When Inspiration Hits!

The latest challenge for the 12 X 12 pieces is the theme - OPPOSITES. You might think that would be an easy one, right? Perhaps so. However, I struggled with it for weeks now and was just not coming up with something that excited me.


Until today. At my wit's end, I decided to google OPPOSITES just to see what might show up....maybe an idea to work from...or maybe even inspiration! One of the first selections was a list of opposites. Well....that sounded promising!! And sure enough, the light dawned, birds sang, euphoria filled the studio!!!

I decided to use a few of the opposites in one art piece!! Well....when I started looking and thinking, I came up with more than a few.

So here it is...I had a black and white piece I did for a project a couple of years ago. I started with that (the Picasso-esque man and woman in the woven textile background. Then I cut and added the strips for the left side and top.

FOURTEEN OPPOSITES

Yep...you read it correctly!!! There are actually 14 opposites in this one piece. Can you find all of them? I'll get you started....one of them is Black/White. The other 13 are up to you to find. That's why I put it on this post as a large photo. Some of the opposites are perhaps not as easily seen as others. A couple of them are a bit subtle. But they are all visible!! One I ditched (natural/synthetic) because it would not be discernable in a photo.

Good luck! I'll publish the list on November 1 so you can check your list!

Well....it's been a while!

Life went off the rails big time.  Getting back to earth now.  This is the second piece in the series of three that I did earlier this summer.  The one previously posted was the first one - the girl in the canoe.  This is the second.  It is all done in commercial batiks.  The subject is our granddaughter. This is from one of my favorite photos of her as she is looking up at the sky with the sun shining on her face. Since her favorite color is purple....there is a lot of purple used in her portrait.  Just finished the binding today.

Now onto the next one after a slight (oh at least I HOPE it will be slight) break.

Back to FACES Journal

At long last (and now that I had some pages ready to work on) I came back to work on my Faces Journal. 

To begin, I had done page 3 months ago and just never posted it so that will be the first photo for today.  I had decided that I didn't want to take classes or anything to learn to draw faces....just planned on a lot of trial and error.  OK....you can quit laughing now! It made sense at the time.  So here are a few examples from various drawing instructions that I planned NOT to use!  Don't worry....I moved on from there.

Faces Journal - page 3

Then somewhere I found this free series on How To Draw Faces. It made it all look so easy I decided it just MIGHT be worth looking at. Keep in mind this is not an exhaustive study but rather a beginning place. Which is just where I am.  The first lesson was on how to draw eyes. So, that is where I began my journey as a student.

One more caveat - I practice in my sketchbook to learn to get better and better.  This journal is just to chronicle my journey....NOT to be a place to draw perfect eyes. So, don't judge my efforts by the drawings in this journal. I read a quote from a mixed media artist in the CPS newsletter just this morning.

“Journal style drawing is meant to be fresh and casual. It's meant to capture a specific time—you do it and then turn the page.” Jane LaFazio

That is where I'm at currently. So here are pages 4 and 5 on Eyes - fresh and casual

Faces Journal - pages 4 and 5

Faces Journal - pages 4 and 5 - details

So...am I on a roll again?  We'll see.  I do have pages 6 and 7 prepped so who knows when the muse will strike!

Journal January 2011 - Days 15 and 19

I never did find the photos I was looking for so I went ahead and did Day 15 with generic faces.  The prompt was about stories of women.  I wanted to do the story of my heritage.  My heritage is a long line of very strong women. Not perfect mind you.....but strong and mostly independent! I figure part of the strength I get to jump in and try new things I've never done before is from these women.  Chosen out of many are my great-aunt-Orvie (a solo missionary to Burma when she was only 17), my great-grandmother Mary Davis (who traveled to Texas in a covered wagon from Missouri), my maternal grandmother Inez Skinner (who when deserted by an alcoholic husband raised three kids on $12/week - and went on to marry a wonderful man!!), my fraternal grandmother Ocie Lambright (although I disagreed with what she believed, sacrificed so much to stand up for and live by her beliefs), and my mother Dean Guest (left a fine life to head off with my dad to Africa as a missionary with only a one-way ticket).  Those are only single examples of the strength that they have lived by. There is so  much more.  There are other un-named faces going back before these women.  Strong women don't spring from the dirt, so I figure there must have been other strong women that were examples for these women in my life.  And I was privileged to know all of the ones listed.  Now...I can only hope to carry on that heritage to my grand-daughters and make those in my past proud.

