On Inspiration

Recently I came across an article written by an amazing photographer......Cheryl Jacobs Nicolai; a proponent of photography as an art form, a writer and a teacher.
The actual article, on her blog, was written back in February 2014...it just rang so true and was so perfectly written.
Apart from being a wonderful photographer she is also a musician and that's where the article starts, but
her ideas, so eloquently expressed are true for all artists.
The article is HERE...so worth reading.
The two tiny collaged canvases below are mine, but all the words belong to C. J. Nicolai.

Stop looking at what others are doing.
Start looking at the world around you, and the world inside you.
Stop shooting(creating) with an eye on what you believe others will like, and stop judging the strength of an image(page, tag, canvas) by the number of comments and Facebook thumbs you receive.
Start creating photographs(art works) that are vulnerable enough that they scare you. Learn to be brave enough to share them, and to stand proudly behind them.
Start the long and painful process of learning to answer your own questions, and embrace the trials, errors, and frustrations you’ll experience along the way.

And learn that when someone tells you that you don’t sound like anyone else, it is a high compliment.

Mixed Media Place.........Creative Gym Exercise #2

This month at Mixed Media Place we're asking you to think in 3D....textures, embellishments, objects to be altered. Visit the Mixed Media Place blog HERE and be inspired by what the girls have come up with, amazing and beautiful. I thought 'literal', a 3 dimensional object, and one just happened to present itself to me in the bargain reject bin at a Typo store.....a broken, articulated wooden artists hand.

The base of the broken hand was easily fixed with art basics 3D Matte Gel. My idea was to have the hand make the peace sign........... The fingers are 'articulated' and bend and move up and down but they do not move sideways so do not spread apart. I had to insert a little block of wood between the two fingers to force and keep them apart. I'm sure someone with a more mechanical brain would have come up with a better solution. 

Now my fingers were all in the right place I was ready to collage. I used a piece of  Finnabair's paper from the Domestic Goddess range. No paint was used:  the shading or light and dark areas on the hand were created by just using lighter or darker pieces of paper, all stuck on using art basics Soft Matte Gell.

The hand was completely covered in torn bits of paper. Well, you know how much I love to collage and stick things down, but half way through doing this I was thinking omg, why didn't I just paint this hand !? I was peeling gel medium off my fingers for days after. Anyway, once this was done, time to embellish.

Some metal pieces all attached with art basics 3D Matte Gell.

Rubber bands help hold the curved metal in place while the Matte medium dries.

Some Finnabair Mechanicals, some flowers and some rub-ons and I've totally indulged my inner hippy.

Thanks for visiting. May your week ahead be chilled and full of only positive vibes.

paperDVIZHNIK New Challenge No. 53

A simple and pure colour challenge is presented to you this month at paperDVIZHNIK.

When the colours are kept basic and simple it allows for more detail and pattern to dominate.

Image source Pinterest.

Stencil used with Finnabair art basics 3D Matte Gel. Yellow paint applied with a squeezy bottle.

If you love these beautiful bright, pure colours, then join us at paperDVIZHNIK this month. Be inspired by the gorgeous examples made by the DT and check out all the details HERE. Thanks for visiting. I hope your week is bright and cheery and full of creativity.

Mixed Media Place........Inside My Book

I have an on going project; making a small book out of a recycled box. This is the front cover, made back in July. Details are HERE

Finally I've completed the inside of the front cover.

Finnabair's beautiful 'Raspberry Pudding' from the Domestic Goddess range of papers is the background....if I could choose 1 piece of paper to use on every project, this would be it ! The metal embellishments are Finnabair Mechanicals, Vintage Vanity and Cold Country stamps, Finnabair Sunrise Sunset 'Checker' Stencil' used with Finn's new Art Basics Modelling Paste. Every thing has been attached using Art Basics Soft Matte Gel or Art Basics 3D Matte Gel, including the glass beads, and of course you can get all these  products from the Mixed Media Place shop HERE

I've used Silks Acrylic Glazes to add colour to the Modelling Paste and glass beads.

