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The delicate look of a frozen lake. Beautiful and yet dangerous. Hidden tracery, unknown depths.
5.5 x 7 inch Pacon watercolor card stock
Distress Ink – dusty concord, tumbled glass, chipped sapphire
Salt
Painted on Rusty Hinge Distress Ink
Watered down Bombay sepia ink
Tissue paper applied with matte medium
Poppy seeds
Decoupage glue / leftover metal button
Glazing medium
Made 1-20-16
Inspired by/things that came up during the creation –
Fungi, soy/wasabi leftovers, debris, passage of time, look close you might miss it, beauty in ugliness, things passed over.
(Close up)
Materials used –
6×9 piece of “Pacon” watercolor card stock
Glue stick
White crayon
Distress Ink – Rusty hinge, crusted olive
Dr. PH Martin’s Bombay sepia ink
“thirsty brush” technique
Toothbrush with water to spatter
Used salt (previously used in watercolor painting, reclaimed)
“Crushed glass” glitter
Water/paintbrush
Holographic nail polish
“gelly roll” white pen
Light blue “super gel” pen
Poured white acrylic paint mixed with water
Decoupage glue
Tim Holtz “idea-ology” clock pieces
Glamour glitz crystal
Made 1-19 to 1-20-16
This speaks to obsessive, controlling “love” that is one-sided.
Brokenness, cover up of truth/self/other.
How even in the same language and culture two people are like other nations/languages. Miscommunication.
Washed out roads and bridges – driving in the fog.
Being lost even with a map.
The glitter represents the celebration of the crushed glass at a Jewish wedding ceremony, simultaneous with the broken glass and dishes in a “domestic disturbance” – how joy can turn into tragedy.
The two sides of a bad relationship – where one is completely clueless as to the terror of the other.
Relentless pursuit, feeling trapped.
(close up)
Materials/techniques used –
Strathmore 9 x 12 visual journal
Bought ephemera – sheet music “I had a dream, dear” and Asian map
Matte medium
Scrapbooking scissors
Distress Ink – Rusty hinge, crushed olive, chipped sapphire
Acrylic paint – olive green + white + water, manganese blue
Fingernail to scratch out a section.
Paper towel to remove paint.
Gold “super gel” pen
Spray mount, “crushed glass” glitter
Tim Holtz “idea-ology” words
(Made over two days, from 1-17 to 1-18-16)
Random pink/red scrapbooking pages
Strathmore visual journal
used stamps
white acrylic paint mixed with water
bronze “super gel” pen (The Write Dudes)
white pen
Distress ink
glue stick
Inspired in part by the character “Izabel” from the Saga comic book series, drawn by Fiona Staples. I normally do not like pink, especially fuchsia, but have been drawn to it recently. It is part of my current practice to look closely at everything that I normally turn away from, to learn from it and invite healing into it. Everything is a teacher.
Images that arose while creating this:
nest, telescope, Andy Goldsworthy’s nature art, revealed/hidden, interference, water drops in a pond, radio waves, Zen gardens, aboriginal paintings, Advent calendars.
Materials:
Pages from F.C. Happold’s “Mysticism” book (bought at UTC bookstore at least 20 years ago)
Distress Ink – tumbled glass, antique linen, brushed corduroy, rusty hinge
“You are here” stamp
Dr. P.H. Martin’s Bombay sepia ink
White “gelly roll” pen
Tools:
matte medium, sponge brush, paint brush, glue stick, Strathmore 9×12 visual journal
“The Tao that can be spoken is not the true Tao”
– you can never reveal Truth through words (or even art)
I glued down the pieces of the pages from the “Mysticism” book – all about a direct experience of God. How funny that you can’t talk about it, but this author certainly tried in many pages. After gluing down the pages, I inked over them. I let it dry and noticed later that some of the pages had overlapped – I’d not put matte medium on top of the pages, just on the journal paper. Thus, some of the edges could be lifted up to reveal the un-inked words underneath. How awesome to the theme that they happened to include
Truth
God, dwelling
Which is what mysticism is about, and this artwork. It was positive feedback that I was on the right path.
I inked the three poems that spoke about mysticism (included in the pages I’d torn out of the book) with a pale blue to indicate robin’s eggs. They are the eggs in the nest. They are the fruit of the tree. They will mature and fly away, spreading the truth.
Yet the nest is not filled in – there is a big hole in the middle. This is where you find yourself.
I dripped the ink on, but then used a brush to wick some up. It made excellent patterns and colors (very subtle) in the bottom right. I’ll try to replicate that later on another piece. Some blots I left solid to dry. They became “rocks” in the Zen garden, so I used a white pen to draw the waves around them. They too obscure the words, but yet reveal more in their obscuring than the words do in their revelation.
Art journal page.
Random pages from Hamlet
Distress Ink – rusty hinge applied with a sponge, allowed to dry as a base coat, then I colored with antique linen, brushed corduroy, pine needle, crushed olive, tumbled glass)
reversed copy from Alice in Wonderland
super gel pens (from “The Write dudes”)
Doodle scents markers
used stamps on paper
matte medium
scrapbooking scissors
I learned that the Catholic Church observes the season of Christmas until they celebrate the Baptism of Jesus, which this year is 1/10/16. This meant that the really nice Nativity set was still up in the chapel when I went on retreat from 1/8 – 1/9. There are real evergreens behind the creche. They are about 8 feet tall and smell amazing. The creche is on a table that is about three feet off the ground, and it is about five feet wide. The tallest figurine is about a foot high. Everybody is here – it is a packed scene! They have seven pots of poinsettias decorating the front.
I enjoyed sketching it in the chapel and then watercoloring it in my room. Ideally I’d watercolor it on site but the nuns were setting up for Mass so I felt I’d be more comfortable doing the messy bit without an audience.
Plus, I still can’t take Communion because of their (The Church’s) rules.
Again, not that Jesus made those rules…
I’m not sad/angry/upset about it because I feel I’m missing out – it is because they are. To exclude anyone is to be the exact opposite of what Jesus wanted. I pray that the Holy Spirit opens their eyes to the un-welcoming nature of a policy that says only Catholics can take communion.
(edit 2-28-16, I decided to add more pictures that I’d taken)
I have decided to start an art journal practice. More often that not, my “art journaling” is more journal than art. I want to strengthen my non-verbal side as well, so I’m committing to making a page like this at least once a week.
The title comes from a part of the page that was left visible, not obscured by paint.
8.5 x 12 Strathmore mixed media visual journal
matte medium
pages from “Sri Isopanisad” paperback
Tim Holtz Distress Ink (rusty hinge)
acrylic paint (Liquitex basics)
water
salt
sparkly bits
Tools used – paper towel, flat brush, yogurt lid
So apparently I like making books.
“Travel by Stamps” is a picture book using stamps for the illustrations. I wrote and assembled the story in a tiny travel journal first. Then I scanned the stamps and typed up the words to the story, changing the layout to suit the new format of a printed work.
This was created for fun and as an homage to art journalists. I can’t sketch very well yet, but I’m learning quite a bit about layout and design for when I do.
This is available in print and e-book from Amazon. It is only 42 pages, but because it is full color it is more expensive than would be expected for a book that size.
betsybeadhead 
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