ArtiphyTheHeart

Sunset Orange

I've mentioned before that I'm following Kelly Kilmer's Journey Of You workshop (JOY), and that I love the taped binding, paperback journals we use in the class.  I've made dozens of them since first following Kelly's PDF.  I've also mentioned that we're doing a fun project to stretch our color muscles in another group I belong to, by working our way through the entire set of Crayola colors and creating separate illustrations for each of those colors.  

I keep a lot of journals "open" (available to work in) at a time, and I work in each of them differently.  The sole purpose of these books is artistic growth.  Some are sketchbooks.  Some are collage.  Some are mixed media.  Some are watercolor.  Some are sumi-é.  There are others, each with their own purpose, as well as their own media.  This particular book combines collage and pen work almost exclusively.  

Today I'm going to outline the method I use in this book to get the color on the page and tie it all together.   I'll also tell you the general set of rules I created for this page, and how I used them to make sense of the page, by resolving the remaining disparate elements of composition.

First, I scribbled a generous amount of the Crayola color du jour, in this case Sunset Orange, onto a clean swatch of white paper.  I grabbed a small handful of magazines and a pair of scissors, and quickly flipped through each magazine, stopping only when the color on a page matched the swatch of crayon color in my hand, and I cut it out, then kept going.  

With those cut swatches in hand, I then started my page flipping fresh, in order to find various tints, shades and saturations of the same hue, located them, and cut.  Then I did a third flip-through, looking for one major, and one minor accent color, keeping in mind the (interior) design maxim, "something dark, something light, something dull, and something bright."  

Once I had all my swatches, I set the magazines aside and fiddled with a background arrangement.  I limited my choices to the shapes and textures of what I had cut out, and how they would actually fit on the page.  

In this book, I purposely make myself work with page sizes that are large in order to put myself in a position to have to strain my brain to use only the limited stash I've cut to work with.  If my pages were small, I might be able to get away with only one or two pieces.  But with larger pages, there is inevitably the need to piece some things togehter, not having enough of one or more cut colors to fill the larger space.  

At the same time, I work with another rule that I made for myself which requires the composition to be artistically balanced.  My personal rule for this book is that it doesn't have to make sense in any other regard. I'm not working with images, I'm composing with color.  If an image or a pattern springs up, it's used for the color and the balance of color, not because of what it represents as an image.  I don't lo0k for subjects;  I let the subjects evolve.

When the page is covered, I step back.  I usually take a break and walk away from it for awhile.  The break also gives the glue some time to dry, which helps the page uncurl.  Then I come back to it, and if necessary, I look at it very closely and ask it what it needs.  Maybe the answer is "nothing".

A "nothing" answer is so rare that truly, I can't rememer if it has ever actually happened.  Most often, a focal point is either lacking entirely, or needs support.  This is when I look for, or create, specific "fits" for the piece.  I ask some balance questions, too. Too chunky?  Add some line.  Too liniar?  Add some chunks.  Too dark? Add some light, Too light, add some dark, etc., etc.  I make everything , including the date, part of the composition by including it the most auspicious place.  

If you're a collage artist and not sure which of your creative muscles most need to be stretched, I'd recommend Kelly's J.O.Y. workshop.  I'd also recommend Kelly's workshop if you already know what you're doing and just want to have fun.  Guaranteed, you'll learn something new along the way.  If you're paying attention to what you're doing, Kelly's classes train you to teach yourself new things.  You'll develop a better sense of compostion, and also a better sense of detail.  Your eyes will be sharpened.  

Kelly gives you everthing you need to get started: Clear instructions for making the book you'll use, an array of design templates that you can use as-is, or customize, a place to share your work and interact with others who are on the same artistic path, and personal feedback when you need it.  

The rules I followed for my page were my own, not Kelly's.  But with Kelly's workshop, you will inevitably discover things that you are more and less comfortable with, and you'll begin to create for yourself, new and different rules each time you work.  You'll stretch.  

My advice is to push yourself in the direction of your discomfort.  Create artistic dilemmas through rules you make which severly limit your choices.  Create conflict, then resolve it.  You'll be amazed at what you find you can do after all.  And once you've become familiar with them and have learned to master them,  a lot of things that you thought you didn't like to do will mysteriously begin to appear on your lists of "like to do" items.  

When it comes to your artistic tool box, which is simply your set of skills, there is one overriding truth:  If you hate something, it's your master.  If you love it, you've mastered it.

Disjointed

Do you ever feel that way?  Not "out of joint", but disjointed?  Like your limbs have been severed and were put back on differently?  I'm not sure how to explain this with words.  

I think mother's hearts are a good example to use.  They're all disjointed, since they become ripped, torn, disloged, partially amputated, and then are put back together again.   Not at all like broken hearts.   They're completely different.  Disjointed has more to do with limbs and hearts and organs that are used to shreds, then mended and put back to be used once more.   Sometimes they're even put back together before they've been mended.  They're never the same as when they were new.  They're better afterward.  Using them to pieces perfects them.

Mother's hearts get this way from a variety of sources, least of all usually, from their own children.  It's usually the people that threaten their children in mild ways or worse that cause the disloge.  The people who pick on them.  Or the people who should care more for them, but somehow don't, and it tears your heart.   Today's page is for moms and other nurturers.