Journal January 2011 - Day 15 - Strong Women - My Heritage



Day 19's prompt is Toy Talisman - a favorite toy from our childhood. Well, try as I might I couldn't think of one! No really!  But what DID come to mind is all my books. It all started when I memorized (and recited ad nauseum so I hear tell) all the nursery rhymes I could get my little 2-year-old hands on.  Even slept with all of them.  Then it was Dr. Seuss, then Nancy Drew throughout my early school years. That is when my love of the mystery was born! After that I found Agatha Christie!! Amazing. Then as an adult a friend recommended Anne Perry. Another wonderful mystery writer.  Then another friend introduced me to Diana Gabaldon. Not much of a reader of fantasy books but this series is so steeped in history that I fell in love with it! Today, as a voracious reader...I can look back to the beginning and see that my first love of books began at a very early age and I have enjoyed many adventures through these and so many others.

Journal January 2011 - Day 19 - Books



Journal January 2011 - Day 14

Mirror, Mirror! I chose to consider the mirror in my mind instead of the physical mirror reflection. The mind image is the one that has more of an impact on my art.  Most days now I see the image of a colorful, playful, creative, imaginative, talented artist. But, there are still days when the "other" image creeps in. That image is pale, disjointed and dysfunctional. Boxed in by the long felt demand to be "perfect", to "perform". I have gotten better at ignoring her and brushing her to the side...but there are still times.....

I've recently been learning even more about the joy of just playing and letting art "happen".  It is so much more rewarding and enjoyable!! I am choosing to see more and more of the creative, playful side that I am beginning to recognize as the REAL me!

Mirror, Mirror - Knowing Who You Are



Journal January 2011 - Day 12

Today was a very weird kind of journaling experience. I've been trying to just let it go and do whatever comes to mind or hand.  Not trying to prove anything to anyone -- just having fun and seeing where it takes me. I started with the face and it turned out really sad and when my aquapen ran it looked like tears...so I let it be tears.  It's been that kind of week so it just came out.  Not too sure where the dead stick-figure came from (perhaps because being sick for what is now 3 weeks and no sign of an end - well, let's just say there are days that the final option is not all that bad!!  LOL!!) Since the prompt for this day was Daily Detritus I challenged myself to work with the bits and pieces from recent other works that were within my reach on the island. I have been involved in many different projects until recently so there were many to choose from but it might have made it all seem just a bit disjointed.  Oh well, that is also my life so I guess that makes this an excellent page!  And here it is....

Journal January 2011 - Day 12 - Daily Detritus

Journal January 2011 - days 3 and 4

Journaling using the zebra as a design element has proven to be very interesting.  I hope to have the link button on my blog soon.  My techie muse has vanished on this one!

Day 3 - Lino print of zebra elements

I had some lino product that I had never tried.  Just small pieces to try out so this project was perfect for that.  Let's just say that if I had used this product for my first lino cut....I would have NEVER made a second!  But I struggled through and completed the project the way I liked it.



Day 4 - Draw a face that has zebra elements

On day 3 I was thinking of how the wrinkles on my face are similar to the zebra stripes.  That lead to the inspiration for today's journal page.

This is the full page "When Did I Grow Old?"

The "old" side - The way I look on the outside

The "young" side - The way I FEEL on the inside.  I CHOOSE to live HERE!



Faces Art Journal - page 2

My goodness this is fun!  Just completed page 2 in my Faces Art Journal.  Originally I had planned to do page 2 and 3. But I found that I really wanted the third face drawing and the original picture that I was working from on the same page.  So...here it is! 

The quote on the bottom of the page says: "The face is the index of the mind." -- Proverb

Faces Journal - page 2

Faces Journal - page 2 (detail)

Face number 3

OK, here he is....my third attempt at drawing the face depicted by a Roman statue.  He is still not exactly right but I'm happy with him since he is just the third face I've ever drawn....in my whole life!  He's getting closer to the original picture (which I now feel OK posting for comparison).  The shape of the head is not quite right and something else that I can't put my finger on.  The original seems older somehow.  So, I'm just envisioning this Roman as a younger man....yeh....that's it!!!!!  LOL!

Oh well, you can make your own judgement I'm sure.

Roman Statue - Face 3 (left is the original and right is my drawing - as if you couldn't tell the difference!)

You at least have to admit that this one is better than the two posted a month ago on August 18!!  So, now I'm ready to put these pictures in my Faces Journal. Pages 2 and 3 are prepped and after these are in the journal I'll post those two pages.  Have to admit....this is really exciting!