If you're new to Art Journal Every Day, the concept is simple: It's a commitment to take ten minutes each day to do something in your art journal. No need to finish anything or even like it. It's about making the time to nourish your creativity every day! If you have the time to flip through your phone, you have the time to Art Journal Every Day. If you'd like to share what you make, use the hashtag #artjournaleveryday so that we can all take a peek. Check the blog archives for posts going back to the first Art Journal... Read more →
If you're a long time blog reader, you know that I used to live just a few blocks away from the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City and was a frequent visitor to its galleries. MoMA has an outstanding collection of pieces by Henri Matisse -- one of my all time favorite artists. (Be sure to check out the Book Club video about the book, Matisse on Art.) Currently, MoMA has an exhibit all about his painting, "The Red Studio." It wasn't a painting that I was immediately drawn to. In a room full of Matisse paintings,... Read more →
Hey friends! I'm a day late and a dollar short, as they say. But here's the round-up for May 2022: What's happening at home? Our house is being painted! Yay! The painter thinks we're crazy with our colors -- purple and yellow. But, it's a Victorian house and I think it can take a little bit of crazy. What's on your desk right now? Um...is everything a possible answer? Here's a quick run down of the more interesting items on my desk: Stencils: The one you can see is from the February 2022 release. But there are new stencils coming... Read more →
Have you ever used reflective Heat Transfer Vinyl (HTV)? I tried it out for the first time and I had my doubts. I mean, other than reflective stripes on bikes or running clothes, I just wasn't sure what I'd do with it. However, after some experimenting, I'm a fan now. The reflective nature of the HTV is like a fun bonus that makes your handmade objects that much more special. This weekend, I made this super fun bag... ....which totally transforms with the addition of light in a dark room... The reflective HTV changes color when the light flashes across... Read more →
Today is Memorial Day in the U.S. It's a day on which those who died in active military service are remembered. We are headed to our local town parade where, no doubt, there will be lots of American Flags being carried. Over the years, I've created a number of artistic flags -- aka, not totally accurate to what the flag actually looks like, but close enough that you get what it is. This one is from my art journal in 2014: As you can see, it's a flag with some artistic license taken. Instead of stars, the white script ends... Read more →
If you're new to Art Journal Every Day, the concept is simple: It's a commitment to take ten minutes each day to do something in your art journal. No need to finish anything or even like it. It's about making the time to nourish your creativity every day! If you have the time to flip through your phone, you have the time to Art Journal Every Day. If you'd like to share what you make, use the hashtag #artjournaleveryday so that we can all take a peek. Check the blog archives for posts going back to the first Art Journal... Read more →
You may recall that Steve and I took pottery classes before we had a baby. I love the pottery that we made and use it often in our daily life. When we took the classes we talked about getting a wheel and a kiln. But it never happened. So, recently, I decided to give air-dry clay a try. I did a lot of research and decided to go with Crayola-brand air-dry clay (there are others). Here are some things to know about air-dry clay: Air-dry clays harden within a few days and do not need to be fired in a... Read more →
I am currently working on a massively large (for me) art quilt. It has gone through 10,000 iterations. At the moment, this is my favorite arrangement: But it all could change tomorrow. To get a sense of the scale, you can watch this 12-second video: And here are a few close-up photos. It's almost all hand painted, hand stamped, hand dyed, and/or hand screen printed fabric. I'm currently taking a "class" with Irene Roderick that's all about personal style. I put "class" in quotes because it's more of a critique group. Each week Irene gives a short lecture about some... Read more →
Massive Four-Month Art Supply Subscription Box Unboxing! My year-long Scrawlr Box subscription has come to an end. I saved the last four boxes, unboxed them all at once, and had an art supply party! You can learn about all the supplies -- and which ones I liked and didn't -- in this massive Four-Month Art Supply Subscription Box Unboxing Video: As promised, here's a list of all of the supplies in the boxes: Derwent Chromaflow Pencils: http://shrsl.com/3io06 Uni PIN Extra Fine Brush Pen (Black): https://amzn.to/39dPGBO Staedtler Metal Double Sharpener: https://amzn.to/39iwsLd Factis P36 Eraser: https://amzn.to/3wp3CAP Marabu Markers Alpha Robot Set: http://shrsl.com/3io0m... Read more →
As part of my ongoing series about artists I admire, I wanted to share a bit about California artist, Anna Valdez. photo source From the Hashimoto Contemporary website: Anna Valdez (b. 1985) is a multi-disciplinary artist who examines the relationship between objects, cultural formation, and collective consciousness. Creating epic tableaux in her studio, Valdez moves seamlessly between still life and landscape painting, collecting objects and making new ones, and cultivation, observation, and fictionalization. Valdez received her MFA in painting from Boston University in 2013 and her BA in Anthropology and Art from University of California, Davis in 2009. Her work... Read more →