 

 

More Joy

I spent the day learning the ropes of two new websites and re-coding parts of my blog.  Hmmm.  Not too smart to do them all in the same day, since each are configured very differently and what I learned about one started bleeding into my knowledge of the others, and vice versa.  Better to keep the days I work on each of them separate from each other.  Also not good to try this with a migraine.  Just the backlit screen was enough to cause pain.  So I moved onto paper, and I kept it very simple.

Another alphabet page.  Working once again in my brown paper wrapper journal with minimal materials.  All papers from magazines and books with a dab of paint and some tape.  J.O. Y. style.  That's all.

Here's "D"

Cool

I'm back to my little handmade, hand-bound, brown paper wrapper journal.  It's one of my favorites.  You can see it HERE.  It, and two more like it, were made for Kelly Kilmer's J.O.Y. workshop, and I'm filling this one with alphabet pages for the Affair With Art group I belong to.  

I love J.O.Y.  It's completely different from other ways I journal and collage.  I limit each and every piece of collage, backgrounds included, to stuff pulled from magazines.  No painted backgrounds, although some tape and penwork and maybe a brush stroke or two on top is allowed.  My rules.  I want to see how far I can go using the thinnest materials possible.  No cardstock.   No commercial papers. 

Here's "C":

Pretty cool, if you ask me.

Ravens And Crows

I'm jumping from book to book.  Today's page was created in my little brown paper wrapper journal which is one of the paperback journals I made in Kelly Kilmer's J.O.Y. group.  With the exception of Nancy Baumiller's crow, everything on this page was cut from books or magazines.  No paint.  Just strips of paper or cut paper circles, images or shapes.  That's all.  Oh, and pen work.  Quite a bit of that, too.  I used my Rapidograph and India ink for the letters, numbers and flourishes, and accented with a white water-based Sharpie poster paint pen.  That's all.

I made several paperback journals in J.O.Y.  I've dedicated this one to the Crayola crayon project we're doing in another art group I belong to.  Each week, a different colored Crayola crayon is the inspiration for whatever we want to create.  I'm a little behind the curve, but the inspiration color for this page was Crayola's Tropical Rain Forest.  

More Than Meets The Eye

Some days are spent in creative action, others in creative thought.   Most days, there's a little of both, and today was one of those days.  

The first thing I did was go shopping.  I spent 30¢ at the library discard sale and bought the two books you see in the photo for 10¢ each.  I love the covers of these books and I'll remove the text blocks and fill them with great papers for journals or sketchbooks.  I spent another dime on a book with trashed boards, but some great images inside.  Then I spent the rest of the day cutting things up.  Some of them will find their way into the books and pages I'll make for J.O.Y., and my FTB books, and a lot of others will end up in SoulCollage® cards.  Here's the pile:    

There's a lot of value to cutting things out with scissors.  It's good cross-training for drawing.  When you make intricate cuts with scissors, your eye follows contours exactly the same way it does when you draw.  Except that when you draw, unless you've trained your eye with lots of practice, it wants to move ahead of the pencil, and put things in that aren't there, and take things out that are.  That's why scissors are such good practice for people who draw.  Your brain tells your eyes to slow down and pay attention.  You're holding a sharp object.  So you look more intently, and your eye gets practice in carefully following contours while the object in your hand follows your eye.  

If you cut out intricate shapes often, your brain will translate following those contours to your drawing as well.  And vice-versa.  If you draw often, you will become better at cutting out intricate shapes.  It's about patience, persistence, and learning to look at what's really there, not what the filters in your brain want you to see and think is there.  

So that's how I spent day 21 of Traci Bunkers 30 Days Of Get Your Art On.  And since it's prep work for art journaling, it's also part of AJED.  I practiced drawing with my scissors, and let my mind wander.  It's amazing how many ideas the images can inspire while you're slowly and methodically cutting them out.  It's almost meditative.  It isn't something I do in front of the TV or while I'm listening to conversations or audio books.  I concentrate.  It's wonderful.  Really focusing on the task at hand brings so many creative ideas forward.  

July 8. Day 7 Shenanigans

Busy!  I'm filled with J.O.Y. at Full Tilt Boogie, Getting My 30 Days Of Art On while attending Summer Camp. Whew!  So here's what I did yesterday:

At camp, Marit suggested we add a spot of color to a black and white photo.  Actually, I've been doing this all month.  You can see a few of them in the art journal pages of the last 3 or 4 posts, but I'll just show you what I did yesterday.

I didn't shoot a photo of the pic before I started painting out the background, but there was nothing in it that you really needed to see .  It's an Eastman Kodak ad from a 1921 National Geographic.  I acquired a few of the out-of-copyright pre-1923s back in the day when I thought I would photocopy the images and use them more than once.  Uhn-uh, no way.  I cut up the pages.  After all, they're merely tools.  Not precious in and of themselves.  I'm only going to use them once, and I'm not a clip art business.  I'm with Nick Bantock on this.   Nick extolled the virtues of using authentic items in collage.  He said it in the November/December 2000 issue of Somerset Studio, back in the day when the magazine had a slick, glossy cover.  He reminded me of the art teacher who asked the class if we thought Joseph Cornell's reputation as an artist would have suffered if he had used copies in his work.  After the debate, he gave us his opinion, that Joseph Cornell would never have had a reputation as an artist if he had used copies.   I must admit, I'm much happier since I quit photocopying magazine and book stuff for collage and storing the pristine originials.    It's very liberating to use the real deal.

