Look Up//Look Down #35: Artful Weekend

I had a wonderful, artful long weekend. I finished my Passport to Art altered book and started my faces art journal for Learn Something New Everyday. In addition to painting a couple of faces, I also made about a dozen backgrounds in the art journal. It felt so good to have my acrylic paints, spray inks and stencils out.  I worked on the little table in the kitchen, and J.J. curled up on the window sill to watch me. Looking up at J.J. and looking down at my work space. Posted in conjunction with Helena's meme, Look Up//Look Down.

September Art Plans: LSNE, 29 Faces and Facing the Facts Class

It's September, and I'm starting a new art project, which brings together several different online classes and memes. I'm making an art journal featuring faces and journaling about things I am learning each day in September.  The journal is for the Shimelle class "Learn Something New Everyday." I'm learning how to draw and paint a certain style of face from the Dina Wakley class "Facing the Facts." As an extra bit of serendipity, Ayala Art is hosting 29 Faces in September, so I'll be linking up there as well!
Although I'm making this art journal for LSNE, I'm also snapping pictures on instagram as I go through the day of things that might be the basis for the lesson I incorporate in my journal.  For September 1, I took this picture off my deck the first thing in the morning:

The lesson I jotted down was "A breath of fresh air is a great way to start the day." Although there were other possible contenders, I really liked the feel of this lesson to start September. If you want to follow my LSNE posts on instagram, my user name is rinda1961, and I'm using #lsned to flag the posts. Although I'm "private," on instagram, just ask and I'll approve our follow request.  I'll probably also feature my instagram photos here on my blog as well, when appropriate.
Are you doing Learn Something New Everyday? If so, what format are you using? Anyone else doing 29 faces? If so, let me know in the comments, and I'll follow you. Also, let me know if you're posting in instagram, and I'll add you to my feed.
Happy September everyone!

My Creative Weekend So Far: FYV and Passport to Art

It's a long weekend here in the United States, and I'm taking the opportunity to get some creative play time. On Friday, I prepared an art journal for Shimelle's Learn Something New Everyday class by applying gesso to its 25 pages! I also started planning the pages to finish my Passport to Art altered book which I started in July in the free class offered by Bernice. To help me along the way, I checked in with the Find Your Voice Graduation Party hosted by Kristin.  The Graduation Party is full of challenges and inspiration, and I'm happy to report that I finished my altered book!  The final page is above. The journaling reads:
 "'People don't take trips.  Trips take people.' John Steinbeck. 
My life - my identity- who I am has been shaped by travel . . . the trips I took as a child, the ones in high school, trips with Paul, trips with family all have become a part of me and how I approach life. I hope to never stop traveling and making art."
Tonight I want to share three of the pages I made in conjunction with challenges at the Graduation Party. I'll be sure to share the rest of my pages sometime on my blog, and I'm hoping to find a way to show the book as a whole.

This page was made in conjunction with Challenge #5 to use story outline cards. The card was really helpful because there was a lot that I wanted to communicate in this page which was about the trip I took to Portmeirion, a village in Wales which had been on my wish list since I saw the PBS show The Prisoner, back in high school. I wanted to communicate a little about the village, a bit about its connection to the TV show and also tell the story of the ordeal the journey turned into when Clara and I took a train that we thought was going to the town but ended up over ten miles away.  The bicycle and #9 are from the TV show; the flowers and butterfly (and background picture) represent Portmeirion china and the village; the journaling and quote ("Even with the best of maps and instruments we can never fully chart our journeys.") capture the flavor of our trip (which included the train, a very local bus, and a long hike).

This page as made in conjunction with the color challenge (challenge #4). I was going to do a lot more journaling, but I think by focusing on the colors, I ended up with a stronger page which communicates what I wanted to about our love of water-y vacations.

