LifeBook Week50: Colourful abstractions

Oh boy, Donna Downey's intuitive style painting lesson really got the better of me on LifeBook this week. If you follow my blog, you'll know that I've always struggled with this type of work. My results always fall miserably short of my expectations. But perhaps that's the problem - I go into these projects with specific expectations instead of letting them emerge of their own accord.

I did 5 (five!) versions of this lesson until I was reasonably satisfied with it. Either the colours weren't right, or the composition wasn't appealing. Luckily, I used the same piece of watercolour paper, so I didn't lose anything other than a bit of paint and my confidence, LOL! I won't bore you with my fails - I'll just show you the final version, which I have deemed marginally acceptable. Or perhaps I just ran out of steam, LOL!

I started out with a crazy colourful background. The photo actually shows the background for Fail #4, but my final page was very similar, as I liked these colours.

Next, I sketched some shapes with a china marker and painted over the negative space with gesso, isolating some of the more interesting areas from the background. This is actually a simplified version of Donna's lesson. After this I thought I needed a little more oomph, so I outlined the shapes with stickles. My husband thinks they look like Christmas baubles - which wasn't my intention but I can live with that! I'm actually beginning to quite like it now and will not be too ashamed to include this page in my LifeBook. You'll be the judge!

I can't believe we're nearing the end of the year!

I'd better start thinking about how I'm going to bind my LifeBook!

WOYWW #392: A failed painting, things to alter and Oreo stuck on the roof

Good morning peeps! I wasn't going to take part in WOYWW this week as I didn't have much to show you, but then I changed my mind in the last minute. Lucky I snapped a photo of my desk yesterday, just in case. It looks like it was taken at night, but it was actually in the middle of the day. I was working on a LifeBook page, but I think I'll have to redo it as it doesn't look anything like the lesson. I like some parts of it but not the whole composition. I'll show it to you anyway.

This is the bit that I like

Let's bling it up!

This composition doesn't really work for me

It looked a bit barren, so I tried to bling it up with some string and stickles, but I'm not sure it worked LOL. It reminds me of jewels. I added the string to  make a connection between the elements, but I don't think it helped much. I'll have another go at this lesson later today. Other than that, I can show you a few things I'm planning to alter: a large coffee jar, two smaller jars, one of those cardboard drums that are great for holding your pens and pencils, and a small wooden storage unit I picked up on clearance at B&Q. I'm most excited about this latter one, and have been thinking about what to do with it, but I'm not sure yet. There are just too many possibilities! Let me know if you have any suggestions! I'm thinking of doing a printer's tray style alteration. 

Things to alter

Oreo wasn't going to be featured on my blog today, but in the last minute the opportunity presented itself. When he goes outside, somehow he manages to get on the conservatory roof - we're not sure how! Luckily, we have a bathroom window over the roof, otherwise he would be stuck as he cannot come down. Here he is walking on the roof, waiting to be let in just a few minutes ago:

And here he is trying to get in. It's very tricky when the roof is slippery:

Thank you all for visiting! 

I know it's a hassle for some of you to sign into Google to comment but

I want you to know that I appreciate the effort and I always try to return every visit!

LifeBook Week49: Be Brave (painting on cardboard)

We're nearing the end of the year and thus the end of LifeBook 2016! It went so incredibly fast! But Tam's still got a few more lessons for us in store. This one was taught by Jenny Grant, who brought us the fantastic Inner Wizard page earlier this year. Her second lesson was awesome as well. It's a form of intuitive painting on a large piece of scrap cardboard, titled 'Be Brave'. We all know that it's so much easier to be brave on scrap materials than in an expensive journal, so I tried to let go of my inhibitions. I documented my process in the photos below:

Large piece of cardboard roughly gessoed with a pallette knife

Charcoal scribbles and collage pieces added plus more gesso on top

Fluid acrylics and inks added

At this point, we were encouraged to explore interesting areas of the surface to develop further and then cut the cardboard into smaller pieces. As my cardboard wasn't that big to start with (about 13" X 20"), I decided to keep it in one piece, but I did take photos of smaller areas, which you can see below. The tissue paper created some amazing textures!

At this point, I turned my cardboard on its side and sketched a rough composition with white charcoal, which I then outlined with white ink, sprayed with water and let it drip. This didn't give me the contrast I was looking for, so I outlined the shapes with some black ink as well with a fineline applicator. I added some lines and splatters with acrylic paint to complete the painting. This must be the biggest piece I've ever worked on so far. Close up, you can still see all the underlying textures.

I think that's enough photos for now LOL! I really enjoyed this process and it brought me a step closer to understanding the intuitive and brave painting concept. I think I will make a print of this piece so I can still include it in my bound LifeBook at the end of the year. 

Happy creating!

WOYWW #391: Paint on fabric

Hello on the coldest morning in the UK this year! Brrrr, it's so chilly out there! There's frost everywhere I can see. On days like this, I'm so glad I don't have to go out to work, and I'm not even going to feel guilty about it. I used to dread having to scrape ice off the car and then stop every 50 meters because the windows kept misting up. I really don't miss that! I'm actually quite busy today with housework, and a Tesco delivery and an appointment at the opticians, which makes me wonder when on earth did I have the opportunity to do all these things when I worked full time? I certainly couldn't have taken part in WOYWW, as I am today! So let's get down to business, shall we?

The photo of my desk was taken a couple of days ago, while I was working on a super fun Wanderlust assignment. I posted the finished project last night, which you can find here. It's an art journal made from recycled greeting cards - there's even a video flip-through of it! I LOVE how it turned out!

Today, however, I want to share another project with you, that was inspired by Roxanne Padgett. She works on large pieces of fabric instead of paper with lots of layers of paint - exactly the kind of thing that appeals to me. I even bought her book, which is full of great ideas. Here's what I did on a piece of medium weight calico fabric. It's about 12" X 16" - large enough to make a pencil case out of it with some material still left over for other things.

I also bought an advent calendar for Oreo. We can open the first window tomorrow!

Here he is, in his new favourite place - on the top shelf in the airing cupboard. No, he didn't get up there by himself - I had to lift him up because he was dying to explore it - but he did come down on his own!

Thanks to everyone who visited today.

I always return visits to my blog if you leave a message and your WOYWW number!

Wanderlust week #48: Art journal from recycled cards

We had an amazing Wanderlust lesson this week by Joanna Grant. Joanna showed us numerous ways to make our own art journals. My favourite was when she used recycled greetings cards to make a colourful journal with flip-out pages. What a great way to use up all those old cards! All you need is 4-5 cards, loads of paint along with a few stencils and some decorative duct tape. The duct tape is crucial for holding the cards together as it is incredibly strong.  I happened to have a roll, so I had no excuses but to go ahead and try this technique. I really love what I managed to create!

Here are some photos of the pages and the bound journal. It's all very bright and colourful. It will be my happy journal! (Scroll down to the bottom of the post for a video flip-through!)

4 cards of various sizes painted and stencilled on both sides

One of the pages close-up - I kept the same style throughout

The bound journal - I used some sari ribbon for closure

Some of the pages inside

The flip-out page (my favourite!)

Flip-out page folded

Flip-out page close-up

Another close-up

The journal stands on its side

It's very tactile and I can't stop stroking it!

Here's a short video flip-through to show you the journal in action:

I thoroughly enjoyed this lesson. In fact, I haven't had this much fun since I made my cardboard journal a year ago. There's something inspiring about working on more than one pages at the same time. Joanna shared lots of other ideas with us, including a journal made out of a recycled calendar. I will be very busy in the next few weeks, I expect!