Not all pages from the other night were posted. I left a few out. I was too busy painting more and more. And also went shopping for a things. I really wish I could have gotten more stuff. I have to buy just a bit every month. Not too much. But I do have some money saved up. I just wish it was more. I wish it was unlimited. I wish it was the whole store. But I’m pretty happy with what I got. It was not all for me, I bought some yarn to send to my aunt too. And some other things.



Then I came home and I did a bunch a of pages. I don’t even have to gesso them. I did that already. While I was watching all the Suzi Blu videos I managed to gesso EVERY SINGLE PAGE in the crappy journal I’m using for now. So no waiting on that. I already knew I was going to be doing these pages.



What I didn’t know was that I would I would be doing little me’s The book in her hand is titled “a life of one’s own” and I think that is appropriate. This is my life and I want my art to be that. My life. More personal to me than it has been. I’ve kept it very much at a distance and I don’t want to do that anymore. I like where this is going.

And best of all, my little book doesn’t take up any more space, of which I am short on. Seriously. I need to move to a bigger place, a one bedroom, just so I can have that bedroom for art storage. Maybe one day I will post pics of how cramped my living room has become with finished pieces. If there were any such thing, I would say I paint too much.

*You can see a bigger image in the Journal Pages gallery under the gallery link.

PS…. It was still snowing when I took out the garbage this morning around 7:15am ... but it seems to have tapered off for now. Weather man says off and on all day. Will this storm every end?

Return of Winter

I don’t think anyone realized how bad my art table was. But believe me, it was bad. I have the photos to prove it. And I’m willing to show you.



So you can see. I had to do something. Its been this way for a good year. Probably longer.I’m sure longer. I really don’t remember the last time I cleaned it. REALLY cleaned it. Not just moved things around and called it good, but actually cleaned it. So I’m long overdue. Its so bad. How can I make art on that? How? But I do. Correction, did. I “did” make art on that.

That’s right. I cleaned it. REALLY cleaned it. I put all the good papers away and tossed the unusable scraps that I tell myself I’ll use but I won’t. Which was most of them. And tossed a lot of stuff I said I would use but I won’t. I know I won’t. How do I know? Stuff has been on there since 2007. Seriously. 2007. Summer 2007. So its been at least a year and a half that the art table has been cleaned.

So now that I’ve cleaned it, what’s next? I need to get a chair or another balance ball. Since my last balance ball broke I have nothing to sit on over there at the art table unless I move the chair from the computer desk over.

My Art Mess is Clean

So I’ve decided to start an art journal. I started one in the past, but wasn’t nearly as inspired as I am now. So maybe I’ll actually stick with it. I’ve already completed more pages in the last 24 hours, well, less really, than I did in the whole two weeks I kept one last time. I only actually completed one page last time. So hopefully its actually taken. Or maybe I’m headed towards burnout. This gives me a chance to do myself as a stick figure. I just finished my cover after doing three pages and starting another that I haven’t finished. I imagine I’ll always have several pages in progress that I’ll come back to and finish as I get what I need to finish them. The same way I paint. Or as inspiration hits for them.

So what brought on this fit of creativity? I was looking at bookbinding. Because I wanted to sew my own journal. Keep in mind I don’t even know how to sew. But of course I want to do a coptic stitch binding homemade journal. So there I was on youtube and I found a pretty easy looking video demonstration. Not exactly a strict coptic stitch journal. But a start. And easy for someone who does. not. sew. It was in the easy peasy journal in part one and part two, about seven minutes each. But this girl also had some videos about visual journaling. They got me really going.

Well it was youtube. So it didn’t stop there. Does it ever stop with just a few videos? Is it even possible? Anyway I found a favorite and watched all her videos. And I do mean ALL. There was a time I had to pee through five of them.

Anyway…...
One thing led to another and the next think you know I was on an art bender and didn’t sleep for 23 hours. Dr. will be pissed.  Don’t tell.

So here she is. Suzi Blu. Go watch all of them. She got me over my fear. So so so much fear…. see all that fear? Here’s my fear on paper.