And, finally, a page I was really struggling with about the attitude we take toward traveling.  My creative block was solved when I turned to challenge #1 (the quote challenge) and decided to tell my story mainly through quotes (with a little journaling thrown in). The quotes do a better job of explaining than I could, I think.  Here are my four quotes:
"A journey is like a marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you can control it." John Steinbeck
"Bizarre travel plans are dancing lessons from God." Kurt Vonnegut
"All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware." Martin Buber
"He who would travel happily must travel light." Antoine de St. Expery.
My journaling reads "We travel light by being patient, keeping our expectations in check and being nimble and light on our feet, as plans inevitably change. You can't control things - so just relax and go with the flow."
Tonight I plan to finish reading the Find Your Voice lessons (I stopped about half-way through), work on the other challenges for the Graduation Party, and check in on all the wonderful links in the Scavenger Hunt Link-Up from yesterday.  The link will be open until the end of September, so feel free to stop by if you haven't already.
Tomorrow, I'm going to work on some backgrounds for my LSNE art journal and start drawing faces in it. Thank you everyone who's linked up with the scavenger hunt, to Bernice for the Passport to Art class and to Kristin for the Find Your Voice class! Let me leave you all with one more quote from the layout at the top of today's post:
"I haven't been everywhere but it is on my list." Susan Sontag

Scavenger Hunt Linky #3: Dinosaurs Roam the Coast!

It's time for the end of August linkie for the 2013 Summertime Photography Scavenger Hunt!!! Please join the fun by adding a link to one of your Scavenger Hunt posts at the bottom of today's post. It can be a new post or one from earlier this month. Feel free to share anything related to the Hunt.  I'll host one more linky at the end of the Hunt (on Sept. 21). Today, I'm posting my latest awesome find: Dinosaurs!

When I put "a dinosaur" on the list, it was because I pass this yard full of dinosaurs several times a week:

But I have never stopped to look at them up close and personal:

Or to take any photograph:

These large rusty metal dinosaurs are outside a fountain store and group of shops called Spanishtown, and I'm really glad I stopped by for a visit!  Have you ever seen anything like this?  You can see the rest of my scavenger hunt photos by clicking here. 
Please link up your post below and try to stop by at least three other posters to see what they're up to!

PPF: My Life Long Journey (Passport to Art altered book)

This weekend is a long weekend here in the United States, and I'm committing to grabbing some creative time. First up: finish the Passport to Art altered book I've been working on. The spread up top commemorates a kayak/camping trip to Baja California.   The entire trip was fantastic, but the highlight was the night we got up and discovered bioluminescence in the water. We splashed and kicked and watched the water come to life with twinkling lights. To recreate the feeling, I painted black gesso onto a seascape page and then flicked gold and silver metallic paint on top. I added a piece of map from the region and a little sea nymph.

The other spread that I have completed talks about my life-long journey. The journaling reads "During my lifetime, I have traveled all over the world, but for "home," I traveled only 400 miles from Southern to Northern California. I lived in the same house in La Habra for 16 years and have been in our current home for almost 23 years." I was lucky to find a page in my book which actually had the small town where I grew up (La Habra) on one page and the San Francisco bay area on the facing page. I gesso'd and painted out the other areas, added some art dolls and other embellishments. I'm really happy to include this aspect of "travel" in my Passport to Art book. I think it's interesting that, although I am a world traveler, my tendency has been to find a Home and stay put.  It makes me wonder how far you have traveled geographically on your life-long journey? And do you move house often or tend to stay in one house for the majority of your life?
This weekend, besides finishing up my Passport to Art book, I will prepare a Faces Art Journal to use for Shimelle's Learn Something New Everyday class in September. 
Here on the blog, I'll  be hosting a linky for the 2013 Summertime Scavenger Hunt, so please stop by if you are participating.
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Linking up with Paint Party Friday! Click on this link to see other painterly goodness.

Cutting and Sticking: Snippets of Words

The amazing Julie Kirk of Notes on Paper has been running a series of cards she makes called "snippets of words."  The idea is to find a random phrase from pages of text and use them on a card. I think she suggests starting by building a card and then searching for a phrase which will make your creation complete. That works for me! Here's two cards I've created recently.  The one on the right says "parties and late nights should be left until the week-end." I think I'll send it to Henry once he's away at University with a bit of cash tucked inside.  The other reads "'I don't quite understand you,' she said, as politely as she could." I'm not sure to whom or for what occasion to send that card (but I like it anyway)! Do you have any ideas?

Look Up//Look Down #34: A Summer Weekend

For this week's pair of photographs looking up and looking down (following along with a meme created by Helena), I decided to share some highly saturated colors of a summer weekend. Looking up at the new sign for the new nanobrewery in town and down at the counter with dinner preparations (a spinach salad with strawberries, marinating tomatoes and olives to go into pasta, and a glass of wine). 
I'm not ready to let go of summer yet I guess. Are you?