideas that come from my connection to spirit and its manifestation in my work.  Her blue hair seems related to keeping a cool head, being a "senior" and having "fun" hair.  Her wings represent connection to idea and spirit and also are a reminder to keep things light. 


The assignment to make a picture of my ARTbundance Muse coincided with an assignment in Joanne Sharpe's Color Love 101 class, to create a "Color Love Girl".    I made the drawing below but Flo seems like the best solution to both assignments.  I have been drawing flowers and landscapes for sometime now, it has been a long time since I have drawn faces.  Interesting.  I will keep you informed about my progress in the ACT 7 training.  Feeling more creative already!  The Color Love Girl was created with Koi Watercolors, Sharpie Pen and Sakura Gelly Roll Metallic Pens.

Botanical Themed Mini Journal

First three panel journal entry, Van Gogh quote

Tombo Markers, Sharpie Pen, Bienfang Watercolor Brush Markers, Gelly Roll Metallic Pens

2nd three panel journal entry, Emerson quote

Tombo Markers, Sharpie Pen, Bienfang Watercolor Brush Markers, Gelly Roll Metallic Pens



3rd three panel journal entry, Monet quote

Tombo Markers, Sharpie Pen, Bienfang Watercolor Brush Markers, Gelly Roll Metallic Pens



4th three panel journal entry, Roethke quote

Tombo Markers, Sharpie Pen, Bienfang Watercolor Brush Markers, Gelly Roll Metallic Pens

The mini-journal was an assignment in Joanne Sharpe's ColorLove 101 class.  I don't remember
making a small art journal before and this was so fun.  Background made with craft spray and stenciled, then gessoed.  Size of the journal doesn't matter, just needs to be about 7 times longer than it is high. I used a Strathmore muti-media paper.  Fold the strip in half and then in half again and fold like an accordian.  You could make this into a story about a specific event, a travel journal, a letter or greeting card.  I made it into a quote book.

I started making quote books with illustrations in high school.  I gave my first completed one to my sister. She loaned it to a friend who was tragically killed and the book was lost.  I've continued to illustrate quotes that speak to me, in my journals. 

For this one I found quotes by artists and others who talked about flowers.  I don't know what it is but love putting words and pictures together and get as much pleasure, later, from reading the quotes and seeing the pictures again.  The beauty that these words and pictures reflect lift my heart.



Trying New Color Combos

Gardening Magazine Blossum and Starry Night Redux

Raven in Scrub Pines and Koi

These are my sketches using pencil and Sharpie Pen colored in with Derwent's Inktense
watercolor pencils, one of my favorite mediums.  I have been in Joanne Sharpe's
Colorloving 101 online class and she has encouraged us to try colors that we would not
usually use together.    This is also such a terrific way to get to know you supplies!
6 randomly selected colors.  Think of an image that would be well rendered in this range,
Only use the 6 colors.  A fun challenge!

I chose the Starry Night image because the Ionian Green is just the color of the Cyprus
tree to me.  I cheated, just a little, on the Raven picture.  My sky just got too dark so
I added the Intense white over it.

I challenge you to randomly select 5 to 6 colors, or try out the color scheme from a
famous painting.  It is easy to get into a color rut so this is a great way to deepen your
relationship with colors and materials and find new color favorites.