On my art table today

A couple of weeks ago i received an envelope with this flyer “Do you Doodle?” and three pieces of cardboard from the Surrey Hospice Society. I am not sure how they got my address but of course I’ll participate. I’m having some problems working on the cardboard – it doesn’t take pencil crayons and watercolours too well.  Maybe when i start playing with micron pens I’ll have better luck!  After going to the Hospice societies website i see that they have asked celebrities, artists, politicians and Sports Stars to create amazing doodles that will be auctioned off during an event.

Since Mr. G and I live in a small magic cottage we don’t have tons of storage space. So I thought it might be nice to have a face cloth towel caddy to mount on the wall.  I began drawing up some ideas (I’d show you the sketches only Mr. G already threw them out ) and gave Mr. G a couple of options.  As always he tends to create something even fancier than i had drawn. I’m very happy with the results.  It’s fun to collaborate with Mr. G – he can pretty much make anything i can envision out of wood!  If you’d like to view two videos where Mr. G and i collaborate on a sketch of a crow caddy i came up with check this out:

Art Tool Caddy part one

Art Tool Caddy part two

The project was featured in Studios Magazine (Spring 2010)  a couple of years ago. It was a project focused on recycling – the wood and tin cans are all discards.

That’s it for today – i plan on going to a coffee shop while the housecleaners come today to work some more on my doodle/creation for the Hospice Society.

See you all tomorrow!

This morning i was assembling some props to bring along to a photo shoot taking place in the forest nearby later today. I have a pair of buckskin boots, leopard print scarf, old paint brushes and a suitcase with lettering on it.  I like what the suitcase says:

Journey

we journey from life to life overflowing with words flutters yearnings hearths

we turn corners cross thresholds start anew rekindling dreams left behind by others

I didn’t create this suitcase – it was part of the Journey exhibition at the Surrey Art Gallery i was involved in about 10 years ago. They had these cool suitcases with stories/poetry written all over them hanging from the ceiling. At the end of the exhibition the gallery was giving the suitcases away and i chose this one.  It’s been in my living room ever since. You’re probably surprised that it’s beige however i really was moved by the poem on it.

My exhibition was an installation – a makeshift room which had my Rockin’ Moroccan Door as the focal point.  I also had a Moroccan Poof, mosaic mirror, painted revamped old suitcase and an art journal.  It was such a fun exhibit!

Here is the Moroccan Door – the mirror mosaic was made with broken mirrors found at the side of the road during “recycle days”. Peeking behind the door is a definitely younger, slimmer Violette .

So you Say You Can’t draw: An Art Journaling Event Hosted by Quinn McDonald

There is still time to sign up for Quinn McDonalds FREE webinar tomorrow – So you Say you Can’t Draw: An Art Journaling Event

I plan on attending are you?  Quinn is a creativity coach – you’ve probably read some of her helpful articles in paper arts magazines.  In this webinar Quinn will demonstrate several techniques featured in her book Raw Art Journaling.

I’m sure it will be a fascinating event.  I can’t wait!  Hope to see you there .

I FINALLY finished making the coffee table revamp video!  I’m so happy to have changed up the dirty, tatty pink fun fur with juicy magenta fur!  I created this table about 12 years ago i think and it’s held up pretty well because of the resin over the painting.  What i did was create an acrylic painting and then i poured two part resin over top.  You have to do this outside as it’s pretty toxic – make sure to wear gloves too!  The table has held up to hot tea pots and coffee cups.  I think creating a table such as this really highlights your personality!

I hope you enjoy the video!

Artistically Speaking Radio Show

I have fun chatting with Rebecca Parsons of Artistically Speaking yesterday.  Thank you so much Rebecca – i learned a few things about you too! We spoke about the Sketchbook Challenge and how what makes you “freaky” is what makes you so special!   Congrats to Betty Ann who won a copy of my book Journal Bliss! You can listen to the replay here:

I wanted to share this fabulous article written about Diana Trout called Making a Splash with Art. I learned some new things about Diana – for example she was discovered by the folks at North Light books and asked to write a book!  How wonderful is that?  I think you’ll enjoy learning more about this fascinating artist and just how many creative activities she’s involved in!  Congrats Diana on the lovely piece.

See you all tomorrow – hope you had a fabulous weekend.  We were so lucky to have had a sunny weekend!  Hooray!

About 12 years ago i made this table – or rather revamped a table from Ikea.  On a piece of plywood i created a whimsical painting, poured resin over it, adhered it to the table top and added fun fur detailing.

Above all else be kind.  “Namaste” graces the bottom of the painting.

The pale pink fun fur has become pretty grungy and badly in need of a fix up so I’m going to add a brighter new fun fur trim.  Some of the flat bottomed marbles have fallen off and need replacing. 

I’ll be creating a short YouTube video of the revamp. 

Pretty much everything i do is like art journaling – only often it is “off the page” – like this table and the painted doors in my home or the writing on the walls.  You don’t have to limit your art journaling to your journal. Why not go off the page?  If you carry a briefcase why not paint and journal that?  You can incorporate many layers, words, old book pages and more to personalize your case.

