Pink Flower Mandala

Pink Flower Mandala

Acrylic, collage, Twinkling H2O's, Gelly Roll Pens

I used Pam Carriker's color wheel stencil to start this piece. I'm obsessed with sectioned circles, spinners, mandala's

and labyrinths right now. Of course I've also been staring into the face of  flowers for years as well. Why?

It makes me happy. 

Lovey to walk the local labyrinth that happens to be close to where I live. Love the idea of entering being willing

to receive, receiving the peace of this walking meditation, then integrating that peacefulness on the way out.

Know it's different for everyone. Know that others have their own way of interacting with these millenniums

old constructions. Know that I will learn new ways of using this sacred interaction as the years pass as well.

Looking at this pink flower mandala I'm struck by a lot of things. How pink has not always been one of my favorite colors.

I remember as a child being angry that diluted red (weak) was the color assigned to girls while blue (strong) had been

assigned to boys, at least that's how it seemed. And blue is the color of the whole huge sky and the whole huge ocean

while pink seems mostly to dwell in the barbie aisle. I demanded a room with blue walls (strong) and refused to wear pink.

But now? I love how bight and vibrant it is. I love how it vibrates next to the blue. And pink relates nicely to spring green.

I also really enjoyed scribbling on this piece. And, I enjoyed scribbling with the eraser tool in photoshop today.

I thought of Jackson Pollack and his scribbles of poured paint and thought about how Jackson would have liked the kind

of disembodied but fully engaged marks I scribbled. Man, is it all about going back to that primal scribble to just purely

enjoy those ecstatic scribbly marks?

I'm also noticing that those seeds at the center of the flower made by punching holes in patterned paper. Despite

that vibrant pink they seem to have the most presence in this piece.  I think I've been thinking a lot about getting

older (and going to seed, lol) and what I'm creating for the future. How I will give to future generations?

Not sure, but I will keep you informed.

Enough Owl Energy

"Enough Owl Energy"

DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylic applied with a small Gelli Plate, roller, brush. Stenciled with

fluid acrylic (white).  Lettered with Identipen, outlined with Gelly Roll Pens.

 

I've been neglecting my blogs.  This one about visual art journaling and my other about sacred art

including art therapy and SoulCollage "Healing Art Works".  In this new year I intend to get the

energy going in both of them again. Today I went to Alice's house to make pages.  I think this group

(Eileen, Alice, Tisa, Betty, myself, and others cycling through) could be called the Raven Journal

Group.  The raven is a symbol of the crone, and all in our group are over 50, with a few of us

a bit farther down that road.  I mention this because it feels like my task this year is to "accept

the things I can not change", which mostly boils down to coming to terms with getting old. Not

enough energy, not enough time to do all those things on my life's "to do" list.

My monkey (neurotic) mind has been taking note that, like a car past its warranty, parts of this 

body are no longer in the pristine shape it was, say, 30 years ago. Each birthday (July) and each 

winter (cold) seems to gift me with a new ache or line. This new year has been newly bulging

blue veins and newly sagging skin. Sigh. Also new worries about where money is going to come

from when the child support stops this year; the additional issue that surfaced yesterday. Yes,

I am both a senior and a single mom to a teen who graduates from high school this year. Oh did

I mention the employment problems most adjunct college instructors are experiencing?

I think that universal health care is necessary but it has also meant that employers have limited

most of us to 2 classes or less. So with all this weighing on my mind I brought my trick bag of

supplies and my journal to my group, almost staying home because of a bad case of angst.

So above is the page that emerged. Love the gem colors of the DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics. Used

the smallest gelli plate to stamp on color and texture. Rolled off the color from my brayer; got my

brush in there as well. Then stenciled with a doily stencil, pouncing on with a makeup sponge.

At first the stenciled patterns made the page look like the rose windows of a church. Then I noticed

that the colors seem to vibrate and radiate. Then the words came: "Enough Energy", "Enough Time",

my word for the year "Courage". Then I saw that those energetic circles looked like owl's eyes.

Which made me think of the wise owl and the "Wisdom" that can come with age. I love it when the 

message of my journal pages is inescapable. The energy of this spread can not be denied. 

