Care December 2023 - Part Three

 

The final two prompts from

Kasia's Care December 2023 event.

finding inspiration

phone call with a loved one

Care December 2023 - Part Two

 

This is part two of Kasia's 2023 Care December event.

day 8 - denim

day 9 - hydrangeas

day 10 - out of the blue

day 11 - sashiko

day 12 - peacock

day 13 - blue portrait

There are two prompts left,

which I will complete during

the remainder of the holiday season

& I might even try to film a flip through.

See you soon.

Care December 2023 - Part One

 

Kasia at Everything Art is running another Care December event. 

Her blue edition began on 8th December,

so I gathered my supplies,

recovered my current art journal

and started ...

Supplies

Journal Cover

Title Page & Bookmark

There are just 15 days of prompts this year,

so I am hoping I can keep up.

Day 1 - setting our intention

Day 2 - blue thread

Day 3 - gratefulness

Day 4 - calm waters

Day 5 - new moon

Day 6 - coldness

Day 7 - blue lotus flower

Art Journal - Chapter 1

Last year, I enrolled in Wanderlust 2022

with Everything Art.

I only managed to follow the first few weeks,

working in my handmade junk journal,

before giving up completely.

So this year, 2023,

I am planning to watch each week's video lesson

in turn & then make a journal page

using the same journal.

My page will be inspired by,

but not necessarily precisely following

the lesson.

In 2022, Wanderlust was divided into chapters

& the first chapter was entitled

Gesso & Gel Mediums.

Week 1

The first subject was clear gesso

& how to incorporate it into mixed media.

Week 2

This week was about the contrasts

of black & white gesso.

We used plants & leaves

to create patterns with black gesso,

then used them to create a landscape

& added a found text caption.

Week 3

The third week was about using gel medium 

through stencils to create a clear mask

then use colour to reveal the patterns.

It doesn't really show on my book page,

as the white gesso & gold paint I used was too subtle,

but it is there, just.

I used images from Carolyn Dube,

black gesso on paper from the previous week,

washi tape,

words cut from an old novel

& collage paper from the 2022 Artist Almanac.

Week 4

White gesso through a stencil

to create texture.

I used collage paper
from the 2022 Artist Almanac,
lettering cut from a magazine,
green watercolour pencil,
& green jute ribbon.

Week 5

Scraps from week 2,

with newsprint lettering

& black Pigma Micron pen marks.

The smallest page in my journal,

which is kraft card,

so keeping it simple.

Week 6

Using gesso as a textural layer

& creating collage fodder.

I used collage paper from

The 2022 Artist Almanac,

various tissue papers,

black gesso, gold paint &

image transfer of newsprint lettering.

Week 7

Using clear gesso to protect

a paper background from

black watercolour pencil

(instead of charcoal).

I used collage papers from

The 2022 Artist Almanac,

newsprint text &

a torn page from an old book.

This was the last page in this chapter.

Next week I begin a new chapter

with the theme of

Modeling Paste & Image Transfer.

Wanderlust 2022

For 2022 I have enrolled in the

Wanderlust art journal course

for another year.

The course is run by Everything Art.

The course this year is also

based around materials,

rather than themed,

which appealed to me.

This will be my fifth year,

but last year I fell behind

& have yet to complete the lessons.

To help me this year,

I have made a small junk journal

made from an old book,

with old book pages,

some printed papers

& even fabric.

There are three signatures,

with pages no larger than 4 x 6 inches.

I am hoping that starting each week

with a smaller page,

a page that is already imperfect,

will help me to not be too precious

about whatever I create.

I have chosen a word for the year

& using a background image from 

Eulalia Mejia

have created the first page

in my little junk journal.

Wanderlust - Serendipity

 The third theme on Wanderlust 2021 was
Serendipity.

Week 9

The inspiration was from

Kasia Avery. 

I started with a layer of white gesso

& acrylic paints,

then added some ephemera.

I built up layers

using rice paper by Stamperia

& added the face

from the Graphics Fairy.

Then came the smaller body

& doodles with a white paint pen.

Finally washi tape

a dictionary definition

& a remnant rub from Tim Holtz.

