Art Journaling with Dina Wakley: Part 4 + a small confession

Hi, hi, hi.

First things first, for those of you on 'pyjama watch', let me say that there's not a single glimpse of nightwear in this post. It's 15.50 and I'm fully dressed made-up and wearing new shoes. Lovely new shoes.

All of which has nothing to do with this final piece of work I created during Dina Wakley's art journaling workshop:

I used the same mask - that of a model cut from a fashion magazine - as I did on the page featured in yesterday's post. Only this time I made her into triplets.

My main intention with this page was simply to use colours outside my usual 'go to' palette: I rarely use such soft, natural greens and browns in my work and thought it would be good to set myself such a challenge:I had intended to add a splash of vivid red but somehow this got diverted into warm pinks and shades of claret. I'm not sure I love it - but it was worth the experimentation:
I'd also decided to go a little stencil-crazy on this page, just to see how far I could push the technique. I kept returning to it with one another floral, scrolled, vine design stencil and new colour spray ink after another. I like to think the finished effect is something reminiscent of a brocade fabric or heavily patterned wallpaper: Needless to say ... all this creativity was thirsty work:I find that a cup of tea is as essential as paint and pens when I'm creating [and when I'm not!].

While we were priming our blank pages, Dina had mentioned how, if your initial layer of gesso thick enough, you can make marks in it to add interest to your background. I covered my entire page with &&&&&&&& ampersands - I think you can just about make them out [they're on thier side] below: I don't know if you'll find this strange but I love ampersands. Seriously! There's just something so positive about them. 'And' is a good word. It means there's something more. It means there something after. It means there's something to look forward to. And all of this can be represented in one little stmbol: '&'.

I like it so much that I even considered naming my blog '&then' because the whole point of my blog is that I make, see, hear or do something ..... and then I share it with you! Anyway ....

Inspired by this, the journaling on the page is simply a series of three repeated phrases: 'and then'; 'pattern repeat' and '& again'; each within its own body-shaped outline:The finishing touch was some leaf shapes cut from an old book page, covered in gel medium and when dry, wiped over with whatever colour ink was still wet on the sheet of kitchen towel nearest to me!

So there we go. The fourth and final page from last Friday:Oh yes ... in my title I promised you a small confession didn't I? And it wasn't the fact that I love the '&' sign. No. My confession is .... that despite having taken two of Dina's workshops and sharing my work with you here ...

... my name's Julie and I'm not an art-journaler. I don't ever do it and I felt like a fraud when everyone else in the workshop was talking about it!

That's not to say that I won't ever art-journal, just that prior to and in between me taking Dina's workshops I hadn't and still don't have an art journal. I did find an amazing old notebook, with lots of blank pages, at a collector's fair which would make an incredible space in which to begin ... yet I haven't begun.

For me, if it's something I'm happy to write about and share with others, I find myself turning on the laptop and sharing it right here on my blog. With you.

My notes on paper are at 'notesonpaper'.

And as yet, I'm not sure how to reconcile this with art-journaling ... do you think my laptop would cope with me spraying it with ink and smudging it with oil pastel? Perhaps not eh?

So, let me just say thanks so much for sticking with me through my four-part arty revelations; and for taking time to leave me some most-welcome feedback. Also a big 'hello' to my newest followers this week. I'm really happy you found your way here and that you chose to kick off your shoes on my mat and hang around with me for a while.

Just ... please don't un-follow me in light of my non-art-journaling status ... you could always try to make a convert out of me instead!

J ;)

Art Journaling with Dina Wakley: Part 3

Hi again.

I'm back.

You're back.

Let's make a start...

Here's the third page I made at the Dina Wakley workshop at Art From The Heart last Friday:
This was the first thing I made after lunch when I felt that I could expand on the techniques I'd learned in the morning and really just explore. I began by cutting out a figure from a fashion magazine to use as a mask while spray-inking, a method explained by Dina.

Once I'd cut it out, I flipped it over and just went for it, spraying over it with an Altered Originals ink in 'Graphite' - which I liked so much I bought one for myself.

Did you notice that the model in the image above is wearing a zebra-print skirt? How could I resist? [If you're new here, this post might go some way to explaining my current zebra fetish!]. And once The Carousel Zebra was running around in my head, I decided to dedicate the journaling on this page to my impending etsy.com shop opening!
The rest of the page involved applying lots of layers of ink or paint through lettering and sunburst shaped stencils: Followed by outlining sections with oil pastel until I was happy with the number of colours and textures on the page: A really useful technique which I'd picked the last time I took a class by Dina is to roll kitchen roll over the page after spraying with ink. It lifts the immediate covering, leaving behind a soft layer-able layer [if you know what I mean]. Plus it helps dry the page quickly so you can work on another layer and also ... ... it makes for some spectacular effects on your kitchen roll!! The sheet of below really is good enough to frame in it's own right!!:If nothing else, it was certainly good enough for me to take it's photograph and to bring it home with me. Don't be surprised if you spot it on a card or layout sometime soon!

Well then. I think that's all the art I can muster for now.

I've been in carboot and charity shop heaven with Hannah today and bought lots of lovely old children's books to play with. I can't wait to start turning some of the book pages into badges for my shop ...

[Ha! My shop ... still sounds funny when I say that!]

... but right now I am too tired and good for nothing creative. However, I'm not yet in my pyjamas ... so that's something, I guess ...

I'll see you tomorrow for the 4th and final part of this drawn out and tortuous expertly curated trip round my art journaling.