Step two.  I added a color wash to the dress and bow:

But I need to back up a bit.  Before I colored the photo, I had spent the lion's share of the day cutting the frames I'd designed the day before.   I had already made all the cuts using cheap, lightweight card stock, just to be sure they would cut the way they were designed, and in a single pass.  Yesterday I cut the actual material I'll be using for the frame pages in FTB book two, and I'm happy with the design and the way they cut.  I'll show you three of them.

You can see the difference between the material I'm using for the frames and the white card stock I used for my practice cuts.  

I ended up with a lot of thin card stock frames from the practice cuts which I almost tossed in the bin, but then I thought that with a little tweaking, they might be useful as added elements in other books.  So I painted one side, added some thin, gold edge detail, and clipped it to the pic you saw above.  It's thin enough to curl when painted, and you can see the opposite side where it's unfinished.

I like how it looks in yesterday's journal spread.  It was such a busy day, I kept the pages simple.

It's July! Time To Update the Map!

But first, here's my offering for today:

There's just so much going on in cyberspace, it's easy to get lost.  I find it handy to carry a map.  Maps are useful tools.  They don't determine where you're going; they just give you an idea of what's out there, and how to get there.  They help you get where you're going, and you can circle your destination choices on a map.  

At the beginning of every year, I map out my online itinerary, keeping it general enough to allow for additions and subtractions, but specific enough to give me an idea of how I plan to spend my online minutes in a way that will meet my goals and desires most productively.  I do this in January, then in July, I take another look at the map from my life's point of view, and make adjustments as necessary.  

Most of the groups I belong to have been around awhile and do extensive advance planning.  It's easy to take a look in December and get an idea of what will be offered in the coming year.  There's a comfort in things that are established, not the least of which is the benefit of consistent, predictable quality.  It makes the choices easier.  But things change rapidly online.  New things pop up all the time and former things vaporize daily.  I don't serve my rules.  I believe that my rules must serve me, so I want to make sure that my choices are flexible enough to make additions and subtractions without having to look over my shoulder at every crossroads.  

If January begins your year, then July's a great review point.  I keep my choices simple.  This year, I chose three places to hang-out for the summer: Kelly Kilmer's J.O.Y, Mary Ann Moss's FTB, and Marit's Summer Camp, and one place for all-year-long: Julie Fey-Fan Balzer's AJED.  There's also an invitational group of online artists that I belong to which is perennial, and I made my choices in January regarding which projects I'd tackle in 2011 with them.   

When I made my choices, I knew that new things would inevitably pop up on the horizon, and other things would be called on account of rain.  When Effy Wild created Wild Precious Studios earlier this year, I made the decision to jump in on the first day and add this goup to my active list, allocating time to facilitate a weekly Mandala prompt group there, Making Mandalas, Art Within The Circle.  When I post about the goings on in that group, I usually do it from my sister blog, ArtiphyTheSoul.  

Last, but certainly not least, there's SoulCollage®.  Particiaption with the KaleidoSoul Kindred Spirits group is an uplifting, daily joy of mine, and any activity I post regarding SoulCollage® and my participation with KaleidoSoul can be found at ArtiphyTheSoul.  This month, my personal practice with SoulCollage is featured in the KaleidoSoul newsletter, which you'll automatically receive if you're a member.  There's even *gasp* a picture of my face!  If you're an art journaler, a collage artist, a mixed media junkie, or all of the above, you should take a look at KaleidoSoul and see what group membership has to offer.   No matter what you put into it, your return will be greater.  Guaranteed!  

So those were and are my choices for 2011 as decided upon in January.  

Now that it's July, I've added one more, and this is more of an incentive and a promise to myself than an obligation.  Traci Bunkers has initiated Traci Bunker's 30 Days Of Get Your Art On.  It's a bit like AJED, except that it's for the month of July instead of for the entire year, and it's more about doing anything creative daily, even unfinished, and blogging about it, than specifically creating art journal pages.  For me, the two will work hand-in-hand.  Julie's AJED posts and prompts are wonderful and motivating, although I sometimes work differently and often don't post the artwork I've made to her group.  I have found that just looking at Julie's website and her daily offerings sparks my creativity, and I've noticed that I've been more productive since I've had her site as an encouraging resource.  Traci's art is more in tune with what I do daily, even if I don't always post my abstractions and mixed-media work.  And knowing that I'm committing to doing something, even something not finished, every day and then blogging about it, is a real benefit generator for me!

Happy July! 

 

Today's Page

Up all night last night with a sick doggie.  He seems to be much better now, but he gave us quite a scare, and I won't be comfortable until he's back on his food as usual.  At least he's interested in playing a bit now, so it's looking hopeful!  

