Friday, October 29, 2010

Two out of three ain't bad

Question:  So, Ms. Ontiveros, we know that you are a full time law professor and spend quality time with your family. Yet you continually amaze us with the amount of beautiful art you manage to produce. Can you share some tips with your readers on how you manage to get it all done?
Answer:  Well, the truth of the matter is that I don't. . . at least not right now.  Usually I am able to manage all three areas of my life by staying organized, setting reasonable limits and staying in constant motion. Currently, the time I'm devoting to art and kids' activities are both a bit out of control, and my work is suffering a bit. . . not the teaching, but I truly need to start devoting more time to my academic writing.  A good friend once told me "Whatever truly needs to get done, will get done." And I've found that to be so true!  Right now, I just keep telling myself that "two out of three ain't bad."


From a design perspective, I created this piece in the same way I did the bird piece from a few days ago ("Rediscovering the Joy of Flight). It involves stencils and watercoloring with spray inks. This one has a more symmetrical composition, although it's not quite symmetrical, which I think gives it more visual interest.  I used numerical journaling, instead of words, based on a prompt from Shimelle's class.  I think it adds to the interest and mystery of the piece. Truthfully, it's one of my all time favorites.
I designed another art journal page using the principle of symmetry and based on a grid.  I filled each grid with a time of the day and a letter which represents what I'm doing at the time of the day, a bit of written journaling, some corrugated paper and a piece from a cigar band.  The journaling prompt came from Shimelle's class and the design from Dina's class.  Although I don't love this page, it was fun to make and I learned from doing it.  I'm sure I'll return to the design idea in the future.  Here it is:
I don't use symmetrical designs often.  My style runs much more to the asymmetrical, which I balance using other design principles. What about you?  Symmetrical or asymetrical?

8 comments:

Kelly Light said...

I got excited then thinking I would get some great tips on time management ;) My mission this weekend is to get organised! I love your art journal page, I might use your design idea of the grids as this is something I haven't done before.

laurie said...

i like your grids because they are all so different. the background colors are beautiful! i've come to the conclusion that you just don't sleep, rinda. :-) what you accomplish is amazing.

Unknown said...

You seem to accompish so much! Love your grids and the colours.

Sian said...

I am constantly in awe of your accomplishments Rinda - I'd say you are achieving more than 2 out of 3! make it 2 3/4!

Amy said...

I agree with Sian, I think you accomplish so much and I do think you are a great inspiration in terms of getting the balance right between family/friends, work and creativity!

I learn towards symmetry but asymmetry is ok every now and then!

Deb @ PaperTurtle said...

I too am always amazed at how much you accomplish, Rinda! I tend to let housework go most of the time in exchange for my art. :o]

I think I lean towards a symmetrical style for the most part, but I do enjoy mixing it up here and there. BTW, I just LOVE the symmetrical piece you have posted here!!!

humel said...

Love your Q&A!

I like both symmetrical and asymmetrical, as long as there's balance :-)

Ginger said...

What beautiful work you do!