PagesPat's Ponderings

Wednesday, February 22, 2023

Garden Party

 

I had fun creating this whimsical garden of flowers and mushrooms. Maybe it's because I started with that swervy base line. I drew the garden above the line and used colored pencils to give my scene some highlights. I found the perfect sentiment, "Your words can plant gardens OR burn down whole Forests". I am a lover of words, metaphors, similes, antonyms, homonyms, phrases and onomatopoeia. Words have so much power, and I strive (and sometimes succeed) to think before I speak.

My "troll" is from Ike's Art, one of a set of Gnomes available at her store. I chose the plain gnome so that I could color in clothes. After I did that, he looked more like a Troll than a gnome. So of course I added the HAIR! LOL I had some leftover tie-dye fur from a previous project and used it for his "up-do".

Then the page below that swervy line looked awful, so empty and white. So I had to stick in a bit of doodling, which I think improves the overall look.

 

Monday, February 20, 2023

I Will Always Walk on the Path of Positivity

I have always tried to walk the path of positivity, but it's been a long time since I created something for the Path of Positivity Challenge Blog. After my husband passed, I needed time to grieve and settle in to being mother, houseowner, handy woman, landscaper, snow blower, gardener, carpenter and painter--by myself.

Then Covid hit, and all our lives took a detour along that path. Once I had time to myself, I stretched out into all kinds of crafting and art styles. I created memes, upcycled thrift store finds (my favorite), painted canvas, wood, metal, doors, light switch plates, outlet covers, and walls.

I crocheted, sewed, carved, wired jewelry, along with a number of new techniques and media. And I'm still reaching outward and challenging myself to create positivity with my artistic endeavors. I can't say all my "experiments" were successes, but I learned and practiced.

One of my favorite ways to create has been journaling. Whether I am Zen doodling, collaging or writing, I have filled several journals, some of them over-sized, some small travel books. So when I finally revisited the Path of Positivity's challenge blog, I was inspired by the "twist" to this month's challenge.

 I've taken this month's "Fashion" twist in a different direction. I created a journal page of my dream room. I pulled photos from 3 different magazines (Elle, HGTV & Good Housekeeping) and collaged them to hopefully look like a real room. I love the colors I found; teals and aquas are my go-to paints. I like wooden floors but know the value of a good carpet or two. I just wish I had a floor-to-ceiling bookcase in reality, but in this "fashionable" room, the windows were needed to bring light to the space. What do you think?

The challenge over at the Path of Positivity is Anything positive Goes, but they always offer a "twist" for your inspiration. This is the midway point to the challenge, and prizes are offered from Scribbles Designs for winners each month. I hope to see your positive project there! Meanwhile, keep crafting!

Friday, February 17, 2023

I'm Being Followed by a Moon Shadow...

 

Today's post features a little doodling and some creative paper cutting. It started out as a full-page Zen doodle, but I messed up a large part of the doodle. Should I turn the page and start over? No, I thought I could improve upon my mistakes "happy little accident".

Since I drew the doodle in a perfect circle, the the thought of a moon popped into my head. A moon with flowers?? Yes, have you never heard of the Flower Moon, which blooms at the start of Spring? It's a little bigger than a crescent, and using  powerful telescope, you can see the outlines of flowers where the "hidden" part of the moo lies in the night sky.

I cut out a crescent shape from some designer paper for the part of the moon that shines down on the Earth. It covered up the imperfect doodles that came out of my pen. To keep both sides of the moon  cohesive, I used a yellow colored pencil to fill in between the flowers I drew. Not enough to make a difference, I added a little shading within each flower with same colored pencil.  

I cut out a circle from some shimmery dark blue paper and framed my flower moon. I sprinkled this night sky with stars, using my Posca white paint marker. Look, there's s shooting star. 

Make a wish!

Wednesday, February 15, 2023

Inspiration Hits Today

 My cousin set me a pic today and suggested that it would be a great piece to Zen doodle.

