Warming up

The weather is starting to warm up here.  We have had a couple of very warm days, but it will still be cold on and off until Christmas.  But that is not the reason for the title of the post.  It is because I have been doing a lot of warming up collages and bits.  Here are a few.

And, yes, I know there is a spelling mistake in the last one.  These are just warm ups, not real pages, and even if they were - perfection is overrated.

And, speaking of imperfection, this journal page is a great example.  I wrote the writing with a stick dipped in ink!  It was inspired by the Art Journal Wisdom free course running over at Dirty Footprint Studios.  It is nearly finished, but you can scroll back to the earlier days.
Today was my quilting day, so I have been out gassbagging most of the day, but it is also T for Tuesday over at Elizabeth's blog, where she is celebrating 30 paintings in 30 days!, so here is a little  T-spiration for you from my journal!

Happy creating!

another day

Here's a peek at my morning's work today.

The start of a new textile collage.  Some of you may remember I put together a fabric collage a day earlier in the year and this is what my intentions are with them.  I have more than 100 backgrounds.  This one which has a bit of free motion scribble, i will now embellish with thread and beads.

My two warm up for today.  The one on the left is using 5 prompt cards and the one on the right is using the garbage that is on my desk!

And my Art journal page for today.
I am trying to just be working.
One of the things I am constantly telling my students is that not every thing you do has to be a masterpiece.  None of the great artists just produced high art every time they touched a brush. They all did a lot of learning in sketchbooks and personal papers.  To be a good artist, you need to remember this and concentrate on the learning process rather than the final masterpiece.
Often people see me just draw or sketch with out any practice, but behind that there are pages and years of practice.  I do not believe art is something that is an innate talent, instead, it is something that is learnt and like any skill - if you love it then you will practice and learn and improve.  It is no different to, say embroidery or sewing.  Why should it be?

I have this one on my wall!
Happy Creating!

Being Busy

I have been busy.  but the bulk of what I have been doing is mixed media art.  I have got a couple of textile pieces going, but they're not finished.
Here are a few of the bits and pieces I have done in the last few days.

This was a warm up collage.  I am trying to do one of these each day.

This was another warm up, using prompt cards from Painted Pages.  One of my favourite books.

This was the page I did after these warm ups and after my daily dose of nature/walk.
I have also still been sketching

This was a sketch of an orchid I saw a few days ago whilst I was walking in the bush.  They are called nodding greenhoods and they are a little late this year.

You can see them in this photo.  As you can see they are quite small, but there were lots!

Happy Creating!