My 52 Words Project

A few weeks ago I stumbled upon Leslie Ackman's 52 Words Challenge (see it here) just in time to start from the beginning. She posts an uplifting word each week to think about. I have chosen to create an art journal with one page for each word and just let myself PLAY. I'm using it to explore different art techniques and color combinations to continue my quest for finding my "STYLE." As hard as it is for me, I'm trying to work quickly not giving what I'm doing too much thought. The idea is to try new stuff and not get hung-up on creating a masterpiece. At the end of the 52 weeks, I'll have 52 words and my thoughts about them. Someone reading my art journal will get to know me just a little bit better and in the process I hope to know myself better too!

For Week One the word was GRATITUDE. I know I like blocks of color and muted colors for that matter. See my post on this discovery here. I created this page with uneven blocks, subtle details, a journaling area and hand painted text. It's funny, lately while I'm watching TV, I notice the artwork on the wall in the background. They often have contemporary paintings with blocks of color and simple shapes often with collage elements. I'm very drawn to them for their simplicity and color. That's probably why they use them, so as not to distract the viewer from what's going on in the show. Anyhow, I'm getting distracted!

Week Two word was BLISS. I couldn't really think of anything I consider Blissful, so I depicted just that...Bliss that is out of reach! I started out with watercolors and then moved on to acrylic craft paint...I consider watercolors very challenging and always end up with mud! To save time, cut hands from a magazine. This page was fun to create, however, didn't really try anything new or STYLE enhancing!

The third word was ORDER. I went back to the blocks of color and muted tones. I like this color palette and added a wash over the top to bring them down even more. Didn't add a lot of details here so I could stress the order I like in my life...no frills!

I hope you check out the 52 Words project and if you play along, I'd love to know!