And this is what the photo inspired me to doodle:
I know, it looks nothing like the original photo, but this is what inspiration does to a person. We don't see things as they are. We see things as we perceive them. It's a very personal process.
So if you're at one of those popular art nights with "the girls", don't knock yourself down because your canvas doesn't look like the instructor's project. It's not supposed. to be a copy, but your interpretation of the example. And that's why we never criticize another person's art unless asked for our opinion. If we don't like it, we can answer back with "it's totally you!" or another generalized comment.
In other words, be kind to all artists...




Monday, February 13, 2023

Fluid Acrylic Painting is Difficult


 I don't care how easy it looks on You Tube, fluid acrylic painting is difficult. After months of practice I finally came up with a decent ratio of paint, flow aid and silicone to create cells, but it's not 100% fool-proof. As you can see from the photo above, not all my paints reacted the way I wanted them to. But I still kind of like this canvas, so I'll keep it.

On the other hand, this painting, made the same day, went ballistic with cell formation, but they are still "off". Does anyone paint with fluid acrylics/? What am I doing wrong? It looks like I spilled Boba all over my canvas. And I made two other canvases that day, but they were so bad I didn't even bother glossing them with varnish...

However, I am an Aries girl, and give up are not words in my personal dictionary. How about you? Do you have a technique, medium or art materials that just come up short with your expectations? 

Friday, February 10, 2023

Quill Power

 

Today's post features a Hedgehog using a Scribbles Designs digital image. After coloring my buddy with a light pink Copic, I pulled out my container of paper flowers and arranged them on my hedgehog's body. Afterward, I realized I wanted to create a background, and to do so, I had to remove all those tiny flowers! 

Once I drew and colored the flowers and grass. I adhered the flowers onto my pet (again) and then adhered her onto my new background. I found a cute hedgehog quote on Pinterest, but then thought to  add the "disclaimer" at the bottom. It reads, "not really. I walked thru the flowers, got scared and came out this way." Those quills are pointy and sticky, aren't they?!

You can find at the Scribbles Design Store HERE. It is actually a FREEBIE at the moment, and is called F#188 Dust Bunny. This artwork is a page in my Art Journal. I really like her, and shall name her Dusty.

Thursday, February 9, 2023

Be your Own Version of Beautiful

 

Let me introduce you to my very fashionable friend, Lucy. She is her own woman female, uh, gastropod. She doesn't follow Fashion. She IS fashion. And she insists on standing out in a crowd.

Lucy is a digital image from Scribbles Designs (the image is not called Lucy, that's my pet name for her). After printing and coloring the image with my Copics, I dug through my stash of sequins. It's a good thing Lucy and I are friends, because adhering each tiny sequin to her fabulous ensemble was pain-staking work. I even gave her earrings with a few sequins. Her dress was created from paper doilies, and her necklace is a piece of leftover trim.

I wanted her to stand out as well, so I adhered her using dimensional tape. She is walking sliming (?) her way up the path of positivity, which I created with floral stuff and a couple roses. Speaking of the Path of Positivity, their challenge this month is to create something inspired by Fashion. I hope my canvas inspires you to enter their challenge. In the meantime, have fun crafting!

Challenges I am Entering:

Critter Crazy - AG/with a Critter
Arty Divas - Anything Goes
Classic Design - Anything Goes
Crafters' Cafe - Colors of the Rainbow
Your Scrapbook Place - Anything Goes

Tuesday, February 7, 2023

Let's Mix It Up!

 

I can't keep my art journal closed. I keep thinking of things I want to draw, pages I want to create, doddles I want to meditate on. So of course today I want to show you my newest page. First, I doodled a bookcase and filled it with books I love to read. I have five real bookcases in my house, and they're filled to the brim.

So after I titled the books, I doodled around them. Then I wanted to say what I was feeling about the doodling, that I LOVE words in all their forms, shapes and conjugations. To enhance the subject, I created a couple bookmarks and added them to the page, as well as ripping parts of pages from magazines to add even more words LOL

If you want to know more about me, zoom in to the book titles. You may be surprised...

