More art journal pages

Have been enjoying the creation of more art journal pages.

Some work in February 2012

These are some of the pages that may be finised. I say 'may be finished' because very often I revisit pages I think I've finished, some time later and add more detailing or words - whatever appeals to me at the time.

The first is a double page spread on my Top 10 Pet Hates. I'm surprised that I listed "taps left running" at No 10 as it's actually is much nearer the top of my list than that - probably my No 3.



This next page was painted over a page of writing about how I felt on a certain day regarding what had happened to my health. Cancer does change your life forever, but not everything is negative.



The final piece was inspired by Violette and an exercise from her wonderful book Journal Bliss.



It's a piece I keep coming back to as I'm really not sure it's finished. It seems to be crying out for something ... a border perhaps?

I've also been doing more work inspired by the wonderful Adrianna Almanza - who gives me so much joy with the work that she creates. These pieces are inspired by her big eyed dolls. Please may I ask that if anyone copies her style (as I see so many people doing with Ady's work, and with that of Suzi Blu's work, that they respect the artist that inspired them and always reference back to those that deserve some credit).

Another Lifebook Moment

The next Lifebook exercise was brought to us by Bonnie Rose Bryan. It was about Harmony - the Dark and Light Goddesses within us. It is important to understand that it’s not about good and bad, right and wrong – it’s more about the yin and yang the opposing opposites of our soul light – the forces that drive our passions in life. Think of it as the Sun and Moon of our character. We were asked to pick Goddesses to represent our personal qualities, beliefs or activities that represent us. It took me a long time to decide upon the two characters that would represent the yin and yang in my life but in the end I went back to my Celtic pagan roots – the May Day Maid of Beltane to represent the eternal hope that I feel exists in me, the renewal, the healing, persistent part of me that won’t give up. The other side of me is the All Hallows Crone. The Crone is seen by many as a derogatory term for an elderly lady. Here I’m using the word Crone in its true sense. In Pagan lore, the image of the older woman is positive and powerful, the ones who are mistresses of witchcraft and magic, keepers of the secrets of life and death, such as the Celtic Anu. I am not strictly a pagan but I like the philosophy of revering nature, protecting our planet and drawing upon the earth energy to sustain us. I also like to uphold the idea of the sacred feminine, the power and inherent strength of the female (most religions/belief systems do not value the feminine at all). The Crone represents knowledge and drawing on the actual experience of life to survive. Thank you Bonnie for a really thought provoking and exciting class.

Encaustic cards for charity

I decided to make another batch of cards for cancer research tonight. I haven't played with wax for a while so I thought I'd get the iron out and do some encaustic ones. Here's the result ...

A quiet corner of the craft room

Some of you may already know about my butterfly obsession well now I have a new one ... I think the two combine rather nicely, don't you?

Postcard No 3, France ... and a decision ...

Hi there folks. Well here's my postcard for France (I'm only doing them each fortnight although that may change now). I've also decided to write my story at the end when all my postcards have been created. This is because I was fretting too much about the story and that was making me shy away from actually creating the postcard - which seems silly. So I've decided I shall try and do as many of the postcards as I can and then fill in my story later, or when something worth developing comes to me, rather than trying to force a story that I'm not happy with. Anyway, this postcard shows one of the defining images of France, the French flag and on the white stripe La Tour d'Eiffel or Eiffel Tower as it's known in English. Either side on the red and blue stripes are as many famous french painters as I could fit on there. So, as they say, Vive la France ...


It provided me with the perfect opportunity to explore, in more depth, what we'd been talking about in my art class a few weeks ago - Pointoillism, as developed by Georges Seurat. I've decided I quite like it, especially the brightly coloured paintings by Paul Signac. I'm loving this art journey of discovery.