Too tired and stressed to start anything new or large, so I grabbed my ABC book to catch up on my "B" page before tomorrow, when it will be time for "C".  If you're interested, I posted my "A" page HERE, and the cover for this little brown wrapper paperback is exactly like the one pictured in this post, HERE.  The alphabet pages are for an online art group, the style and booklet are straight from Kelly Kilmer's J.O.Y. group, and the pointy hats mean that it's also headed for the pointy hats and wings group on flickr.

I'm crawling in early for sleep tonight.  But before I turn out the lights, you might want to take a peek at my right side bar and click on the new button that says:  "30 Days of Get Your Art On".  It will take you straight to Traci Bunkers dot com forward slash blog, where you can pick up your own button and start making your own 30 days worth of art!  

The best part is that you make up your own rules as to how you want to follow this practice.  Personally, I'm using it to push me to scan and blog more of what I do each day.  Sorry, it isn't that blogging isn't a priority, but photographing, scanning and uploading pics I find to be so tedious!   Not my strong point, and certainly not my passion!  So most of what I do -- some of the best stuff, really, and certainly all of the really large things -- are left unseen by eyes in cyberspace.  

More tomorrow!  

Mango Tango Lemonade

I'm exhausted.  Tired to the bone and beyond.  It was 109̊ yesterday.  Maybe that has something to do with it.  Maybe it's because I have a post-it-note on my computer with so many projects listed that it's continued on the back.  Or maybe it's because I got lost in the book I was reading last night and rediscovered myself just as the sun was coming up.  A big, bright, orange sun.  Ripe as a mango.

I've had my orange on for a while now.  Orange is the color of creativity, so I guess it fits.  This is another page from my J.O.Y. journal.   I think it might not be finished, but I added it anyway.

I belong to an artist's group that's listing a different Crayola crayon color each week for inspiration. This is mango tango week.  Most of the color on this page was created with four separate colors of overlapping and layered transparent tape.  The phrenology head was modified in PhotoShop, then printed.  The tone pattern was added with a mango colored marker, and the black blocks were lettered with a mango colored Sakura Souffle pen.  I let the "Spirit of California Past" poke through.  It was the title on the page I covered with collage.  "Proud Heritage" is peeking through also.  

The yellow which pops up here and there reminds me of lemons.  Amy has been making the best fresh squeezed lemonade I've ever had.  We've got a kitchen full of lemons, limes and fresh mint, and she can't make it fast enough.  Hold on a minute while I ask her if I may share the recipe...

... She said "Yes."  She got it from Bust magazine's June/July 2011 issue, but I know she's tweaked it a bit...she's going to type it here:

Mint/Lime Lemonade

 Ingredients:

1-1/2 Cups lemon/lime juice (6-8 lemons depending on size and two small limes)

1 cup superfine baker's sugar

6 cups water (use a good, filtered water for this)

1/3 cup finely chopped fresh mint, plus extra mint leaves for garnish

How To:

Simple Syrup: Heat the sugar and 1 cup water in saucepan until sugar is completely dissolved. Take off heat and set aside to cool.

Juice the lemons/limes. I did it by hand over a strainer into a measuring cup, but you can use a juicer, or do it without a strainer and pick out the seeds with a spoon if you like your lemonade extra pulpy. Make sure you've squeezed enough to make 1 -1/2 cups of juice. You may need more/fewer lemons depending on how big they are. Don't forget to add those two limes!

Chop the mint and add to the simple syrup.

Pour the remaining 5 cups of water into a pitcher, add the lemon/lime juice, and the simple syrup with mint, stir well. Put in the fridge until chilled.

Once the lemonade is cold, pour it over ice, add a mint leaf to garnish, and enjoy!

 You're going to want to make sure you have extra lemons, limes and mint on hand.   Once you taste this, you'll be making more, and you'll kick yourself if you run out of ingredients.  Amy served ours in frosty glasses that had been chilled in the freezer.  You'll never drink lemonade from a bottle or a mix ever again!  Guaranteed!

At Full Tilt, and Boogieing...

Here's another peek at how my mind (and hands) work in-process:

It's summer, so theoretically I have more time.  "Theoretically" is the key of course, but I'm counting on it!  

Continuing study is as valuable as practice, practice, practice.  Therefore, I will allow myself three groups to study with over the summer.  I say this to myself every January, then I follow through.

I knew who I'd be playing along with and learning from months and months ago:  Kelly, Marit, and Mary Ann Moss.  There are other places I'd like to be too, but I narrowed it down and made my pick long before some of the other groups sprang up, and I'm not sorry with my choices.  Who would be?  These three are golden!  A stellar way to spend my continuing study credits, and I couldn't be happier!  There is enough that's unique to each group along with subtle hints of an overlap here and there, so that if you concentrate and look hard enough, it can all be woven together whilst giving each module its own, separate attention.  That's what goes through my mind, along with the whistling wind...

Mary Ann Moss launched day one of Full Tilt Boogie on Friday.  Of course it's about books, binding them, and tarting them up a bit.  Actually the tarting part is mine.  The rest of the class is ARTing them.  Sorry, I just gots to be me.  

