Easy One Day, Hard The Next

Seems that is how art can be, one day things fall into place, the brush can't do wrong, the colors mix in a brilliant way,the erasing and scraping off of paint and graphite are on purpose not because it looks terrible. I have struggled with this painting, erased, scraped, sanded, added and then repeated the process before mentioned. Actually that is rather fun, one has a feeling of ruining, but then what one is trying to achieve are ruins.

This painting is 6X11 approximate. I also used photos of antique buttons for the design around the head and her neck it was all the same button, I had two photos.

It could be that I am just giddy about driving, being done with supervised therapy, and doing pretty well. Nine weeks since I broke my leg, even for me time has vanished quickly. All aspects are not back to normal, a lot are, the leg is still weak, I walk with the cane yet. I still have to go to the gymn for exercise and one should do that anyway, these are strengthening exercises, not cardio.

Thank you for coming by and your well wishes, helps the day and the recovery.

Using Photos of Buttons

I like to use photos of buttons in my collage, use them whole or cut them up,one cut up button here. I course I like ocmplex backgrounds, this painting has napkins in the background as well.
This painting was in a stage of horrible for a long time, there are many layers of paint and it has been sanded several times with an emery board, I will say in the past hour of work it came together and I had worked 6 hours previous, bits if the very beginning are still there. It is one of my favorite color combinations.

Journal Covers

This is the journal of 35 pages, it measures 6X9 inches. It was a cookbook, I was not tempted to save a single recipe. The cover has a circular cut out and it came that way, I put a pocket behind the circle so I can have a different face in the
circle. The cover was done with layers of acrylic paint, napkins, papers, pens, and small prints of my art. The back cover does not have the circular cut out. The pages I have shown off and on here. Some are more collage than a painting, some are a mix, and some are just a painted face. I still have 3 pages to do, I will do them, I do have that little fear I may not finish, this is all because I know myself.
I sort of skip around with projects and I do feel the urge to sew.

You would think I have all the time in the world, I am able to do more each week so those things now get into the day also and I am slower moving it seems or tasks take longer. I can drive and I am sure a could of two weeks ago, but the weather has left the ground surfaces where one has to walk so packed with snow and ice. Then of course the problem of getting purchases to the car so you have to choose a drive up sort of grocery. I have to use a cane.

Still I think two months with a major broken bone healing and coming this far is not so bad, two months today . Have to keep positive and keep working to strengthen.

Journal, Creations

That is what these are just pages created for the pure plasure of putting things together that I like, it does as much for my spirit as writing, especially since I don't really know what to write, and if I did write later in a small space it would be rather a private thing, I proably won't, creating is a joyful thing to me the benefit is worth every minute, even the parts that are cut from magazines, these really are mixed media of collage papers and painting, along with pens, pencil, colored pencil, stamping with paint, gesso, and glazes with the layers.

This journal has 31 pages the pages maeasure 6 X 8 1/2 I have 3 pages left, I started in August. I did another journal also those little narrow pages I show sometimes. These pages I did yesterday and bits the day before and some today.I also did the front cover, I had to, something seemed to be insisting the front cover needed doing.

I drove today, first time in 64 days, we did a shopping trip so it meant walking in a large store, it was good to have help loading the purchases, and getting them in the house, it is all a task when one hand holds a cane. Better than the walker, better than a lot of things, no complaints, thankful. thankful for help, appreciate every effort on the part of husband and daughter that is close enough for travel to help. The leg still needs more strength, exercise, therapy, they are all helping.

thank you for listening, reading, commenting.

Running Low On Inspiration

In the past 8 weeks I have done a lot of faces, a lot of art, some pencil, some in journals, in the hospital some small journals of just stapled papers. It feels like a new creation is hard to come by, things are getting over done, and sort of odd.
Today I started to put together some thouhgts on a fiber journal not very far, found some materials and cut some pages.

I did this painting last week and will not try to change it, it is what it is. However I sort of liked the bird, I used Print Shop, a photo of the garden and this bird and found that I rather liked that and will use that in the fiber journal.

