Art Journal Journey

My Mom and I had a shared love for maps and atlases. She could spend hours pouring over them and so do I! (and dictionaries, but that is another story - and another Index Card Journey) For this series I worked in a batch, using maps, stamped images, inks and paints. The colours are subdued. That was the way I felt after the journey. Tired. Washed Out. Faded. My Mom was great for taking pictures to record our memories. She left a treasure chest of black and white jewels for us to enjoy. This stamped image (Graphic 45 & Hampton Art) reminded me of her. There is something so romantic about a harbour. It must be all those popular songs that always talk about travel, far places and love - lost and found... For me a cruise ship holds no attraction at all. I don't care for hotels, so why I would want to confine myself to a giant floating one full of people is a baffling idea! I'm off to get my dictionary definitions ready for the ne...

Having just started a new painting, I'm reminded how true this is, regardless of who may have said it... The page n the left is a napkin. I only had one of them though, so I added a mirror of the colours with paint on the right hand page. Some spray splatters tied it all together. The stamp set is by Recollections that I bought from Michaels. No problem cutting out all the letters. The background was so quick to do that this was completed in very little time!

Just because the blog is quiet, doesn't mean nothing is happening in real life. Although it is always nice to see or hear what is happening, right? So what have I been doing? Well as soon as I get the pictures processed I'll update you with what is currently happening on my table, but in the meantime, here are some pages I've done in the last little while : These are all pages from a study on the Book of Job. I stumbled across the study on Facebook and have enjoyed it so far. It lasted all of 2015, and I joined late and fell even further behind, BUT I think it is about the journey, not just finishing. I like to finish, but not at the cost of the journey. I'm using an old Dairy Diary for this. It has a sturdy hard cover, is spiral bound and a good size. Most of the papers are the 'waste catchers' from my desk, but sometimes I'm intentional with how I mess those up, I do confess. The first page deals with the names of God used here as well as the n...

And so the ICAD for this year has come to an end. It has been interesting, enjoyable, boring, annoying, refreshing - you get the idea- Again HERE is where the details are listed. Day 57   For this last group of cards I didn't even consider the prompts as I noticed bits and pieces all over the desk, that would be a shame to throw away. Instead I decided to use them for the cards. Thus most of these have some echo somewhere back to previous cards in this collection. Day 57 also has a piece of paint 'skin' on. It looked much to nice to just throw away... It is stuck on quite flat, the 'shadow' was added with paint. Those animal stencil date back to the 70's when we got them in cereal boxes. Day 58 - A piece of 'desk protector' paper found it's way one this one. This clearly dates from the 'mud' stenciling week  Day 59 - More protector sheets, some hand carved stamps and paint splats. Day 60   -  More 'mud stenci...

Well just look at that. All those cards! My little index card box is getting full...and to think just the other day those first few cards were getting lost in it's vast interior. Week 08 -  The index list can be found HERE  For this week, the theme was maps and cartography, geography etc. I need no excuse to grab a map, so I found some...and that led to travelling and that led to vacation... I put all the cards out on the table, numbered them on the back and then started sticking the maps randomly on cards, tearing paper, and just working quickly. Next I sprayed and coloured, working on all the cards simultaneously. Took out stamps that seem to suit and stamped away, did some embossing and inking on the edges etc. It was a different way of doing it, but it worked out really well and the cards came together rather quickly. Day 50 Day 51 Day 52 Day 53 Day 54 - I like the effect here on the embossed swirl. I rubbed charcoal over it, in the hope ...

The month is speeding by.  I find I have less time than expected, so I'll see about doing July or not. I'd like to though... Prompts appealing to me this week, relates to fabric and wall papers etc. The full lists of prompts can be found HERE I plan to use some of the stamps my sister gave me a few years ago. These stamps are inspired by textiles and quilts in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. I have used them so much on so many different projects! For fabric I looked for small cut offs that I have around and pieces that were not yet secured into my art journal! Day 22 - Started of uncertain, but I ended up with something I like well enough. Here the white embossed flower is from the stamp set. Coloured with alcohol inks and white embossing powder for the florals. Day 23 - I got pretty close to giving this one up for a lost cause...until those tiny white flowers saved the day. Still not crazy about it, but it will have to do. The large blue flower an...