Patterned papers

i have been busy making papers for collage. It is so much fun!

Some of the pages in the photo have already been used as you can see by the tearing in them.


Paivi has a tutorial on that. It was where I got the idea to spend some time with a blank mind and just get busy with my paints. So many things going on in my mind that I decided I needed something simpler and where I didn't need to think.
It is so easy.....  A watercolour background, doodles and more doodles and more paint or coloured pencils and then you have a wonderful paper to use for collages or wrap a present.

Stormy Sea

This month was the last one in Paivi's Imagine Monthly Spring course. It was all about stormy seas paintings. The technique as usual was liberating. I loved doing it. Paivi leads you through a journey within where you use your emotions to paint....I already enrolled in the same course for the Fall.

Sinking Sun

This is my new painting. It was done with watercolour, FW acrylic inks, pens and inks in various colours.

It all started with splashing watercolour on paper. When painting the background I didn't have any idea what it would be. Just that I wanted to use yellow.

After this stage I looked at it for quite sometime trying to see what I was going to do with it... I turned the paper around, looking on how I would use it. I started adding some colours at the bottom. I quite liked that purple blob and it reminded me of a spiral.

After adding some swirls and spirals and colours it started to remind me of the sun sinking in the sea in Summer. I love the way it colours the sea. Now to finish it, add some details, paint a little more the sky and do the sun.

Liberating

This way of starting a paint is really liberating.....

I learned with Paivi from Peony and Parakeet. You start with covering the page with doodles and then paint on top following the doodles or not. The good thing is that you don't have to think much, you just paint .... wonderful!

a couple more using this technique.

Playing

It is funny how this one came along. I started playing with watercolours and letting it drip down the paper. I used a lot of watercolours and I didn't know where it would take me. All of a sudden I saw some flowers taking shape. Got some acrylics and started painting, more like dabbing some paint on top of the watercolours. I used Golden acrylics and FW acrylic ink. 

HUmmmm this need a vase.... But I didn't want to put a proper vase there. It would look too heavy so why not some swirls and spirals? I love spirals.... Then a bit of shadows and there it is.....

Practicing

I have been practicing all I learned with Paivi at Liberated Artist.
This one below was worked in watercolours and acrylics.

It is so much fun when you have a background and then start coming with something out of the chaos you created.

...and the journey begins...

Some of my first art journal pages that were fun making them. There is a big difference between the last ones and the first ones.

This one below won first place in the January context at Wanderlust 2016. It was to make a page related to the sentence I wrote. It was done with acrylics, pens and a collage of magazine pieces.

I couldn't believe I won first prize. I was over the moon.

Then there was a prompt for Be Brave and here is my spread.

My text in it had more to do with letting it go. How to make the background with all sorts of different textures and to really let it go and not fight what your mind is saying.

So, the background has all sorts of different mediums, stencils, paint, modelling paste, collage... you name it and there it is...lol.

For the next one the prompt was What you see when you look in the mirror. Right, so "she who doesn't want to look old" decided to do one about her hippie years in the late 60's....ha that is old lol. But I had fun.

Those are a few of my spreads in art journaling. I will be posting more later.

Art Journaling

I love Art Journaling. I found that it really helps me in creating out of my soul. I have 3 art journals each one is for different purposes. The first I bought was a Strathmore Mixed Media book. I love it... and it is where I create whatever comes out of my hands. It is the feel good one. Then I have one that I bought for the Wanderlust course which is a big Dylusion book. The new one I have is for watercolours and also some mixed media, again a Strathmore Watercolour. Those Strathmore books are fantastic... love them. I also have a sketch book a small one made of cartridge paper. This one is for marks, sketches, experimenting with drawings etc.

Founding myself

Like I said on the previous post:

Then I found Paivi Eerola from Peony and Parakeet and I found myself....

Peony and Parakeet  is a wonderful site. Paivi Eerola, a finnish lady, is a wonderful teacher. Her teaching is very thorough and she shows you step by step how she achieves her beautiful paintings. Paivi has videos, step by step photos of her work and insights on her way of seeing art and how to start creating. I have already done 2 courses with her: Liberated Artist and Imagine MOnthly and I am eagerly awaiting for the Fall courses.

So, I have some paintings I did in the courses to show here. This was the first one I did in the Liberated Artist course.

The second one is called Reaching the Light.

Another one is called Bursting.

So from then on I couldn't stop. I found myself in my art.

What is going on

For a year and a half things haven't been so good for us. So, I decided that I would do what I like most and that is Creating and playing with my art.
I always loved art journaling but didn't know a thing of it. 
Then I started looking around the internet for courses to do and before I enrolled in any one I went to Youtube and looked for some videos on techniques used in art journaling. So, I bought a journal book and did a couple of pages. They are no so great but they are my first ones.
The very first one is Simple Pleasures:

This page was done using many things I learned from the videos.
Then I did the second one and I called it Good things:

After that I Watched Donna Downey's Inspiration Wednesday and I was hooked. But still there was something missing, so I enrolled in Wanderlust2016. Wanderlust is a one year course with videos every week showing different techniques by art journaling artists. it is a very good course the community is very friendly and Kasia and Jamie are very devoted to the course.

But there was still something missing there for me..... Then I found Paivi Eerola from Peony and Parakeet and I found myself....