Playing Around

I have been playing around with my two new books:

"Sew Wild" by Alisa Burke

and

"Journal Spilling" by Diana Trout

Both books are helping me to experiment with mixed media. This is something I have been wanting to do for a long time but I've been afraid to open my jars of Gesso or Modge Podge... and just what does one do with oil pastels anyway? I have found that I like water color pencils. Oh my, they are fun.

So here are some of my pages. I have decided I am not out for the artistic part of this yet. I'm just in it for throwing things onto my pages and feeling the different art tools that I own.

This is not art.... trust me.

I'd never used gel pens and expected something totally different from this. They are supposed to resist what you put on top of them. Hmmmmm. I was so afraid to paint on plain paper. Weird... but the Gesso offered such a nice protection to the page, it was amazing.

I was supposed to rip out magazine pages for a theme and I just listed some things I love. Then I painted over with Gesso..... I don't quite like that look but maybe I had too much Gesso or I worried too much about covering what I had laid down. The flowers were playing with a variety of pens, pencils, etc. Just feeling the way the mediums went onto the paper.

Sandy had sent me Aplets and Cottlets and I just couldn't throw the liner paper away so I glued it down with Modge Podge. I found out you cannot paint over that stuff! I had to use crayons. The little plant hanger was with water color pencils. Note to self: black is a very powerful pencil.

I enjoyed the doodling with this page. I needed to fill in every thing but was having trouble doing that. I really did want to leave white space. This was a happy lesson.

Again, I went with the "things I love" theme and decided to make some skyscrapers to list what I love since skyscrapers are near the top of my list. I couldn't find a pen I liked to write with so that will be my next experiment. Just get out all my pens and write away to see which ones I'll use for what projects!

All in all, these two books are forcing me to stretch beyond my comfort zone. Way beyond it! I am playing with art supplies I've had for years and just moved them from one place in the cupboard to another. I am excited about that.

And lastly, I hope to be able to really fine tune what art supplies I carry with me on my next trip to France. I had packed way too many last time. More art supplies and travel books than clothes! But I'm not a fashionable kinda gal so who cares?!