The entire theme of FTB centers around gorgeous, vintage cabinet card albums.  Drop dead gorgeous ones!  Some with celluloid covers, velvet bindings, exquisite clasps, embossed leather, gorgeous beveled mats to house the photos, tortoise shell covers, damask, silk, moire and more. Beauty!  I spent all of March, bits and pieces of April and most of May trying to find albums to use in this class.  I combed local antique stores and flea markets.  I found two.  One was 3" X 5" with a leather binding for *gasp* $260, and the second was even tinier with a mother of pearl casing, gold leaf, and a clasp that looked like a jeweler designed it.  It was $600.  *chokes*, and pass!

Now I know my experience was local, and I could have gone to Etsy and Ebay.  But I had another idea.  I collect library discards.  Not just any, but ones with pages I'll use and bindngs that make me squeee with delight.  The prices are a bit lower.  Ten books for $1, or 10¢ a piece.  So I have quite a few, and my total investment is under $20.  

I sent Mary Ann an email.  I asked, "What if I used some great boards from one of the books I have on hand?  And what if I employ my underused Cricut Expressions with my SCAL software to design some faux cabinet card frames?  What if I get a deep-cut blade and turn this puppy into a jig saw?  What if I forget the heck about Ebay and antique stores, and make my own knock-off?"   And she said, "Go for it!"  

So yesterday, after dutifully concocting and taking a few sips of the official class martini (yes there is one, in fact there's more than one....), I proceeded to begin my practice book.  Highly suggested, due to the fact that I've never done this binding before, and I want to solve any issues that may surface before I tackle the red leather bound encyclopedia that I'll be using for the real deal (also purchased at 10¢/vol., for a grand total of $1.20 -- get a tissue. No drooling on the computer screen).  

I've used two of these volumes already, both for Juliana Coles Altered States workshop which I took last summer.  That was an art-changing experience for me.  Truly, deeply, awesome.  Jules is repeating Altered States this summer--now, in fact--and has bundled it with Field Notes, another of her workshops which I took last year.  I highly recommend both.  

So before I get to this book, there's the practice book.  And as I look through the stacks of possibilities, I'm thinking that I want something I can work with, something that won't be too precious, but that I'll love enough to use, because I can't do this unless I pour my heart and soul into it.  And I see a book that I bought for the funky, retro designs on the pages.  The boards are in fine shape, sturdy enough to hold up when I rip off library tapes and stickers and possibly citra-solve the residual stickiness.  But the cover just isn't going to work for me.  Santa, on a sleigh, with reindeer, and a tree?  I wouldn't draw, collage, write, or do anything else in this book.   Not that there's anything wrong with it, it just isn't "me".   Hmmm, I love the lettering.  I could mask "Handbook" and paint the boards.  Then maybe stencil them.  So I did.  I cut the hands last.  Like I said, while the others art it up, I'm tarting it.  And this one's just for practice, right?  

Mary Ann mentioned mod-podge.  I'd never used the stuff, but I'd heard lots of people sing its praises.  I think it was developed in the 60's for decoupage when that was so popular and was taught in high school craft classes.  I decided to get a jar, and figured that this time I'd go ahead and seal my lots of thin layers of gesso, paint, stenciling and collage, especially since the area that I had masked-off was glossy, and a few layers lower than the finished, painted board.  I never, ever, seal or varnish pages, but for these boards, it was a good idea.  I'm not sure I'd use mod-podge for collage.  Actually, I wouldn't.  It's wet, it makes images curl, and I'm addicted to Cocoina, which is glue heaven.  But for ease of spread, quick dry and clarity, mod-podge rocks!  It's a keeper, along with the foam spreader I used to spread it, which I'd never, ever use with anything else.  Paint brushes rule the day, even for glue.  But I love the control of application I got from the foam + mod-podge, and it's essential that this stuff is spread evenly and thinly, layer upon layer.  No bubbles, no pooling-up in globs.

So that brings us back up to the pic at top.  On the left, you can see the inside cover page.  I rubber-banded the block and saved the pages after slicing off the boards.  Picture Santa in his sleigh with reindeer, proceeding in a diagonal path from the upper left corner of the tree top, heading across the page to the right, and you'll have a pretty good idea of what the cover looked like before I altered it.  

Now to make signatures, fold folios, punch holes, put it all together and stitch the binding...

Projection. Or, "I'm Cold, So You Should Wear A Sweater"

Today's page is about projecting your own thoughts and thought processes onto others, and also about unsolicited advice.  Society doesn't seem to view that as such a negative anymore.  But if something isn't broken and you try to fix it, sooner later you'll cause it to break.  

Did your mother try to get you to dress more warmly because she was cold?  Do you remember how you laughed at the absurdity?  Of all the collective "mother" quirks, that was the one that surely you would never pick up.  Too blatantly ridiculous, right?  Well, think again, because almost all of society has picked it up, and in a very big way.  

We just don't recognize it, because we've put a spin on it.  Some people are making millions with it, and others are spending their hard earned $$, ££, and €€ gobbling it up.  It's often sold in book format, but you can find it on on the web for free, or, just ask a friend.  Or even a perfect stranger.  It's often filed under the category of "self-help", but it extends farther.  It often goes something like this:

Person A:  (says) "I just read this great book about the secret to organizing spaces, and it has changed my life."

