Spotted Photo Theme

I have joined iHanna's spotted photo theme.

This month's theme: A favorite critter friend.

I like the idea of looking through photo's I already have and look for themes. These are some of my favorite garden visitors:

Taken with my little old Canon Powershot.
For more of my pictures see my photo's tab above.

Capi - raw sketches

"CAPI : Create Art Portfolio Ideas - Developing & Documenting - a Multimedia Approach to Exploring Themes in Search of a Personal Artistic Style”

I've mentioned I have joined CAPI in a previous post. It's a year long course by Milliande and I have now finished some of the first assignments.

My favorite assignment was a free form association exercise.

If you want to check it out here are the links:

http://www.milliande.com/capi-raw-sketchbook-assignment-1-free-form-association.html

http://www.milliande.com/capi-raw-sketchbook-assignment-2-form-investigation.html

http://www.milliande.com/capi-raw-sketchbook-assignment-3-form-composition.html

I found it hard to just sketch and doodle without thinking about the end result. I need more practice on playing and exploring shapes and sketches.

I couldn't resist making stamps out of foam sheets using some of my shapes  as you can see here:

I wish I found out about this exercise years ago!

In my art journal this week

A poem:

high time                                                          concerned

restless                                                              feeling

a daughter
of the old woman
waiting

the uncertainty                                                  to control

how foolish                                                       in vain

Free courses

Waiting at the dentist's this week I read an article about Coursera.
They offer high quality courses from top universities, for free to everyone.

From the website: "you will watch lectures taught by world-class professors, learn at your own pace, test your knowledge, and reinforce concepts through interactive exercises. When you join one of our classes, you'll also join a global community of thousands of students learning alongside you."

There is so much choice. So far these I found most interesting:

Design: Creation of Artifacts in Society
Social Psychology
A Brief History of Humankind
Modern European Mysticism and Psychological Thought

But time....
I hope I will be able to just take one course...Probably Social Psychology.

Anyway if you want to check it out here is the link: Coursera

Art Journal

I like using dark backgrounds for art journal pages. It's a quick way to create depth.

 Tormenting questions

I used a dark page from a glossy magazine , put something with texture underneath and rubbed with nail polish remover ( acetone).

My favorite texture? Shoes!
Just look underneath your shoes, boots and flip flops...
I first saw this technique in this video by  Katie Kendrick.

This is the background I finished yesterday:

I don't know what I am going to do with it, but this year I promised myself I don't have to finish pages!

CAPI

Yesterday I joined CAPI, a project by Milliande.

“CAPI : Create Art Portfolio Ideas - Developing & Documenting - a Multimedia Approach to Exploring Themes in Search of a Personal Artistic Style”

From the website:

"To clarify: CAPI is not about pretty journal pages or step by by step completed artworks or a tube of glitter to jazz up a craft project.

CAPI is about definite exercises to unearth "What am I trying to say with my artworks" and "What tools I can use to consistently realise that in my art ".

CAPI : to be an invitation to a  process without a set schedule... a challenge for each of us to truly ponder and discover something deeply intrinsic in what/how we do and say as artists... 

CAPI is a structure within which to make individual discoveries and collect a toolbox as a source of focus inspiration."

Here is the intro: http://www.milliande.com/capi-create-art-portfolio-ideas.html

Finding my own style is something I want to focus on this year, I think this project  is a good way to start.

Mixed media collage

 

I finished this mixed media collage today.
I used to old small collages, pastels, white acrylic paint, paper scraps, image transfer, glue, acrylic medium and a tea bag.
Because of the word 'index' I put it on top of the right column.
I love the colors. I noticed most of my collages recently have these vertical lines.
I am happy with it.

The do's and don'ts of creativity.

I have been writing in my journal today. I was thinking about the things  I have learned the past year and made this list of my do’s and don’ts :

• Don’t believe it’s always fun.

Especially at first it’s hard.You don’t know what you are doing, you have no idea how to get your ideas onto paper.

It can be frustrating watching tutorials where artists are creating beautiful work and tell you to ‘just have fun with it’.

It’s not. 

It’s hard, I make mistakes. I make bad stuff.

But I can now accept it’s part of the learning proces: Nobody tells this to people who are beginners.

• Don’t set myself up for failure with unrealistic expectations.

I won’t art journal everyday.
Sometimes I feel like doing something else.

• Don’t expect what works for others will work for me.

It won’t.

• Do allow myself to not finish work.
• Do wait for the glue to dry.
• Do go on an artists date once a week. 
• Do give myself permission to do things my own way.

What are your do's and don'ts?

On the couch...

I start the new year with a cold, a temperature, a cold sore and, for some reason, a bloodshot eye. I haven’t done any journaling recently. I stayed on my couch and watched old episodes of Highlander on youtube instead.
I was happy to find I still enjoyed watching the show. It’s not always like that, is it? You remember something that was really cool, but when you see it years later it just looks ridiculous. 

 Anyway just wanted to say Happy New Year! 

 and back to my couch... 


my old favorites: 
Buffy 
Angel 
Highlander 
Quantum Leap 
Ghost Whisperer 
Charmed 
Blackadder

Highander season 1

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