See you then then.

J x

Art Journaling with Dina Wakley: Part 2

Hello again.

Just like last night I'm here with another of the pages I made during my workshop with Dina Wakley [held at Art From the Heart].

And, just like last night, I'm blogging in my pyjamas. Feel free to erase that image from your mind before you read on ...

Here's the one I'm thinking of framing [but I don't think it's the one you think it is Dina ...]: The words I used are from the Coldplay song 'Yellow' which had been playing in the car on our way to Art From The Heart:Precisely just how much I like both the colour and the song has been well documented [remember this post on Copy + Paste?].But it wasn't until I'd completed most of the page [including the yellow star] using the star-shaped print-outs provided... ... that I realised how perfectly the lyrics fitted with what I'd been creating. I also realised that I'll certainly be hanging onto those masks, above, the ones I'd sprayed over the top of, to use on something in their own right as they're just to pretty to waste as a by-product!These photos [above and below] show how the page looked prior to adding any definition with blendable oil pastels and acrylic paints:And here's the impact after adding them: I think it makes such a difference. Dina mentioned how, an artist whos work she admires, really 'puts the work in' in her art - by adding layer upon layer of interest and detail ... something I'm very open to experimenting with in future.
Dina also extolled the virtues of adding a splash of black or white to draw disparate elements together and make a page more coherent, so that's exactly what I tried out here:

I've always been a very amenable pupil. I do what I'm told ... right up until I decide to branch off an go my own way with what I've been taught!

So, here's the finished piece:

And it may well just end up in a folder, or stay on this shelf next to my bed, or else it might just get to shine on me from inside it's own frame. I'm not quite sure yet ...

OK, then. I've got a glass of wine to make disappear before bedtime and that's enough art for one evening.

How about we say same time and place [and no doubt same pyjamas] tomorrow? When I'll show you the 3rd page I made?

Deal? Deal.

Thanks for reading, see you soon.

Julie :)

p.s: would you believe me if I told you I happened to buy a yellow cardigan today! 'And it was all yellow ... '

Art Journaling with Dina Wakley: Pt1

Hi you. It's me.

Unlike last time I blogged, this time I am here. Right here, can you see me?

Yoo hoo. Hello, over here, on the sofa. The one with freshly dyed hair wearing the pyjamas [Light Auburn and marl grey jersey respectively, since you ask]. You see? I told you I was here.

I've safely returned from the far flung corners of Harrogate, where I was living it up with a room full of art journalers and the ever fabulous Dina Wakley.

Here I am, ensonced in the new workshop at Art From the Heart [note the hand in a blur of action and the apron ... bit essential for a 9-5 day of creating ... with spray inks!]:

And here's the lady herself:

In the bottom corner is Kate Crane from The Kathryn Wheel who it would seem I was duty bound to meet. A friend had left a comment on Kate's blog telling her to say 'Hello' to me at the workshop... but Kate didn't know who I was ... that is until she looked at my name badge and declared 'Oh, so you must be Julie'. And I was. Then, upon my return, another friend asked 'Did you see Kate Crane there?'! Well then, why, yes I did ... in fact, it just so happens that I'd sat myself right next to her without either of us realising that everyone expected us to meet! It was certainly a pleasure to get to watch her at work - amazing how we were all following the same processes yet producing widely varying end results. I think there's going to be a Flickr group for us all to add our work to - which willbe a great way to view them, and our individual differences, side-by-side.

The workshop focussed on using masks and stencils, layering up paint and spray inks, then adding the journaling: I made four individual pages which I'll show you throughout the week [or else it' dbe photo overload].
The white spots where were made by painting gesso onto a piece of Dina's sons' Lego which she carries around in her art box! I was aiming for a muted look combining using several 'natural' colours: ... and I'm really happy with how this one - my first of the day - turned out:

[You can click on the photo for a closer look ... if you're that way inclined. Which I'd be happy if you were ...].

Anyway .... I'll be back tomorrow with some more photos of my productive day. I'll show you the second page I made ... the one inspired by a song I warbled along with in the car on my way to the workshop. The page which I'm contemplating getting framed for my bedroom wall. [I'm so happy to have made something I like that much!!].

Oh and, for those of you wondering how James got on on his own while I wasbusy being arty ... he wandered around town; had a ham + cheese toastie; found a passport in a flowerbed; handed it in to the police ... and photographed some gargoyles. A typical day really ...

Right then. Enough for one night! I'll see you very soon.

J :D

Small Stories: Days Like These

Hello.

I'm not here. I'm in Harrogate. With James.

I just thought I'd share a few things about him with you today, things such as ... some days I come downstairs to find him making tea, looking like this:

It's a long story. It involves an elastic waistband and a joking suggestion from me that he put it on. Which he did. Only he then he kept it on. And forgot about it.

Anyways ....

There are other days, like yesterday, where the scent of fumes were still lingering in our house despite having made him put his diesel soaked jeans through the washing machine once already. Jeans which had been soaked after he'd used a pump at the garage which failed to cut off, which he didn't notice until it was too late. Then, there he was amid a fuel spill to rival anything from BP.

And then ... there are days like today ....

... where he's taken the day off work to take me to Harrogate; to Art From the Heart; to another of Dina Wakely's super inspiring art journaling classes, while he amuses himself around the town.

Ridiculous kung-fu poses aside, he's a good one. I know this.

And I'm a lucky girl.

I'll be luckier still when we get rid of that smell of diesel from the landing ... anyone got the number of a good clean-up crew?

J ;)