Despite my anxiety about life's realities I can see and feel this message: See things clearly, there is

enough energy, there is enough time. The croning process can bring wisdom. Take courage.

Koi Sketch plus Gelli Print

Gelli Plate print using acrylic paint plus stencils 

Gelli Plate print with sketch of Koi in watercolor

You know the lucky accidents I mentioned? I just took a wonderful workshop with Elizabeth

St. Hilarie Nelson called Paper Painting Collage (more about that in a future post) and wanted

to start some sketches for a painted paper collage of Koi. When I leafed through my sketchbook

for a blank page I ran across a Gelli print that I'd pasted in.  The orange and red in the print sort

of reminded me of Koi so I tried a sketch, then added watercolor. Of course watercolor on top

of acrylic meant that the colors of the print shined through and also meant that I could rub the 

paint off where I wanted to and play with texture where the watercolor resisted the acrylic a

bit. I really love this effect and am looking forward to creating backgrounds more intentionally

for future sketches.

Round Gelli Plate Water Lily

Round Gelli Plate background created with acrylic paint, textured foam sheets and stencils
Waterlily painted with acrylic, iridescent medium, Gelly Roll Pens.

OK, I am officially in love with my round Gelli Plate.  The mandala shape is just so exciting and inspiring.  I found

myself wanting to paint flowers enclosed in that shape. Blue acrylic paint and the textured foam sheet and stencil really

made me think of water.  Love the way the paint that makes up the waterlily petals is kind of translucent (the plus side

of bargain paint). The Gelli Roll pens made for fun, shiny marks. Overall I like that the feeling of color shimmering 

in a watery environment.

Betty's Ficus

 Had a drawing date with Alice and Betty a week after we met to draw in Alice's garden. I had
a page in my art journal that I had sprayed with acrylic ink spray and stencils.  I had made
acrylic ink spray by adding water and droppers of FW acrylic ink to an empty spray bottle.
The colors are subtler than water soluble spray inks like Dylusions but the real attraction for me
is that they are permanent and won't bleed when you layer over them.  I decided to do a drawing
based on the large Ficus tree that Betty had near her drawing table.  I did the drawing with
Derwent InkTense watersoluble pencils and used a brush to move the color around.  I love
patterned backgrounds, like Matisse uses in his paintings so really like this drawing on top of
a patterned background.  Since the ink spray is permanent I could have also used gesso to
white out the areas inside the sketch so that the background pattern would read like the
fabric drapes in Matisse's work.  I think I like the way the pattern looks on the trunk and
branches in this drawing.   I last added watercolor to the pot to give it dimension and washi
tape to bound the page.  I will later post the adjoining pages that also have this washi tape
border.  I last scanned and printed out a copy of this page to make a thank you card for
Betty for her hospitality.  I added more color and detail to the card. Using Gelly Roll Pens.

Painting of Alice's Shrine for Her Sister

Drawing with watercolor and mixed media

When Alice's sister died Alice made a lovey shrine for her with leaves, rocks, a special cloth and marigolds.

I had the opportunity to see a photograph of the shrine and just loved the image she had captured.  I got

permission to paint it and really like the outcome.  I did a fairly elaborate pencil drawing, inked it, then used

watercolor to color it.  I did end up using acrylic paint on the marigolds since I was not happy with how the

watercolor painting of them turned out.  I am especially happy with the way the cloth turned out.  I used

Cerulean Blue to begin with, then Ultramarine.  I finally lifted areas by painting them with clear water and

blotting the wet area with paper towel. I like the way the drawing was more revealed in these areas.

This drawing was in my art journal.  I've since matted it and given it to Alice for letting me share in her

honoring of her sister.

Drawing in Alice's Garden

Peony Thank You card for Alice

Peonies in Alice's Garden
Pencil sketch with Koi Watercolor and Sharpie Pen

My friend Alice and her husband have a back yard that is entirely given to a vegetable garden and flowers. I was lucky

enough to be invited to paint in her garden. Her peonies were glorious!! Ended up scanning and printing out this piece

to make a card to send to Alice.