Person B: (thinks to self) "That's great for her, but it means nothing to me because I perfectly happy with my current life style."  (and responds by saying something innocuous but personally revealing, such as...) "Oh, how wonderful for you, but I don't organize my closets at all."

Person A: (thinks to self) "I wasn't happy living like that, so she must be terribly unhappy..."  (then says) "Oh, you need to fix that!  Your life will be so much better if you just make a few changes..."

Person B: (says) "But I'm happy this way.  It's not something that matters to me."  (and thinks to self) "Perhaps I should be more organized..."  

Person A: (says) "Oh, but it should matter!  (and thinks to self) "I was a mess before, and now I get so much more done." (and says):  "You have no idea how much more productive you'll be if you read the book and follow what it says."

Person B: (thinks to self) "I think I get everything done that I need to do, but if A is mentioning it, perhaps people view me as an underachiever, and if that's what people see in me, then maybe I should pay attention.  Maybe it's what I am..."  (and asks) "Do you see me as an underachiever"?

Person A: (thinks) "I knew it!  I was right!  This book said it was good for everybody, and it is!  If she's asking the question, then it must apply to her..."  (and says)  "Honey, I know this will help you!  It's done me such a world of good!  Our running into each other like this was meant to be.  It's serendipity!  Go buy that book, now!"

Person B: (thinks to self) "Wow.  You just never know.  All this time I thought I was happy, and now I realize I was just lazy.  It's so good to have friends who are open and willing to share their thoughts honestly".  (and says) "Thank you SO much!  I'm going right over to buy that book now!"

Epilogue (6 months later):

Person A: (says) "Hi there!  Good to see you!  Did you read the book?  Did it change your life?"

Person B: (says) "Oh hi.  Yes I did.  And forgive me if I seem distracted.  I'm very tired right now.  I just finished a huge workload, and I'm not half finished with several other projects I have in the works, but, (LOL) my closets are organized!"

Person A: (thinks to self) "Poor thing!  I had no idea she suffered from OCD! Funny what you don't see in a person, and I thought I had her pegged..."  (and says) "Sweetie, I know just the thing for you!  There's this really good book.  I haven't read it, but I've heard it's helped so many people just like you........"

And the bottom line is:  Some things that appear to be broken to you, aren't.  And if you really want to screw them up, then go ahead and try to fix them.

A few of life's truths:

If it's really broken, then absolutely, get the right person to fix it.

You are not always the right person; know when to call a professional.

Some things that seem broken, aren't.

If you try to fix something that isn't broken, sooner or later, you will probably break it.

In nature, when animals are sick, they isolate.  This is often to heal; not always to die.  

Diagnosis and healing should be handled by people who are trained and qualified. 

Like well-meaning mothers, well-meaning people in general often get things absurdly wrong.

Advising a well person as if that person were sick will often result in creating a sick person.

Stay well! 

Vacant

Have you ever had a really bad dream about someone, and no matter how hard you try to shake it, some of that feeling lingers on after you wake?  No problem if you can avoid the person for awhile, but when that's not possible, remaining as neutral as possible is usually my solution.  Invisible works, and sometimes, so does vacant.  

Today's page was built with J.O.Y. in mind, using Crayola's "aquamarine" crayon color as inspiration.

I made the book for this series of pages.  It's just a plain, brown wrapper with a cowboy tape spine.  I'd been toying with the idea of how a plain, brown wrapper would be really appropriate for a paperback journal, so I whipped up the prototype for this book and fell in love with it!  It was made after the unique construction which is being taught at J.O.Y.  Up to now my bindings have been fairly complex.  Even the simple ones I've made were complicated compared to this one, and I've designed quite a few of those myself.  But never in a million years would I have thought this one up on my own!   So far I've made three more, each for a separate series of pages, and I'm not stopping when those are finished.  I have a new project on the horizon which will use aspects of this binding combined with some uniquely cut pages.

A couple of years ago, I was given a Cricut Expressions machine.  A really stellar gift!  At the time, I needed it to cut some custom stencils I designed, and also to cut some images I'd be using in relief on pages in a hand bound book I was making.  I added SCAL software so that I could import my own vector drawings as .svg files, and then let the machine do the cutting.  It was a huge success.  The software was easy to learn and versatile enough to convert my drawings, and I was able to get around the limitations of the machine by tweaking my drawings a bit, and by making some of the extra fine cuts with an Xacto knife afterward.  Except for some stencils I've cut here and there, I pretty much forgot about it after that.  

Now I'm almost ready to start a new book project, so the Expressions is back on the work surface and  hooked up to my laptop.  I'll tell you more about that project as it unfolds, but in the meantime, I thought it would be good to re-familiarize myself with cutting from the software.  I chose a font, adjusted the height and kerning, and made the cut for today's page.  I had it in mind to letter the negative of "Vacant" in brown and paint it with opaque acrylics, but it was so much easier just to cut it out of brown paper.  Sometimes the easy way is best way.   At least it was this time, because I doubt that I would have thought to use the positive letters along the left edge if I'd done the negative lettering by hand.  Don't let anyone tell you that using dies or cutting with a machine is not artistic.  We learned to cut with a jigsaw in art school.  This is just smaller scale and uses software.  Most of today's professional  jigsaws are computer driven, so what's the difference?  It's what you do with the stuff you cut that counts, so create till you drop!

