A Peek at My New Sketchbook

One of my dear art friends, Catherine Russell, made this gorgeous journal.  She created it with layered strips of painted paper towels, stenciled white spirals and red marks surrounded by a striped washi tape border. The cover has a wonderful, knobby texture.

 Inside I spray painted stencils with gesso and added water-color washes over the pages.  Some pages had some gelli plate prints on them.  I like how the gessoed stencil shows through the paint on the right.  I learned this technique from Jane LaFazio.  Go to her Tutorials on the sidebar and open the one from May 16th entitled "Blog Hop Giveaway".

 We visited Portland Nursery a few weeks ago and I sketched the items nearby- gecko, fountain, plant and hydrangeas.  The large leaves are from a gelli print and the white flowers from the sprayed gesso.  It makes a great resist. Although the spray can clogged up and I had to resort to painting the gesso onto the stencils.

Here's the figure of another sketcher.  The gesso shows up on her outfit and hat.  The green is from a gelli print.  I like the softness of the colors and contrast of the sketches, a departure from my usual style.

I'm off to the Focus on Book Arts Conference taking a five-day workshop with Tim Ely and will have more to share next month.  Hope you are enjoying summer.

Wonky Log Cabin Quilt Project

Fifteen signed up to participate in a quilt block exchange.  We make up fifteen packets of fabric and give one to each person.  She creates a 12½x12½ quilt block with the fabric.  Each month we make two blocks. Here's the first two blocks that I finished today for June. The one below is for Diane. She gave us gorgeous 1½ inch strips to use.  I added a few fabrics for contrast.

Z'anne's quilt block is quite different.  Her quilt has a more Western look.  I added the maroon fabric for more contrast.

I'm looking forward to creating a couple new blocks each month.  In December, I handout my fabric selections and will receive back fourteen completed blocks to make my quilt.  It'll be great to receive them in January when I'll want something warm to curl up under and read.  Another name for this quilt pattern is "Drunk Love in a Log Cabin". See Denyse Schmidt's finished quilt HERE.  Elizabeth Hartman created the Wonky Log Cabin blocks HERE.

Thanks to everyone who came to the Village Gallery of Arts in Cedar Mill.  I sold all four of my 6x6 inch pieces.  It was a fun challenge and I think that I need to find another one to keep me creating.

Spring Flower Sketches

Here's a peak at some recent Spring flower sketches.  Flowers are blooming early this year with all the NW sunshine and warm weather.

Village Gallery Art Challenge Finished Canvases

Nature inspires my artwork and for this challenge I thought of the changing seasons in my garden.  Winter reminds me of hibernation, turning inward.

Spring welcomes a feeling of rebirth and renewal.

Summer flourishes with blossoms and growth under the sun.

Autumn brings in the harvest and a time to let go.

Come see the exhibit May 7 to May 31.  For more information, check The Village Gallery of Art website.

Village Gallery Art Challenge Process

Nature inspires my artwork.  For the art challenge at The Village Gallery of Art, I thought of my garden with each changing season.  I like to create by adding layers of collage papers, ink,  line and paint.  The layers add mystery and texture to each piece.  I thought you'd like to see the layers one step at a time. The first layer is collaged paper-

The second layer is a painted wash.  Then, I added a stenciled floral design and a dark strip to tie the four pieces together-

Another painted white wash-

A free form splash of acrylic ink-

My favorite part of creating is seeing how each layer adds to the piece. The next post will show the last layer of collage, line and paint- the finished product.  Yesterday, I took my canvases to the gallery.  Next Sunday, all the artists' work will be hung and the show opens May 7th.  One-hundred artists participated in the challenge this year.

Janet Takahashi's Artful Sketchbook Journaling Workshop

Last weekend, I took a "Artful Sketchbook Journaling' workshop from Janet Takahashi  sponsored by the Portland Society for Calligraphy.  I felt like I needed a refresher course to learn some new techniques and ways to incorporate text along side my sketches.

One exercise that helped me to revisit my tools to see which are water soluble or not.  It made me want to use different pens and pencils more and not rely on the same tools all the time- to give my sketches more variety in line, texture and value.

Here's her ideas for adding texture and gradation of values to add interest to drawings.

 Another tip I'll use is to lay down paint (yellow, blue and red) first leaving white ares and sketch on top.

Using this same technique, I painted the apple and lemon first, sketched on top the the lemon with waterproof pen and used a Stabilo water soluble red pencil to add texture to the apple.

Now, I have a new perspective with some different tools and ideas.  With the warmer weather, I'll be outside sketching and enjoying the sunshine.

Check out Portland Society for Calligraphy New Website

The Portland Society for Calligraphy  updated their website.  It includes upcoming workshops and a gallery of member calligraphic artwork.  Fellow Portland Art Collective and PSC member, Suzie Wolfer, created this piece-