Monotypes with Fabric Sun Printing Paints

The sun came out yesterday for the first time in weeks. I'm taking a Joggles monoprinting class from Susun Sorell. I rushed to paint the muslin with Setacolor Soleil sun printing fabric paint, add the elements for printing and sprinkle with salt.

Here's my printed monotype fabric after six hours of exposure in the not so bright but sunny Northwest.

I like the print made on the foam core and will experiment using this technique with different kinds of papers and fabircs. Thank goodness the sun came out or I might not have completed this lesson.

Board Book Journal

Last May at our Portland Art Collective retreat, I made this 6x6 inch board book inspired by Juju Vail's article in Cloth Paper Scissors. I tore 2 inch squares of different papers on hand, glued them onto the board book pages and gessoed over them.

I wanted more color for the cover so I painted over each square with dilute watercolors.

I added black gaffers tape to reinforce the spine and outlined the edges with a large black Sharpie and added the title.

While at the PLAY retreat, I discovered Jesse Reno. His book Truth Will Measure captured my imagination. Juju drew her images in pencil. Charcoal and pencil are too messy for me. I drew these figures in Reno's style with my Pitt pens, added Neocolor II Caran d'Ache water-soluble wax pastels for vibrant color and Tracy Moore's hand-carved stamps. The new Sharpie paint markers write over the wax pastels with ease.

Here's a page in progress. Gwen carved the wonderful eye stamp and now I need to add color and texture to the face and finish the page. To work on developing my own style, I'm practicing drawing in the styles of artists I like or whose work speaks to me. I'll share more of these pages in the future.

Playing for a Week

Last week, I drove up to Vashon to spend a few days with Marianne and then on to Port Townsend, Washington for a Play Retreat with Teesha and Tracy Moore. Thirty- five of us played all day and part of the night in the Commons making journals and journaling with visual art and writing. We stayed at Fort Worden State Park in the Officer's Quarters (remember the movie An Officer & A Gentleman). The photo above captures a glorious sunset. The best part of the long weekend- making a new art friend, Gwen.

I really like the journal I made with the covers and all the painted pages. One of my 2008 resolutions is to journal regularly and make it a habit.

Here's the first page. It's easier for me to do the art work. The writing takes more effort. I see myself playing in my new journal all year.

Respite from Winter Cold Sketch Date

Inside Jeffrey Allen Home and Garden, we felt the warmth of sunshine in the greenhouse and the hospitality of staff who served us tea while outside it was 25 degrees F. Surrounded by orchids, plants, Asian furniture and accessories, our eyes feasted on the serene beauty and color everywhere. Chinese music calmed the soul.

The ancient Guanyin captured my attention. Anna told us that curators from the De Young Museum come to see the Guanyin statues here. Guanyin is the Chinese goddess of compassion.

This wooden, carved Guanyin came from a cave in China. Her backside shows how she was pried loose from her resting place. Her decayed arms end above the wrist. My sketch attempts to represent her calm beauty.

Finishing Japan Journals

Treasures of my trip to Japan last year include the go shu in or red stamps received at the Buddhist Temples and Shinto Shrines that I visited. The monks stamp three red images and then hand-letter a blessing, the name of the temple and the date for 3000 Yen or about $3. I made this accordion book to hold them. Many Japanese take spiritual pilgrimages and document their journeys with go shu in stamped in their accordion books. One of my resolutions for 2008 is to finish my Japan journal. I will be posting these pages in future posts.

journal et rêve

Friends told me about 101 goals in 1001 days. I thought to myself there is no way I'd come up with that many goals but I did. One is to journal weekly this year with visual images and words. In preparation for a trip to France, I want to sketch often, learn to speak French and to research and understand French culture and history- become a Francophile. This journal page reflects my dreams. The sketches I did in the style of Stéphane Heurteau. It was a challenge but I ordered his book Quatre saisons sur les îles bretonnes from Amazon.fr. It will be fun to take time, slow down, observe where I am in the moment and sketch the images that speak to me.

New Beginings

2008 promises to be another very good year. One of my goals is to begin teaching art, sharing my interests and skills. My felted mermaid amulet bag workshop will be at Art & Soul in Portland in October. The bag is wet-felted and has a kumihimo finger woven cord with bead and charm embellishments. I feel so fortunate to have this opportunity.

I updated by book list. Right now I can't put down Molly Gloss's The Hearts of the Horses. She captures the Eastern Oregon landscape and the struggles of farmers and ranchers during WWI with characters you feel that you know.

I also added two blog links of artist friends from the Portland Artist Group- Jo Reimer and Alesia Zorn. Jo, a mixed media artist, plans to post her daily creations and Alesia shares her calligraphic art.

My travel adventures for the new year include two trips to Port Townsend, WA for Play- a journal retreat and ArtFest with Teesha & Tracy Moore; an artful journey to France with Mari Keis and Dayle Doroshow. My dreams include trips to New Mexico and Mexico.

Each dawn brings a new day full of possibility and new ventures.