Canned Tomatoes

"Circus" was constructed with Crayola's "macaroni and cheese" colored crayon in mind.  The Crayola color was a prompt from an art group I belong to, and the piece itself is a page from one of the art journals I'm making with J.O.Y.   Hmmmm....macaroni and cheese....pasta...Italian foods...

....One of my favorite Italian chefs, Lidia Bastianich, has a lot to say about tomatoes.  I know, because I read her books.  They are full of useful information and history, so I don't merely flip through to look for recipies, I read them cover to cover. 

A long time ago, I made all my tomato sauce using fresh tomatoes only.  I thought this was the only way to go, but I was often disappointed.  Crops are inconsistent and there are so many variables, including the amount of sunlight, rain, wind, animals, bugs, fertilizer, soil, picking time....an endless list really, and I haven't even begun to talk about crop varietals.  Not only was the outcome of my sauce unpredictable (I taste every little flavor...), but sometimes it was disappointing.  

Lidia changed all that with her words about canned San Marzano tomatoes.  I won't go into it deeply, but suffice it to say that these tomatoes are grown in a small region of Italy which has environmental factors, including volcanic activity, which deliver a consistently, superior fruit.  To be labeled San Marzano D.O.P. requires certification by the Italian government.  It really is that big a deal.  

That's when I started using canned tomatoes, and realized that the vastly superior sauce they make was still my sauce, even though the tomatoes came from a can.  And it can be like this with art, too.

Do you always use your own handmade paper?  That's wonderful, but it isn't necessarily preferable, although in some cases, it might be.  Do you always labor over your own color mixes, or do you often apply paint right from the jar, tube, pan?  Do you cut all of your own stencils, even if what you need are gradated circles and exactly what you want is sold at a price that is less than what you'd spend to make your own?  If you use 3-D attachments such as flowers, do you always make them by hand, or do you sometimes buy Prima, or another brand?  You may use these things or not, but what it all boils down to is what works best in which situation.  Or at least artistically speaking, it should.  It isn't a big leap to see that it's all valid, some of it's valid, or none if it's valid, depending on what you're doing and what your goals are.  The answers could be different each time you apply the questions.  The main thing is always to ask yourself questions, starting with, "what works best for this ___(insert project or part of project here)___, answer honestly, and then apply what helps you achieve your goal for the piece.  

As applied to collage and the use of materials for collage, such as images, magazine pages, painted papers and commercially patterned papers, once again, it all depends on what you're doing and what your goals are, and the answers could be different each time you apply the questions.  Not to be redundant, but to emphasize:   What's valid to use will depend on what your goals are.  That applies to art, as well to cooking, and the decisions are both purely personal, as well as knowledge based.  

Sometimes collage is defined solely based on spatial relationships, and is artistically defined simply by the way the elements -- or the lack of elements -- are arranged in space.  In this case, the individual elements of the composition are not important in and of themselves.  It all about the the piece as a whole.  The degree of pleasure, pain, excitement, attachment, affection, fear, disgust, or other gut reaction that comes from the piece as an entity, and not individually from it's elements, is what matters most and is what the artist is striving for.  Other times, it has to do with the play and interchange of the elements themselves.

Collage often, but not always, utilizes things made by other people, as well as things made by the artist, and it is the juxtaposition of creations made by different creators that often defines and makes the art.  One of the original schools of artistic thought defined collage by the use of materials not made by, but arranged by, the artist.  And there are a many others types of collage, also defined by their "whys" and their goals.  Add other media to collage, and the definitions change and expand.  It's no wonder that art is hard to define, and that some people consider it impossible.

Schools of art (as opposed to art schools) and art movements throughout history have defined and redefined,  just what "it" is that is to be considered art, setting some parameters, tearing others down, settling on some definitions, and leaving others up to change and revision.  It's transparent and naive to make blanket statements like, "What's good is always up to each individual", or "Only (this or that) is good, regardless of what anyone else says".  Polar opinions in art are traditionally viewed as the hallmark of the new kids on the block, and are often the brain children of people who are not actively involved in learning about or creating art.  They come from those who try to define it without understanding the multifaceted gem that it is.  Knowing the history of art and its movements is a big help.  In art history, as all history, only through knowing what's transpired in the past, is it possible to apply relevant solutions to problems of the present.  Art is dynamic, and its definitions can be truly understood only through its history.

