Friday, December 30, 2016

Art Look Back-Part 2

So yesterday I started showing you SOME of my 2016 artful adventures. Here you go for the rest of my arty look back, if you're BRAVE enough (or maybe bored enough ha-ha!)
I like the combination of stamping, doodling or photos on this summer pages.

And using ice cream spoons to make faces too.

And I must remember this half and half paint technique.
And photographs can be reproduced as art-even if this is still a lousy photo.
And September brought me back to school.

And this fall I drew things I never thought I could

 Like cars and microscopes.
And hands.

And leaves. Though on all of these a little more practice is called for.

And how just making a colorful mess can be turned into a finished journal page.
A new journal making technique!
Some collage too.

 A few monsters. I need to remind myself to use a printed background more!
 And a wild turkey!
Light on these dark days.
And a few other pages too, if for no other reason than I liked them.











Wow, and that's not all I created. Good or bad, it was a productive year.
And here's one of my top 5 pieces.
Just because it makes me happy.
And thanks to Valerie and Susi for the great challenges at AJJ, plus a chance to host. As well as the teams at Try It On Tuesday and Moo Mania too! And finally thanks Elizabeth for hosting T for Tuesday and also Second on the Second! It was lots and lots of fun!
Wishing everyone of you a Happy New Year. See you in 2017!

Thursday, December 29, 2016

An Arty Look Back-Part 1

I'm taking a  break from showing you to new art this week, but I have been making a bunch of new things to show you starting next week.:)
We're in for a BIG snowfall today, what we call Nor'easters, and we could get up to a foot or around 1/3 of a meter of snow.  My hubby has my car since his is getting worked on, so I think today is a good day to make some more new art for the new year, as well as being lazy, except that I'll need to shovel since the hubby is still on activity restriction from his November surgery.  :(
But my new washer is due to arrive before the snow falls later this morning! :)
So today I thought I might do a little art look back on the past 12 months.  I know some of you might find the recaps dull, and I won't be upset if you just  skip my post.
 I find when I go back through my own work it makes me realize how much I actually accomplished.
Plus I can see what I made that I liked, and I can refresh my brain with what techniques I want to try again.
And that is a good thing.
So starting back in January, some journal pages.
Sorry, this is a rather long post!
I like the background-how it feels that icy cold. Not the sticker letters.
The background feels sunny and warm, paste makes great snow, and I love how the Marc Chagall man works.
I like the tape as snow and the Gelli print feels like an arctic starry night.
Love how this feels abstractly like the weather and below, I love how my mixed black and white created a realistic mountain.
And I love how the stamped fox works on the printed background.
And February brought a little traveling and I made a journal.
I love the textured cover and a painted metal feel, even thought the blue background isn't metal.
And all kinds of  bits and bobs filled my pages. To me its important to capture the "feel" of the place.
And February also brought love and music!

Then it was spring, or at least the mindset of spring.
 The printed paper bunnies were something that worked for me.
I also want to make more Gelli print graph paper looking backgrounds.
 March took me into the woods.  Lots of practice painting trees.

 In all kinds of forms. And I figured how to make vines too.
 April
 I didn't realize how great the texture would make a page look.
May was journeys.
 I really like the water and the various plant growth.
 Starting an altered book required a theme
And maps forced me to think differently.

 I figured out how to paint giraffes. :) I just painted some more!
And I started a journal and forced myself to draw, well doodle, in it. Sometimes I painted those drawings. Now I think I can at least draw a cartoon like image of most anything, and before this journal, that was not true. This is huge for me.



I played with painting on canvas too. I still need some practice! But that's OK, just playing is fun.
I had a little owl obsession.

 This little guy (above) is my favorite.
I tried dyeing yarn. I've got to figure out how to do it without getting a big tangled mess.
 And I did more Christmas stocking knitting.

 And I tried some more shibori dyeing with some indigo dye.
And I played a bit with some solar dyeing too. Oh the joys of summertime and being able to work outside.
 Painting fabric outside too! :)
I played with capturing the feel of  water in my journal. And boats.


Flowers.
 Really a lesson on using some pops of white.
And the first time I made a travel journal at home after my trip and used lots of postage stamps plus cutting out of an old book rather than just using travel brochures.
 I like the grid effect of the stamps and how I altered the post card by using rubber stamped watches.

OK,  I have gone on enough for today.
Even for me! Ha-ha!
I will finish this with my look back tomorrow.
Enjoy your day!