A peek inside my front cover and a slightly 'blurry' Page 1.

I don't know about you, but I'm not always good at completing "long term" projects. So far I have loved making this little book, so hopefully, one day I will be able to show you it filled with pages and completed. Thanks for visiting. May all your projects you're working on come to fruition and bring you joy.

New Challenge at paperDVIZHNIK

A great sketch to play with this month at paperDVIZHNIK for Challenge #52.

Ink, paint, stamp, image transfer, colour pencil, embossing, velum die-cut.

Salt sprinkled onto wet ink.
This was a fantastic sketch to play around with. Visit paperDVIZHNIK HERE and be inspired by the girls.....there are some fabulous pages. Then, play along with us!
Thank you for visiting, have a wonderful week.

Mixed Media Place.......Creative Gym #1

Mixed Media Place, suppliers of all things arty, fun and creative have a new set of challenges for you.  The first one is simple, but with endless possibilities. Black+ white+ grey+ one colour.

Here is my take on black + white + grey and "pink". I had so much fun creating my last large tag, I really just kept on going. Using all the Finnabair art basics Gessos and Gels make it so easy.

The WHITE comes from art basics HEAVY GESSO, in which the chipboard tag was painted, also white embossing enamel and the Prima 'Beautiful' sticker.

The BLACK comes from using a 'spot' stencil with black embossing enamel.

The GREY comes from all the metal embellishments , coated first in art basics CLEAR gesso and then sprayed with Prima Color Bloom Mist in Vintage Coal.

The PINK comes from the tag being misted with Picked Raspberry Distress Stain, a pink tag, some pink leaves and flowers, and some pink gems.

For all the details of how to play along with us at this months challenge and added inspiration, visit Mixed Media Place HERE. You can also purchase all the mixed media materials I've used on this project from the Mixed Media Place Store. Thanks for visiting, I hope what's left of your week has lots of "colour" in it.

Tag For Mixed Media Place

"Looking" is not the same as "seeing".

I like to embrace "difference". I love that our world is so diverse, and I guess that all starts with how we "see" things. We can all "look" at the same objects, images and even situations, but we will all "see" different things, what they are and what they can become.

Take a chipboard tag, some Finnabair Vintage Trinket Bottle Caps, some Finnabair art basics Gel Medium, some glass beads and a few metal bits and pieces and what I see will be totally different to what others will see.

Take a second look and see something different again......

This tag has a "moving part."

A little loop of leather keeps one eye shut.

 The glass bead tear was shaped with 3D Matte Gel and the glass beads dropped on.

 Glass beads and metal coloured with distress stains; coated first with Finnabair art basics clear gesso to allow stains to adhere.

All Finnabair art basics Gells and Gesso from Mixed Media Place. 

"There are various eyes,

Even the Sphinx has eyes;

and as a result there are

various truths, and as a result

there is no truth."

                Friedrich Nietzsche

Thanks for visiting. Remember to look closely, see clearly, but know there is always more.

LINE......New task at paperDVIZHNIK #50

 Lines...they surround us, they contain us, they direct us, they are the foundation of all shapes. They can be simple and mean so much....the "flat line" on a heart monitor or they can be complex, like the lines beautifully created by nature, the veins in a leaf or the grain in a piece of wood. Be creative and make "line" the dominant feature of your work. All details and some beautiful inspiration can be found HERE at paperDVIZHNIK.

In essence my page is simple. Directional lines are the feature and they have been created using, dry embossing, stencilled gel medium, washi tape, a stamp and Sharpie pens.

Image transfer, water colour and Gelatos

There are also, in life, those invisible lines.....you know, "the line drawn in the sand" or you have "over-stepped the mark" or you are at the "point of no return"......... Thanks for visiting, have a great week.