Sunday, February 5, 2023

My New Art Journal

 I broke down and bought a new art journal, as my last one was on its last blank pages. And the new one is HUGE, 9x12! Since there are only a few pages I've used, I thought you might want to take a peek. When I get a new journal, I give it a fresh new look. The cover is simply a piece of designer paper, bordered with washi tape and just one artsy quote, "Creative minds are rarely tidy".

I decided to completely cover the inside cover with Art and Creativity quotes from Pinterest. Some of my favorites are adhered to it, along with washi tape borders. 

I started the first page at the end of January and decided I would date my pages, and occasionally write a short note on the why, what and how I felt at the time of the crime drawing. I used a small tag as my inspiration and colored it with a teal Copic.

Here I drew intersecting squares and then filled them with various designs, trying some I had not drawn before now. 

I'm not that good at creating Mandalas, probably because I don't use rulers, nor do I have a compass. After my two colliding circles were filled in, they looked lonely on the page, so I surrounded them with flowers. 

And next is the reason I wanted to "show off" my new journal (if you've read all the way down to here). The page below was inspired by Pinterest. It uses watercolors and was supposed to make these beautiful spheres of color mixing into each other. Mine didn't play nice. In fact, it was a "fail". But fails are what teach us, make a stronger and remind us that nothing in life is perfect, nor should it go exactly to our own plans. I wanted to show you my failed drawing. I decided to take pen to it and get some Zen doodling in it. It's not my fave page, of course, but not every page can be a favorite!

Keep crafting and have fun. That's why we do it, right?! 

Friday, February 3, 2023

Here There Be Dragons


My cousin and partner in art crimes came over this week and brought a gift. She had rescued 2 dragon figures from the trash (in her home) and we each started painting one. Mine had been painted already by her daughter, so it got a new coat of white Gesso before beginning.

My fave colors are in the teal/aqua line, so I used both as a base and to add dimension.  The wings got a base coat of green, then swiped with the blues. I used a sponge to lightly over the wings and scales with gold paint. His claws, beak, horns and the ridge on his back are pure gold (paint).

After spraying it with Glimmer Mist (hopefully more dimension), I finished her off with a coat of gloss varnish. She stands about 6 inches and her name is Gwynlyn of Pern (for all you dragon-lovers of the books by Anne McCaffrey. Personally, I like her Crystal Singer trilogy best of all.

Time to look in my stash for more items to paint. I'm in a painting mood this week! Keep crafting!


Wednesday, February 1, 2023

It Didn't Move So I Painted It

 

The title of my post is my mantra, "if it doesn't move, I can paint it" That's why my switch plates and outlet covers are all painted, but my dog is still a creamy white (she moves). Since Covid, I've also painted my back door, my deck, coasters, flower pots, and a kajillion other inanimate objects in my house and from my garage.

Today's project features a raw wood-carved animal that I spied on the bottom shelf of a thrift store. Lord knows why I bought it. I have so many items to use, and projects are always stirring around in my head. But I think she winked at me while I stooped down to pick her up. She was half-price, which is always a bonus for me and my wallet.

After adding Gesso and giving her a gleaming white base, I decided to go whimsical with her. I've had a lot of success selling animal figures that I "renew" with paints and my imagination. I gave her (by the way, after much thought I decided she was a llama) a pastel purple base. From there I used a stencil and gave her designs on the front of her neck. 

She's wearing a rug of multi-colors, painted with acrylics and my Posca paint markers. There are   patches to give the illusion of a stuffed animal. The rest of her neck displays a colorful rainbow. Her head is raised high, but she is not snooty. She stands tall as a proud woman female animal. 

She's not heavy enough to be a doorstop, which is what my other painted animal figures became, but she makes an interesting silhouette in my front windows. I like it, so I'll continue to be on the prowl for other large animals to paint.

I'm in the mood to paint so that's it for today. Happy crafting!