White chunky book page

The theme for February's chunky book page was white and I managed to cut out a tree from paper. I still worry it looks like a six fingered hand! The quote is from Robert Frost. I like getting art with buttons from other people so I hope mine stay on.

Second chunky pages

I didn't get the monthly challenge in the post today so I decided to do another page as an apology. I stamped the first butterflies using a water soluble ink on a single thickness of napkin and then used diluted pva to glue it on the stamped background. This blurred the image a bit. On the reverse I used a layer of paper towel with a dimpled surface and stamped the butterflies with a chalk ink. I stamped another butterfly using a mask followed by a postage stamp (if you see what I mean) on plain paper and glued that on, using the blue tinted pva. I "painted" it with the pva several times to add to the texture and the blue tint. Now I can put it in the post.

Monthly chunky book challenge

My page for the challenge on ANUK. The suggested theme was friends, I had napkins to hand and Valentine's Day materials. I'm back on doing packing tape transfers and tried rubbing them with matt acrylic medium to remove the shine - and it worked.

Beginnings Resolutions ATCs

My three ATCs for the swap on ANUK. I resolve to try new techniques, be on time, use existing materials and keep on communing with my frogs.

My planet

I don't like to put out packaging for recycling if I think it should be used again. Hence this cardboard pizza base from Waitrose with Golden acrylics became "my planet".

Creative journey

The fourth challenge on Creative Journey was to use the polystyrene base from a pizza with one's theme. I drew out a daisy with a pencil, then used the rounded end of the pencil to impress the area I didn't want to print. I used two ink pads (Impress) in crimson and pansy to make prints, over printing the crimson one with pansy. I also printed the first crimson one onto a piece of board and printed with that.






Then I drew another daisy on the reverse side of the polystyrene. I don't like the patterning for the daisy but I've made some lovely graphic designs of stamps with it and am pleased with them.











Finally, and favourite, I used three diluted shades of blue acrylic paint and painted onto the first stamp. Although I'd washed it there was still some crimson ink which blended with the wet paint. I shall definitely use this stamp with paint again.

Holiday postcards

My postcards for the ANUK postcards on a holiday theme. Maria had given me lots of ephemera from her Majorcan holiday and it was fun to select items. I love coffee so there was a lot of references, mainly sugar bags.

Laura's quote 3

Picasso's quote about money, a fun doodle and a 1966 penny and ha'penny. This reflects Laura's 40th birthday and her return to accountancy. It's also an allusion to my first day of doing Treasurer business for the Parents' Association. I wrote a cheque for over £5000 amongst other things.

Laura's quote 2

Laura once gave me a poem by Robert Graves in a deco so there's a transfer of it on the LH page and his quote that there's no money in poetry on the RH page. But there's real money behind it!

Laura's quote 1

My first spread in Laura's quotes book. Oscar Wilde finishes "now that I am old I know that it is." This is not necessarily the view of the artist.

WIP2

Here's another bit of process enjoyment. I wanted a background for a Picasso quote so I doodled in pencil. I wanted to outline in a waterproof pen so used a Faber Castell PITT pen. The desired thickness came from a brush tip - which I enjoyed so much I started colouring in some shapes. This meant I used pens instead of pencils and I wet the red shapes as well. Very pleasurable.

WIP

There's been a shortage of art here for the last week, due to holiday and family, but last night I got out this page, a pill bottle, a black ink pad (waterproof) and my WHS watercolour crayons. I gessoed the page and then my mother phoned, for a while. That meant I had to phone my sister, for a longer while, and then it was bedtime. When I went to the book today I wondered what I was supposed to do. The crayons must have meant I was to colour in the rings when I had made them with the pill bottle, and the waterproof ink meant I intended to wash the colouring, but then what? I love the zing of the colours as they change from crayon to paint, it's like the excitement of a magic painting book on a wet day when I was little. Now I want the "ping" of an answer to What Next.

Failure/success at something else

I'm failing in the challenge to do a daily page in my art journal, though I have done a few backgrounds and thought out what to put on them. However, this is because of being busy with Parents' Association business. I was honoured, a month ago, to be asked to be Chairperson. I graciously said no thank you as I know I'm too immature (at 48!) but I volunteered to be Treasurer instead and suggested a superb person for Chair. Last night was the AGM and we were unopposed. I think we will make a nice team.

While not producing any art I have done a lot of thinking about it, and where and how I do it, and I expect to make changes after half term, hopefully with good results.

Daily art journal

It's all very well doing some art every day, but where's the time for photographing it and then waiting ages for Blogger to upload?

Feel balanced

This is definitely tongue in cheek.

Feel inky

I finally was able to buy isopropyl alcohol locally so I made up some ink sprays and played with them. The idea of the alcohol is fast evaporation but everything got rather wet here. It was nice to play but not highly successful. The back of the page actually looks better! If a journal is a document of life then this shows what I was at on Tuesday.

Feel blue

Having gessoed a page white, it was natural to paint a black page. Once again, something in the newspaper caught my eye: monkeys at the zoo who were afraid of blue face paint. (That could be a problem in Edinburgh Zoo as the Scottish flag is commonly used in face painting.) It was looking stark until I thought Teesha and got out my Aquarelles

Feel sharp

I love black and white. I knew what I was going to do here, then the newspaper I had laid down for protection had THE FACTS in black and white! So I changed my mind, sharpened up the act and got stamping.

Aspire

Ideas for improvement.

Feel glad

I'm about to pop in to a MacMillan coffee morning before going to work. It's being run by the daughter of a friend so I may only buy some tablet (made by my friend) and leave, therefore I've had a nice cup of coffee in my favourite mug. My mother was so glad of the support of MacMillan nurses a few years ago. (I think it's stopped raining.)