Week 10

The inspiration was from

Carolyn Dube.

Carolyn showed us how to plan serendipity.

I grabbed what was closest to me,

copied ephemera from Kate Crane’s lesson,

bandage that was on my desk

(after sorting out my bathroom cupboard),

a watercolour pencil

(from the tin that always sits on my desk),

white paint pen from my drawer etc.

I started by ripping another page

out of my old Jo’s Boys booklet

(which I have been using as a starter background in this journal)

& my eyes fell on the words

Daisy rejoiced

in the fulfillment

of her own hopes

so that was my jumping off point.

The hydrangea card,

from the Graphics Fairy,

became a removable journal card.

The end result was nothing like Carolyn’s page,

but I think that was the whole point of her lesson.

Week 11

The inspiration was from

Kiala Givehand.

The main idea from Kiala's lesson

was to create a pocket on our journal page,

to hold journal cards.

Kiala talked us through how to draw out memories

&/or develop our story in a structured way,

which was very interesting.

There is a page full of writing underneath this all,

written in a black Stabilo All pencil.

I used rice paper by Stamperia,

Tim Holtz Remnant Rubs,

a pink brad &

Dina Wakley Media Tape

(which I had used to mask off my page in Week 7).

I used a copy of Week 5's page,

which was created in Week 7's lesson with Kate Crane.

There are words cut from an old novel

& bandage left on my desk from Week 10.

The overall effect is one of cohesion with previous weeks

& the underlying message is that

we evolve through all that has gone before. 

Week 12

The inspiration was from

Mary Beth Shaw. 

Mini collages using scraps from my desk

& words found after I had cut out the stamped images

on pages picked randomly from an old copy of Jo's Boys.

The face is from the Graphics Fairy

(the body was used in week 9).

The coloured card for the found text

was printed leftovers from my colour palette in week 7.

The phrase "stolen moments" was from Kiala's

lesson in week 11.

Next week we begin a new theme.

Wanderlust - Ephemera

 The second theme on Wanderlust 2021 was
Ephemera.

Week 5

The inspiration was from

Kasia Avery. 

A collage page.

Words cut from an old novel.

A study in mixing realistic imagery

with abstract elements.

Week 5

The inspiration was from

Kristin Peterson.

Another collage based lesson.

I normally create my collages intuitively,

so this page felt contrived & stiff.

Kristin then went on to use

paints, inks & stencils to cover over her collage,

but as this theme is about ephemera,

I decided to leave my page as it was.

Week 7

The inspiration was from

Kate Crane.

Lots of ideas from Kate about

creating & organising collage elements

using personal ephemera.

I used a few of her elements,

but created some of my own

from previous pages in my journal.

There is a copy of an old photograph of me,

a torn scrap from an old book,

a kraft tag from a workshop I went to last year,

old sheet music from my childhood

& paper from a used teabag.

Kate introduced us to Canva

& the Palette Cam app

which have palette creator sections.

The background is acrylic paint

with white gesso.

The top layers are Posca paint pens

& Tim Holtz Distress Crayons.

I also used a piece of hessian

& two types of washi tape.

Week 8

The inspiration was from

Renee Mueller. 

Her lesson was about creating a collection of ideas.

By building layers

& telling a story by the items included.

The Bingo card image is from RedLead

(a reminder to make time for fun)

& the library card image from ClothPaperScissors,

which I used to journal on.

There is a page from an old book

& words cut from another.

There is a piece of an old denim top of mine,

a piece of aida from an abandoned cross stitch kit,

a clear button backed with a copy of

one of my earlier pages from this course,

threaded with thread from the denim fabric

& a piece of old dress pattern paper.

Under the Tim Holtz slide mount is an acetate image,

backed by more sewing pattern paper,

which covers up my inky handwriting on the library card.

The image of the building is from an old

National Trust handbook & is reference to

where we might spend our retirement years.

There are copies of other ephemera

created in the previous week's lesson with Kate.

There is also pieces of underpainting paper from my desk,

which hold the echos from many previous projects.

All finished with a dab or two of soft pastels & a safety pin.

Next week we begin a new theme.