Balzer Designs

Art Journal Every Day: Into March 2019

If you're new to Art Journal Every Day, there is a short introduction here.  All of the previous posts can be found archived here.  Remember, it's just ten minutes of nourishing your creative self every day!  No need to finish anything or even like it. If you've done some art journaling this week, use the hashtag #artjournaleveryday so that we can all take a peek.  Even if you're not on social media, you can see everything (from twitter, pinterest, instagram, and facebook) that uses that hashtag here. 

Here are two very different art journal spreads from March 2019: 

I love spreads like this. They seem so miscellaneous and yet all that miscellaneous stuff coalesces into a very interesting composition.  This spread features an abstract painting, a painted heart, 4 stamped tags, a sketchy flower, a leaf cut out and the word March.  

This next page features two very different faces:

The one on the left is a painting I did with acrylic and pencil.

The face on the right is a monoprint I helped to define with a few pencil lines:

I hope you find some time to play in your art journal this weekend!  Thanks for stopping by!

#CarveDecember 2019: Days 10-17

Hey guys!  I'm so pleased and proud to say that I've got another round of daily stamps to share with you.  Here are days 10-17:

A few thoughts:

• I've been concerned that I'm "only" doing rotating repeat stamps.  I kept asking myself: Do I need to branch out?  But then I decided it was adding more stress to think about branching out.  By having limited parameters -- a small rotating repeat stamp every day -- the design time is quick and the stamp gets done.  This is one of the reasons I love challenges and kits and other things that put limitations on a project.  They actually help me get the job done!
• I've gotten several suggestions from people to carve baby-related things.  It doesn't interest me at all.  I love my baby, but I spend all of my waking hours taking care of him.  The few minutes I spend carving each day are a chance to escape the baby and reconnect with myself.
• Even though I'm carving the same type of stamp every day -- a rotating repeat -- I have been issuing some small challenges to myself to the keep the process interesting.  My current mission (which I hope you can see in these prints) is to obfuscate the tile.  In other words, I want the viewer to be less aware of what the stamp actually looks like.  Achieving this makes the design process a bit more complicated and I'm enjoying the (small) creative challenge!
• Each of the stamps you see here was designed, carved, and printed in less than 25 minutes!  I know that a daily art project can be exhausting, but even if you only have 10 minutes a day, you can make art!  Take 10 minutes today to design a stamp. Then spend 10 minutes over the next day or two carving it.  Then take 10 minutes to print your new stamp.  It might take you 5 days of short sessions to get it done, but guess what?  If you did that every week for a year, you'd have 52 brand new stamps & prints!!  Not too shabby.

I hope you'll try some stamp carving.  It's truly fun and easy!

Thanks for stopping by!

I Want to Try This: Mat Board Collograph

I was poking around the internet looking for information on creating fine art collograph prints without a press.  During that research, I stumbled across a video that has me **obsessed** and looking around my studio for stray pieces of mat board.  Watch the video and see if you're not keen to give this technique a try:

Isn't that so cool?!  It combines so many things I like: monoprinting, carving/hand cutting, and drawing.

Definitely on my to do list!  Thanks for stopping by!

#Printinktober 29-31 & a Wrap-Up

I'm spectacularly happy that #PrintInktober is over.  It was a tough slog this year.  Some projects are like that.  And that's okay.  But before I get into lessons learned and things I'm thinking about, let's take a look at the last three days of prints.  Below, I'm posting the process video, embedded from instagram (if you get this blog via e-mail you may need to click on the title of the post to view the videos online) and a photo of the finished fabric:

And now, here is a look back at all 31 days of fat quarters:

When you look at them all mushed together like this, I think you can see how one day's experience often influences the next day's fabric.  One of the many benefits of doing a daily project is that your creativity snowballs -- because it has to.  Each day necessarily builds on the last and you have the opportunity revisit a decision you made yesterday and turn it the other way.  Too messy?  Let's go neater.  Too controlled?  Let's push it the other way.  Wrong colors?  Let's try again.  This is the reason I keep coming back to daily project.  Though, I will say, you can often get some of the same benefits from working in a series and/or on multiple pieces at the same time.