Simple Pleasures

I have thought of them a lot, even simple things that we hardly think of, like getting something from the garage, or going down stairs, paying attention to something in the dryer that you don't want shrunk. Just everyday things, and now I can make a list of them easily, and I will forget again I imagine how much I appreciate the most simple, but at least for today I won't.

I Used a lot of an old map in this painting, a map from an old book, I really love how that old paper tears, it tears softly. I used napkins, paint, colored pencils, a stencil and sandpaper. One of these is also Print Shop altered.

Sewing On Paper

Of course this is nothing new at all, however it is new for me. I had not touched my sewing machine for so long I wanted to see if it worked. It worked and it still sews crooked. (Be amused)

In a book of comfort, I found this statement, "Today You Might Like to Cast Your Net for Inspiration" So I did. then sewed the original painting onto some scrapping papers and added some fiber trims. BTW The title on the book really is, "Book of Comfort"

What Can Make You Happy

Funny the things, like running the vac, how can that make me happy? It isn't about operating the machine or picking up dirt, it is about having control of when the task gets done. Of course picking up dirt and seeing it is gone has always been a rather nice experience for me.

I can walk with my cane now in the house, from room to room, I can cook, and manage a few more everyday things than I could a week ago. Remember you use the cane in the hand of your uninjured side, it allows you to take weight off the injured side. BTW if you watch the TV show, House, he does it wrong. The therapists were talking about how movies and TV always have the cane wrong.

I did a page in my larger journal, it has to do with breaking a habit, tossing it out . And I did some digital art with the painting in the previous post, I did that so I could have that for the journal also.

You Can Have It All!

She does, if you take inventory of all the things you see. Both a bird and a butterfly is exceptional. Really the collage is about wanting everything right now.

I had various snips on my work table all in the same color range plus those white frames, and other snips from magazine. I have a magazine that I save called "Home Companion" and it always has fun things to cut out for collage. This collage is done on cardboard, so I will have to do a print for the Journal. It has to go in the journal because it is about me really, it is about too much stuff and patience.
Actually I have quite good patience, patience comes in two ways, it comes from our inner and outer being, by that I mean what people see and how we are really thinking, yesterday I wanted to walk well right now. Actually I walk better than you might think, and I can use the cane to some extent now, so maybe patience is not the right word, it could be confidence, so when I do some art journaling today I will use confidence as the word of the day in the work.

The Obvious, (at least obvious now)

Notice I didn't say LOVE about this month, and this year I am not just liking it but thankful for a month that isn't about having to...having to garden, having to shop,
having to drive places, this sort of thing. Each day can be ordinary and so ordinary it hovers around on boredom. Not to me I am rarely bored, tired or disinterested, but the variety of things to do is so great, even with these limits I have right now each day is pretty interesting. I can shop, I did go shopping on Sunday and managed quite well, not with the cane yet I had a walker with a seat and a basket and we also had a cart. The worst is I can't drive yet, by the time I use a cane I will be able to drive. It is getting closer.

So I journal, these little narrow pages that I can't scan right to the edge because of the wire binding. BTW that wire binding has to be cleaned all the time, I get paint on the wires and the pages won't turn in a nice way. The pages are mostly about spirit, keeping up the positive, doing some art, communication, being able to ask for help, these sort of things. There are times I have written things and read them later, much later, years, and wondered where was my head at this particular time? I wonder if I will do that with these journals, maybe not, it is pretty obvious what has brought me to these thoughts, however what is obvious today is not always so in a couple of years.

She Dotes On Her Cat

First of all I couldn't find the word "Dotes" in the dictionary, so maybe it is suppose to be used differently in a sentence.

These are journal pages, I was inspired by Zorana she has a wonderful New Year's post with a year end review of her 2010 work. I like her Sept. entry so much with the woman and the cat, I believe this is a lion, and if you read the post you will know it is more than superficial.

Mine is rather superficial, except I have a tabby, and he has been so attentive to me and wants to be by me a lot since I broke my leg, he also sits by my leg when I rest. He is a rescued cat, and a bit chubby but loyal to a fault. In a couple days I will post his photo again, I would now but I can't remember what folder it is in.
I rather like these pages, they are again 3X7, it is an old cook book I am altering.