Funday Times

The theme for April at The Documented Life Project is

Colour Safari
(Exploring Inks and Paints)

The Art Challenge for

Week 17.  Inks

& the Journal Prompt for

Week 17.  Before the ink dries

Well the prompt this week just screamed playtime so I coated the blank pages with gesso
& grabbed my alcohol inks & plenty of kitchen towel.

I went to the paper recycling box to find an old newspaper (to protect the desk)
& found this wonderful image,

so before I set to with the inks, I cut the image out
& once adhered to the page, I covered it with clear gesso & left to dry.

I used my kitchen cookbook stand to secure my journal in an upright position

& then let the ink drip down the page.

I added a few more words found in the same newspaper.

I used Ranger's Adirondack Alcohol Inks
(Eggplant/Stream/Lettuce/Butterscotch/Cranberry/Wild Plum),
Liquitex Clear Gesso
Sakura Pigma Micron Archival Black Ink Pen

time to create and have fun

Songbird

Waddington Weekly

I have chosen another Browning poem for this week's altered playing card.

That's the wise thrush; he sings each song twice over

Lest you should think he never could recapture

The first fine careless rapture!

How to be an artist

Thrilled that my own #CreativeWisdom has been included in
the Royal Academy of Arts Storify article on

How to be an artist.

What are your rules for creativity?

Take a moment

The theme for April at The Documented Life Project is

Colour Safari
(Exploring Inks and Paints)

The Art Challenge for

Week 16.  Gelli Plate

& the Journal Prompt for

Week 16.  A lot on my Plate

Take a moment to pause & remember to breathe. 

I am interpreting the prompt as those occasions when you have so much to do
that you may begin to feel overwhelmed.

So my aim this week is to portray the feeling of being overwhelmed,
the moment when you realise that complicated mixture of emotions are rising to the surface.

This influenced my choice of colours & style of my page.

A feeling of restraint by the harsh ordered strips of background paper & use of the bubble stencil,

but also of release by the softness of the floral design & the escaping butterflies.

Or maybe the butterflies represent time slipping through your hands
& the feeling of not being able to control your situation.

There are the many layers of all the tasks before you
& some things that always remain hidden, out of sight.

One tag is fixed & cannot be moved.

The butterfly hinge

The other is hinged, so that you can see underneath.

A place to journal

I took inspiration from a digital piece that I did a few years ago, which I resized & printed out.

I waxed the printed elements to create a translucency,
so that the background would show through.

I used gesso, a Gelli Arts gel printing plate, a Speedball brayer,
acrylic paints (Tide Pool/Mulch/Pure Gold),
Ranger's manilla tags, Archival Ink (Jet Black) & Texture Paste,
Tim Holtz stencils (Bubble/Flourish),
Woodware clear stamp (Plant a Meadow) & ric-rac ribbon.

Dancing with the Daffodils

The daffodils are always such a cheery sight at this time of year,

so it is not surprising that for this week's poem

I have chosen a wonderful poem by William Wordsworth, for

Waddington Weekly.

And then my heart with pleasure fills
And dances with the daffodils

The daffodil image is from The Graphics Fairy.

Beauty

It's Wednesday, so it's time for my next altered playing card for my
Waddington Weekly.

a thing of beauty is a joy for ever
its loveliness increases
it will never pass into nothingness

Rejoice

The theme for April at The Documented Life Project is

Colour Safari
(Exploring Inks and Paints)

The Art Challenge for

Week 15.  Acrylics

& the Journal Prompt for

Week 15.  Cry Me a River

Well the lyrics to the song prompt meant nothing to me,
however my favourite version of this song is by Julie London
so I listened to her recordings on Spotify
while I drank tea & played in my journal.

We had a lovely afternoon together.

Over a base of gesso, I applied my paints using a credit card,
allowing each colour to dry, before applying the next.

Each time, I wiped off the excess paint on to a manilla tag.

Eco crafts acrylic paints (Rose/Pistachio/Waterfall)

I  added book text & elements from 7 Dots Studio, to which I added gesso
& outlined with my white Posca pen.

I  printed the words for the tag & covered it with some washi style tape made a few weeks ago.

A little doodling with my Micron pen to finish.

I printed the word Rejoice with my Dymo machine.

We are at week fifteen of this project
& I have come to the conclusion that I cannot follow rules,
so I am going to continue to see what the challenge & prompts are each week,
but you may find me wandering off topic.

Playing with colour

Time to catch up with a class from last month.

It's been a while since I indulged in a class & I must say, I had a fabulous time.

The tutor was Helen Chilton, who demonstrated the different ways to use the multicoloured Kaleidacolor ink pads.

She is a really hands on type of tutor & oozed enthusiasm, encouraging us to experiment
& provided valuable expertise when needed.

She was so patient with her students.

As usual, I enjoyed playing without managing to finish anything.

Below is a greeting card made since the class, using three of the pieces I brought home.

One technique we used to create backgrounds was using brayers. The surface of the one I was given was marked with dried paint spots, which created perfectly imperfect uneven patterns.

Kaleidacolor ink pads (Calypso & Luau), glossy white card & a PaperArtsy Mini rubber stamp (MN61).

I recommend the Craft scrubbie from Ranger's Inkssentials range
for removing ink from your hands after playing with colour.

I'll Rise

My poem for this week's Waddington Weekly is by Maya Angelou.

Just like moon & suns
With the certainty of tides

Just like hopes springing high
Still I'll rise

Water under the bridge

The theme for April at The Documented Life Project is

Colour Safari
(Exploring Inks and Paints)

The Art Challenge is

Week 14.  Watercolours

& the Journal Prompt is

Week 14.  It's Water Under the Bridge

I am looking forward to playing in my art journal this month.

I plan to dive in & resist the temptation to think first.

Learning to let go ...

I love watercolours & how they blend & move around the paper.

Learning to let go ...

I created the mottled effect by dabbing the wet colour with a piece of kitchen towel.

I used Yellow Ochre, Lemon Yellow, Red, Purple with a dash of White.

My Purple had dried solid in the tube, so I just unfolded the end of the metal tube to access the solid block of colour.

Splats & Splashes

Once dried, I added definition to the lettering, using my Faber-Castell black watercolour pencil.

Watercolour paint over gesso

A quick & easy page, just going with the flow ...

Easter Haiku

For Easter this year, I am revisiting a project from a couple of years ago.

Easter Bunting