I have struggled with painting myself. Unable to do it so I just didn’t. Until now. I watched how she how she shaded the face so I did that. But also I was inspired to go ahead and be let my me be a little girly. I was not able to do that when I was little even though I wanted to. The only thing I was ever really allowed to have was the canopy bed. I was given that when I was asked what kind of bed I wanted when I was ten. That was a fight to get, I got it. What I didn’t get were the lacy curtains and all the pink that went with it that I really wanted. What I got were army blankets draped down it. Seriously. I was about twelve then. It made a nice cave like enclosure for me. To get to my parents bedroom they had to go through mine. so that gave me privacy and was kinda neat. I’d have rather had a room and had the lacy curtains. When I was in first grade Beth Ann, the girl up the block, had a pink room, with pink everything, and the girly stuff. I wanted that. The canopy bed was as close as I got. So now, with the help of of Suzi Blu I can finally paint me and I put me in a big fluffy skirt and I think Ill do it again and often. I might get more and more girly. I don’t have to have those hard edges from the triangle skirt.

Thank you Suzi


*I have created a new category, Journal pages. Be sure to check them out regularly. I might post up stuff that is not quite done yet as well.

ps… its still raining… turning to snow

Colorful Magic

Front cover of the new Art Journal

Its so rainy/foggy/crappy/pollutiony out that I can’t even see the store across the street. I can only see the street light. You ever see the movie “The Fog”?

I had hoped to have posted more the last few days. How hard can it be to post more than zero. Apparently pretty damn hard. I fell short.

Its been raining here yesterday and today. The pollution is so bad its coming down with the rain and I could smell it the last three days in the apartment even. Raining pollution :( Yuck.  You would think Salt Lake City would have good air quality. But no. They report on the new when we have the worst in the nation. Happens more than you’d think. Right now is one of those times.  I had to walk home last night in the rain, And breath that crap. It was horrible. You can taste it in the air. And the lake too. The salt.    So. That’s the last two days. That grossness. But you’d think being inside I’d have posted and I didn’t.  I did manage to get out today. The rain stopped. The sun came out. So I rushed to the shipping connection place and the grocery store (been out of soy milk for a week) and got some sun. That was nice. Still smells like the lake is bad though. The storm was not enough to move the pollution out from over the city, just pulled some of it down on us. So we still have it there over us. :( Just not quite as much. But I still try to stay in. I have no car and the air makes me sick to breath it when its this bad and I have to walk everywhere. Or wait for the bus.



On Wednesday I got a delivery from FedEx. I was expecting it. Waiting patiently. And I probably should have made space while I was waiting. But I didn’t. So now, If I could just get the art table cleaned up a bit, then I could work on the space under it a little…..




I could find a place for all these little guys…...

Supplies

I got my painting on the cover of this little anthology book published by Art Access. I also have “Sam’s Wings Fly Away” on one of the pages inside the book and two short written works published inside. Here is one of them. Its not my favorite one, but it seems to be the more popular one.

Awkward Pause

I count to ten.
That’s what the trainers had said to do, and, being trainers, they are supposed to know these things. I’m not sure their method is the best way though.
One.
I cross my legs. She’s waiting for advice and I don’t know what to say.
Two.
Three. The guy across from me clears his throat. He’s probably wondering why I don’t say something. I’m wondering the same thing.
Four.
No one is relating well to these other two people. Like two outcasts. Its my job to pull the group together and I don’t seem to be making that happen. Not very well. I suck.
Five. Six.
Please, please. Someone, say something. Please! Anything at all. A N Y T H I N G
Seven.
The lady to my right fidgets in her chair and smoothes her skirt. I uncross and recross my legs. I should cross them again for luck, lucky three.
Eight.
Now I really need to pee. Always at the most inopportune times. Always. I wonder why that is. Nervous bladder.
Nine.
My head might really implode this time. That would make a huge mess on the white board behind me. I wonder who would clean that up. Poor janitor would get stuck with it. They wouldn’t be able to hold group in here for a few days, that’s for sure.
“Um, that must be really hard on you” I say, breaking the silence. And she starts to talk again. Others start to chime in and things go smoothly. I think we’re over the hump. Its all downhill from here.  Maybe the group can come together, at least a little bit, after all.
Oh shit. One. Two.

Desert Wanderings Volume 10, Fall 2008

My painting on the cover of
Desert Wanderings
published by Art Access.