  Art movements and specific schools of thought create the philosophies, and it's these philosophies that go on to define art.  In this way,  what's valid, what's good, better, best, has really to do more with art history, and the emerging art philosophies throughout history, than art critique.  But critique plays a significant, positive role, and not merely in the sense of analysis.  The history of art is really the history of art movements, and different philosophical ideas about the hows and whys of art.  These movements are vital to the spirit of art, as fiery and flaming as some of them have been. It takes great courage to be an artist.  Instead of trying to silence the critics, to grow as an artist, one must learn to take criticism and let it roll like water off a duck, neither internalizing, nor ridding yourself of it either.  Criticism forces artists, who by nature would rather "stay in the zone" as long as possible and never come up for air, into looking at what they're doing, and why.  Art is fueled by confrontation, opinion, defending opinion, thought, assessment, and realization.  It forces artists to go with the grain, or go against it.  It forces the eventual development of opinions, a personality, and a style.  Critical and confrontational arguments about what's valid are places an artist usually hates to go, and often hides from, but an artist can't continue in art until he's been there, and has resolved to go there again and again.  Going there is what prevents stagnation, and helps one to avoid the point at which creation comes to a halt.  And as awful and angst ridden as it may be, it takes a critic to bring the criticism one must face.  

It's important to understand that I'm using the word "critic" in the classic sense.  I'm not using the word "critic" as a psychological or emotional concept or component.  I'm not talking about your "inner critics" as defined by creativity coaches.  That's an entirely different arena.  I'm talking about art critics in general, like the people who write for Salon, the Paris Review, or the New York Times.  And I'm talking about artistic philosophies that confront and conflict and cry out for resolution of ideas.  Even the absurd ones.

As for the resolution of ideas, resolving problems is what art is all about.  Artists are problem solvers by nature.  Beginning with the question, "What's my medium?  Sculputre?  Painting?  Drawing?  Assemblage?  Fiber?  Mixed?"  moving on to, "What's my material?  Metal?  Marble?  Plaster?  Thread?  Wood? Yarn?  Paper with...paint?  paper with pencil?"  and on to, "What's my subject (or not if it's freestyled)?  How and where do I make my first Mark?  Stitch?  Paintstroke? Chisel?"  and then, "What comes next?  and next?  and next?  What needs to be kept?  Removed?  Replaced?  Altered? etc..."  It's all about problems and solving them.  

The problem>solution>problem>resolution nature of artwork is one of the greatest and yet less frequently spoken about benefits of art therapy, extraordinarily valuable for everyone, and especially for those who feel powerless to solve the problems that come their way in daily life.  The brain doesn't always differentiate problem solving techniques.  Often they're generalized and become universal, so that they can be drawn from and used in various unique and different situations.  When you solve the problems inherent to artwork, whether you glue a button to a flower, or re-paint the Sistine Chapel, you've tapped into the same well.  Whether you do this from a guided instruction format, from a master class, or from your own reserve of knowledge, it's still contains the model of problem>solution>problem>resolution.  

So which tomatoes do you use and how do you use them?  And when people say "that's right" or "that's wrong", let it run off your shoulders like water off a duck, but think about it also.  Right or wrong, it's the collective opinions and schools of thought that define art, so it's good to hear what's being said, know your history, and pour whatever you have to say into your work, as well as your words.   No matter how big or how small, we're all a part of this collective, historic tomato stew of art.  Even if we won't be defined as individuals, but are simply elements arranged in the spatial whole.   It's still about all of us. 

On Two Shores

My first involvement with artists on the web began with groups in the Netherlands and Germany, especially with Hermine Koster and Belinda Schneider.  What attracts me is the clean, clear attention to detail, and the choices of subject matter -- especially the surreal.  But what really draws me in is how the artwork valued in the German and Dutch groups seems to mirror my own choices in style, story and design.  

It has been a few years since I played with those groups, and I didn't realize just how much I missed it until Rosie told me about Marit's summer camp and encouraged me to play along, so I said, "Yes".

After I pitched my tent, I started exploring the wilderness, browsing at albums in both the English and the Dutch groups, and I felt like I'd gone home to one of my favorite vacation spots.  I grabbed my pack and hiked over to the community campground.  

I've got my feet on two shores this summer.  I'm also creating pages in Kelly's J.O.Y. workshop, and Kelly's in L.A.  Among other things Kelly suggested, was a book to put together and a combination of selected of materials to mix.  One of Marit's many suggestions involved a grayscale journal spread.  Not a problem. Both of these got my attention, and here's the result:

Answering a question that was asked in the comments of different post, I almost never choose my collage material with a theme or story in mind, and I don't illustrate what I write.  I choose from piles of images and materials that I think have visual appeal, sometimes randomly and sometimes in relation to one another, and get them on the page.  

Then I ask the page what it is, what's left wanting, and what needs to be tossed out, and I make decisions, solve problems, and resolve the issues of the page from a design point of view.  

When I'm finished, I look at it, walk away for a while, then come back and look at it again.  Sooner or later, it shows me something of myself.  Usually something unexpected hits me right between the eyes.  Then I write.  

Usually this is how it all unfolds, but not always.  My journals are my domain.  I'm in charge here, so rules are made and revised to suit and serve my purposes.  You might go about this process in an entirely different way.  There is no right way.  The process is all about the purpose, and people do collage, mixed media and journaling for many diverse personal reasons.  The right way is the way that serves your individual purpose.  What takes you farther from your own goals, not some arbitrary goal in general, would be the wrong way.  My cake, your poison, and vice-versa.  And I'm assuming here that staying alive and healthy is a common purpose, so of course practicing "safe art" is a given, right?  No rinsing paintbrushes soaked in cadmium yellow in the sink you use to scrub veggies...