Works. Worked. Working. . . .

"Works. Worked. Working"

9 x 12 Loose Art Journal Page on Watercolor paper

"Without ambition one starts nothing. Without work one finishes nothing. 

The prize will not be sent to you. You have to win it."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

I'm Baaaaack! And happy to report that I'm once again up and running. Thanks for all of your kind comments and support during my unintentional hiatus. I promise to get back to everyone as soon as I possibly can. In the meantime, I have been active on Instagram (um, because I'm obsessed with it) and wanted to share a few process picts of said journal page as it was being created:

The background started with Gesso Relief (the process of stamping into wet gesso to create depth and texture) and a few swipes of bold neon colors

This is what it looked like when fully covered in acrylic

More texture was added by tearing up pieces of the newsprint covering my desk and adhering it to the background

Although I don't usually "pull" figures from my backgrounds, I clearly saw a wacky bird comprised of the torn pieces of newsprint and went with it

And I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised with the results

Washi tape, further stamping, a Swarovski crystal and vintage children's dictionary term completed the look

And there you have it: A funky Mommy Bird protecting her home. And, naturally, she Works. Worked. And is Working.

Happily liking to PPF . . . 

Kristin xo

Blogging: Interrupted. . . .

"Laughter and tears are both responses to frustration and exhaustion. 

I myself prefer to laugh, since there is less cleaning up to do afterward."

- Kurt Vonnegut

Dear MacBook,

I've loved you for so long. You've been fast, efficient and most importantly, a workhorse for all of my arting, blogging and homeschooling tasks for years now. Even when I accidentally got you a little wet (okay, a lot wet) last year, you bucked up and continued to play with me anyway. The Apple guys told me that eventually you'd just stop, but to be honest, I didn't really believe them. But, (deep sigh), they were right. You've been slowing down and shutting off for weeks now. It seems that even the smallest tasks upset you and I, in turn, must face the inevitability that is to come. I can't even respond to my blog friends anymore without you yelling at me and shutting down. I can not continue to work with you under these conditions. Something has to give. In the meantime, I want to thank you for staying awake long enough to post this so that my friends no longer have to wonder where I've been. I'm still here, just all on my lonesome without my hot pink bestie by my side. (Grumble, moan).

Love, 

Me xoxo

Follow Your Heart. . .

"Follow Your Heart"

Loose Journal Page on 9 x 12 Watercolor Paper

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition."

- Steve Jobs

Happy PPF!

I hope this finds you happy, well and with paint somewhere on your clothes. If you're anything like me, then you have paint on almost everything. It's kinda like a badge of honor. Makes me feel legit ;) 

Anyway, I worked on a loose journal page again this week; playing with splotchy inks, metallic pens, an Amsterdam stencil and my new favorite tomato-red color. Looking at this page, I've decided that I must clean off my work desk and surround myself with other supplies. I've been using the same colors and goods for far too long now - I think I need to rotate my stash. . . .

Having said that, I do love this stencil. It reminds me of our honeymoon in Amsterdam - 

and I love the effect of simple white acrylic mixed with molding paste

The heart and headband are created with a glue pen and fine gold glitter

Here she is. I think I may actually journal on this one - her neck looks a bit bare . . .

I'm taking The Littlest Mouse to the La Quinta Arts Festival today - it's supposed to be one of the best in the country and it's right here in my backyard. I bribe the kid to go with me every year by talking up the frozen lemonade. (She falls for it every time) . . .

Have a great week,

Kristin xo

Hey Potato!

"Hey Potato!"

4 x 6 - Watercolor Paper

"There is still no cure for the common birthday." 

-- Thomas Fuller

So I have a girlfriend who's about to embark on a major birthday. And this year, she wants to avoid the subject altogether. No party, no presents, no cake. In fact, I think I may get in trouble if I even mention it. BUT she is having a birthday wether she likes it or not. And although we girls are respecting her wishes to keep it on the down-low, I just had to do a little something for her.

