Portland Trip in Selfy Portraits

On the plane to Portland...Paige's first plane ride...so exciting!

In Grandma and Grandpa's new car...a cool little Kia Sorento.

Walking in the Pearl District...very cool! 

Trolly transportation around town.

Breathtaking Multnomah Falls.

 

Crown Point overlooking the Columbia River Gorge.

And that's a small snapshot of our trip to Portland. 

Collaboration :: Part 3

The next layer on our Collaboration painting (see previous layers here and here) was to do some writing. We used pencil, marker, dip pen with black and white ink and we did some dripping. I love drips and once again...super fun layer especially since my hands were not covered in glue this time!

Collaboration :: Part 2

The next layer of our Collaborative Painting was collage (see the first layers here). We glued all kinds of stuff down any which way. We included dictionary pages, sewing patterns, decorative papers, paper napkins, vellum quotes, random paper scraps, magazine photos and words, tags, die cuts...you name it. This is a large canvas (30" H x 40"W) so each layer takes a bit of time to complete. Every step of the process has been Paige's favorite...saying "This is so much fun." I totally agree with her...it is so much fun!!!

Life Book :: Week 10 & 11

Week 10 of Life Book was about Heart Connections. 

Each scroll in the heart above lists someone or something I am grateful for.  

This cute little creature was another Mitsi B lesson for Week 11 of Life Book called 

The Good, Bad and Ugly. She represents the Ugly 

side of me. Under the paint are all the ugly things about myself I would like to change. 

Collaboration :: Part 1

This summer my daughter, Paige and I started a collaborative painting. We took an old canvas that had a poster glued onto it and ripped it off. Some of the poster was left behind for texture. Next we painted a layer of warm colors with acrylic craft paint and let it dry. Then a layer of cool colors. This step was really fun for both of us because it didn't matter what we did since we knew it would be covered up. We turned the canvas several times while painting to even out our unique painting styles throughout the canvas. After each layer we would photograph and hang the canvas back in its original location over the fireplace. Each time it would look like a new piece of beautiful abstract art.

Art Journal #2 :: Finished

The first entry in this journal is dated November 22, 2010 - Its taken almost 3 years to finish this one. As you can imagine, I'm not a consistent journaler...once or twice a week or even once a month, depending on when the mood strikes, when I can find the time or when I have something to say. But regardless, it's done!

Somethings I learned along the way...the pages in this journal were too thin, even with gesso applied to both sides. Adding decorative papers to the page helped make them sturdier, but water made them warp terribly.  I also found it difficult to experiment with different art techniques because of the thinness. The pages were just a tad bit too small as well. Also the plain paper soaked up the paint so fast it was difficult to paint on them...definitely need to be primed first. Many times someone would be interested in what I was doing, but I was fearful that when thumbing through the pages, they would see something I would rather they didn't. They were more curious about the artwork and the process, but it still made me uncomfortable. Going forward I need to consider ways to record my thoughts yet still keep them private.

I still feel like I don't have a consistent process when it comes to art journaling. I go about it all willy-nilly, with no recognizable style or consistent anything. I'm not really even sure what my art journaling goals are, I just know I need to keep chugging along, trying new things and making new discoveries along the way.