As with any project, I think the most important thing is to sit back and think about what you can take away from the experience.  Here's a quick breakdown of what I've learned this month:

• Showing up matters.  I know this.  But I have to constantly relearn and reinforce it.  There were so many -- SO MANY -- days that I did not feel like continuing on with this project.  I was tired.  I was cranky.  My body hurt.  It was late.  I couldn't find my supplies.  The excuses go on and on and on.  But to force myself to do it, I followed one simple rule: Go into the studio and pull out the fabric.  If you don't feel like doing it once the fabric is in front of you, fine.  Walk away.  And you know what?  Every time I actually had the fabric in front of me, I managed to do something with it.  The hardest part is walking into the studio and getting that fabric out.  Once that hurdle has been passed, the rest is easy.
• Ink vs. Paint.  For every single fat quarter I used fabric paint or ink.  I discovered that in general, I much prefer stamping with fabric block printing ink (as opposed to fabric paint).  The prints are cleaner, more colorful, and there is a long open time.  The negative of the block printing ink is that it takes about 48-72 hours for the fabric to dry completely.  Fabric paint is dry in less than 30 minutes.  This influences your ability to layer.  It's a small hurdle, but it can mean slowing down the process or accepting that it may take several days to achieve the look you're going for.
• Scale of Prints.  I know that I've mentioned this before, but scale matters.  Most of the stamps and tools I use tend to be small because I tend to work on smaller project.  A fat quarter is quite a bit of space.  While some of the fat quarters look great in the detail shots, many of them just look bland or forgettable in the further away shots because of the scale of the images.  If I want to do more fabric surface design, I need to work on creating larger stamps and other tools.
• Hand Printing Fabric can be Tedious.  Not a charming thing to say, but it's true.  It takes a lot of prints, a lot of table space, a lot of physical energy (pressing down), and a lot of time to print "just" a fat quarter.  I 100% understand why people sell handprinted fabric for so much money.  It is work.
• Random patterning vs. purposeful.  I feel like I learned a lot about the difference between "random" placement of images vs. registered placement.  Generally speaking, my eye prefers the neatly patterned fat quarters.  As art, they're less interesting.  As an art tool (i.e. something that will be made into an art object), they're more appealing to me.

I still don't have any definite plans for any of these fat quarters, but I'm looking forward to grabbing them from my stash when the muse strikes!

Thanks for stopping by!

#Printinktober: Days 22-28

Can you believe that #Printinktober is almost over?!  I don't know where October has disappeared to...?

Well...maybe I do know. October has disappeared into a mist of packing, moving, and unpacking.  It was probably a terrible idea to attempt to do this project this year, but you know me.  I love terrible ideas!  I'm extremely proud that I've managed to post not only a completed fat quarter, but a process video every day so far!  I haven't always wanted to or thought that I was going to make it, but boy does it feel good to have done it. 

Below, I'm posting the process video, embedded from instagram (if you get this blog via e-mail you may need to click on the title of the post to view the videos online) and a photo of the finished fabric:

I cannot lie.  This has been a very challenging week of printing.  My studio is still not 100% unpacked and set up.  It's close, but there are still boxes and piles and I can't quite figure out where the "good" lighting is in the new space.  And yet, I really love these fat quarters.  In some ways, I think they're better and more interesting than a lot of the earlier fat quarters.  Perhaps frustration is the key to breaking through?  Maybe it's the every day grind?  Whatever the reason, I'm excited to see what these last few days of printing on fabric brings!

Even though there are just a few days of October left, it's not too late to join in on all the fun!  I'm printing on fabric, but you don't have to!  Remember, it's easy to participate using what you already have on hand:

• Use the hashtag #printinktober when you post.
• Any stamp can be used – foam, wood, silicone, rubber, hand carved, lino, whatever you want!  (And you don't even have to use a stamp.)
• Any ink can be used – screenprinting ink, marker ink, stamping ink, printing ink, etc.
• You can use the official inktober prompts, if you'd like.  Or not.
• Have fun and don’t worry if you miss a day (or more). The point of the challenge is to get those stamps out of storage and into use!!

Thanks for stopping by!

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Finally, I wanted to share a really nice comment that a YouTube channel member left yesterday:

Wahoo!! Julie, I wanted to tell you that as a new member, I'm going back and watching past livestreams - and what a treat it is! You share SO much in one hour. I truly appreciate how much thought you put into how best to answer members' questions.

Also, I recently watched July's video and I loved your Art Journal retrospective. I know you share a lot about Art Journaling on your blog, but getting to see and hear you talk about your process and influences over there years - it was so interesting!

I guess what I'm saying: I am so glad I joined! You are not only a wealth of knowledge, but your "just do it" attitude is fun & inspirational. I love having access to an extra hour of you & your wisdom each month! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

This month's livestream is tonight at 5pm EST!  Hope to see you there!