Here is my Moroccan door – it has mirror mosaic detailing on the top (from dumpster days) and at the bottom gems are glued on…….

The words are: There are Diamonds in your own backyard.

I know many people are reticent about painting a door (good grief….think of the resale value?) or a kitchen cupboard but the way i see it you can always replace your painted door with a plain door and take your masterpiece with you if you move. It’s a win-win situation. Why not surround yourself with inspiration every day?

If you do paint a door i would love to see the results!

You may have seen this caddy i created a while back with recycled items – discarded plastic wine glass, sour cream tub, pop tin and old wooden bowl.  Can you imagine how fun it would be filled up with Easter Eggs and Jelly beans? Well over at Celebrate Green i show you how to create your own caddy with a tutorial!  Thank you Lynn for posting my project and for the good work that you and your daughter have been doing educating as all about the importance of recycling and for putting “meaning in the greening”! 

This is what the blog says about Lynn:

Lynn cares about what happens to her grandchildren and future generations of her family, but also, like most moms, she is concerned about the survival of all children and of the planet. Working with her daughter to make a difference by encouraging people to celebrate green is tremendously rewarding.

Together, Corey and Lynn are opening the eyes of people around the world to the importance of re-visiting traditions in the face of environmental challenges, of re-thinking how they celebrate, and of putting meaning in the greening.

I met Lynn years ago when i created a caricature of her for her coaching business.  I love how Lynn has re-invented herself!

While you are at Celebrate Green you can check out Lynn and Corey’s book!

ARTinspiration Studio

Suzana over at ARTinspiration Studio for posting pictures of my pendant and goodies she bought!  Thank you Suzana!  She calls her amulet her ARTinspiration Amulet – I believe she is using the pendant as her touchstone for her latest venture!  On the back of the pendant it says “Follow your Bliss” – which is precisely what Suzana is doing!  Hooray!

Women and Words Conference

I just wanted to give you all the heads up on a Conference coming up soon that I’ll be presenting at – it’s called the Women and Words Conference.  This is going to be AWESOME!  If you love to write, would like to get published one day – this is the conference for you!  You’ll receive strategies, tips, tools, inspiration to help you realize your writing and publishing dreams! The Conference is coming up soon – April 29th and 30th so register soon to secure your spot! I would love to see a friendly face in the audience as i sketch away my ideas………that’s right – you heard me – i’ll be sketching away since i don’t like to just stand there and speak.

Well that’s it for now – I’ll chat with you tomorrow!

Before i begin to do a “show and tell” about my Artists Date I’ll like to congratulate Natasha of Finding Joy – she’s the winner of my April Giveaway!  Congratulations Natasha!  Please e-mail me and I’ll send off your goodies to you – all the way to New Zealand! 

A Great Big Thank you and much Gratitude to Jennifer Hutchins for the lovely interview she did today! Jennifer is one of the presenters of 21 Secrets Workshop.  We are having lots of fun over at the Art Journaling Playground!

On Friday i went on an artist’s date with two artist friends – Jenny and Kym (of Blissartworks).  We met up in Fairhaven – an awesome quaint village (part of Bellingham) Washington.  I live in B.C. and the girls live in Seattle Washington so we thought this area would be a nice place to meet up in the middle.  I met Kym and Jenny at Journalfest – they are the sweetest people you could ever hope to meet!

Kym and Jenny

We met at the Rustic Coffee bar

I was over an hour early since “google maps” told me it would take 1 1/2 hours to get there….NOT!  Anyways it gave me an opportunity to take pictures of signs and also begin drawing in my new Strathmore Journal. As you can see i had a blueberry/white chocolate scone – yummy!

After everyone grabbed a coffee and treat we settled down and had a good old fashioned “Show and tell”!  It was such fun to share what we have all been up to. You can see my little right brained business plan baby board book and also Kym’s Bliss Blossoms – she’s coated them in yummy encaustic – they reminded me of Peek frean cookies i used to love when i was a kid.  They had a thin coating of icing on them, similar to Kym’s Bliss Blossoms!

Jenny Shared a lovely journal she created after attending Juliana Cole’s retreat (i can’t recall the name of it).  They altered an existing book. The results were amazing – gorgeous textured pages, foldouts and all kinds of wonderful surprises!

Jenny holding up her Journal.

Kym shared her journal with Juicy entries – i really got a chuckle out of this page – Kym’s a pharmacist and one of her pet peeves is grumpy clients. So she was able to vent some of her frustrations onto the page!

After coffee we went window shopping (well we went inside too but were not allowed to take pictures).

We went into Village Books – a fabulous bookstore!  I bought Tracy Bunker’s book “The Art Journal Workshop”.  I am so excited to delve into it – it also has a DVD!  How cool is that?

Jenny was busy writing down ideas that we were brainstorming while walking and chatting.  She was also writing down the names of artists that we were inspired by – so many of the shops were art related shops! Never go without a notebook to capture your ideas and inspirations!

We all had a yummy crepe at one of the fine restaurants.

I was so excited to find the restaurant had Madeleine cookies!  They remind me of when i was 17 and my family visited relatives in France. Great memories!

the group of us! Thanks ladies – i had fun!