Some years ago - and I promise I don't recall how - she started calling me "potato." I, in turn, nicknamed her the same. So this quick little sketch is for her: my little birthday potato. It was done on watercolor paper and will be mounted on card stock to serve as her birthday card. Oh, and I will get her a little gift too. I guess you can say that I like living life on the edge. . . .

Happy PPF to you. I hope this weekend finds you celebrating your little heart out.

To love and produce,

Kristin xo

Art Journaling: Believe. . .

Loose Journal Page on Watercolor paper

"Believe in love. Believe in magic. Hell, believe in Santa Clause. Believe in yourself. 

Believe in your dreams. If you don't, who will?"

-- Jon Bon Jovi

So I've been working on a journal page this week. And I think I've finally come to the conclusion that I prefer to play with loose pages that I will later bind rather than in a formal journal. I like the ability to get as messy as I want without the fear of "ruining" the page behind or in front of it. And I also like the the freedom that comes with working on whatever kind of paper or size that I feel like at the time. The other benefit of working this way is that if I love it, I can always switch gears and make it a painting rather than a page.

Anywho, here's this week's offering. It was created with pencil, watercolor crayons, collage, glitter and my brand new obsession; Montana Acrylic Paint Pens. They are so dreamy. . . .

Instagram Shot of said dreamy new pens

Thank you for your time! I look forward to seeing what everyone brings to The Party this week.

Yours,

Kristin xo

Hello, Valentine. . .

Love Bird

11 x 11 on Watercolor Paper

"Without love, we are birds with broken wings."

- Morrie Schwartz

Happy Valentine's Day! I hope this finds you happy, well & in the throws of a chocolate comma.

So I know I threatened to use pink and yellow in my next project, but I didn't plan to actually do it. But, in an attempt to avoid blues & greens for a while, I headed straight towards pink in all it's girly glory. I began what was to be a loose journal page by layering collage elements, molding paste and acrylic. The quick, quirky girl came later and why she has a heart antennae on her head, I'll never know. Then somewhere down the line (or the next day really), this little pink and yellow bird came along to accompany it her:

So I gave her an eccentric antennae of her own. 

And some stripy legs, naturally.

And there they were. Happy little Valentines; all stripy, pinky and such. And so what was to be a journal page, may be a little more. It may even go on a wall, or on the back of a door. (I know I sound like Dr. Seuss). But request has already been made, and it seems this girl was meant to have it more.

Happy, lovely Valentines to you all. May it be ever so sweet.

Kristin xo

My Love Affair with Blues & Greens. . .

"You put down one color and it calls for an answer. You have to look at it like a melody."

-- Romare Bearden 

It's PPF!

And, after a 3-week love affair with blues & greens, I am finally done with the series of five canvases I've been teasing you about for a while now. I've always wanted to create a group of paintings in the same palette and am happy to say that I can now cross that one off my list. Although, being the color lover that I am, this may have inspired me to do more of the same. I loved working on multiple pieces at once and found a certain freedom in using limited materials. Here's a quick shot of the supplies I've been playing with for the better part of a month:

For me, the real challenge came in trying to figure out how to tie all the pieces together to make a cohesive whole. The answer came when a bit of text from a vintage Beatrix Potter book found it's way onto my first canvas. It read, "He Peeps" and was rather ominous. Since I had already glued it down, I knew that there was no going back. So, I found more bits of text and the story grew from there. The original tale was about a cat - Miss Moppet - and the mouse that she could never quite capture. In my version Miss Moppet is a rather quirky girl, but because my Mom's nickname for me has always been "Mouse" (and she calls Kendra "The Littlest Mouse" ;) that stayed the same. I even found inspiration for creating the mouse (my first) from the original illustrations. Anyway, here it is in it's entirety: with more pictures than I should really post. But, um, I did say it took me weeks, right? So here goes:

"He Spies"

"He Peeps Out"

"Miss Moppet"

"The Mouse"

"But She's Too Late!"

Did you say you wanted to see more? Yes, I thought I heard that. Okay then:

Whew! We made it. Thanks for taking a peep. Now on to the next color. Hmmm, I think I'm feeling some pinks and yellows coming on. Or maybe pink and orange. Or, maybe. . . . 

Kristin xo