Effys Book of Days-Mosaic Spread

The cover of my Art Journal
is still almost blank.
I'm really surprised 

that the muse has not shown up

yet to tell me whats what.
She is a fickle one...
All in good time...

The next spread in 

Effy's Book of Days

Art Journal project is 

Mosaics!

At the start of this journal,

I spent a lot of time 

gessoing out artwork

I didn't think I would 

use as collage elements.

 I covered most of the

images in white gesso

but used transparent gesso 

for the images I was 

pretty sure I was gonna keep.

Below you can see

the next pages in the calendar.

Ironically, we've got a 

mosiac theme going!!

Coincidence? 

I think not.

This proves this calendar 

is meant to be the vehicle

for the project.

So I was going through the book

gessoing in advance

of the assignment and prompts.

When I saw this page I thought

ohhhhh, what a perfect

page for my 

1970's porn star inchies!!

Pic below.

Handy tip:

I got 2 boxes of this deli paper

for $20 bucks two years ago.

And I just opened the second box! 

I highly recommend leaving 

the paper in between your pages.

Even if you think they are dry.

They will still stick together.

Prevention is better than

um, fixing it???

   Below you can see 

I've added some drips

and some acrylic paint I've run

a texture rake through.

The green is my fav

green of all time

Goldens Green Gold.

By the time I lay down the color

I've seen Effy's video.

She journals about 

feelings of rejection

and about not taking 

it personally.

How people come and go 

in our lives and the 

importance of learning

to let them come and go

graciously, with love.

Oh, I'm not supposed 

to grab his leg

and let him drag me across

the room as he's leaving?

 stupid flashbacks.

teehee.

I only did that in my mind.

Thank God I'm on the path

to enlightenment

and I don't own 

a hand gun.

Back to Art.....

 I was so lucky

to attend 

Misty Mawns

two day Portrait workshop

at Art and Soul retreat

in Virginia.

I had never drawn a face let alone

a portrait before,

but A and S

is a growing experience for me.

Hell, driving 7 hours in one day

alone is a lot of growth for me..

And pushing myself to grow

artistically in such 

a safe and positive

atmosphere is heaven on earth.

It is unfortunate that the retreats

are no longer in my budget.

Even dogs know that I can't

afford it, thats how

obvious it is that 

I can't afford it.

Feel me?

I knew that you could.

ok back on track....

I was so lucky that besides

sharing musical tastes

and getting the thrill of 

turning Misty onto 

The Wood Brothers,

she is an extremely 

generous and patient teacher.

And oh so freakin talented.

As I was pondering on what to journal,

I remembered this piece I did.

I love the poetry

of R.D. Laing,

so I incorporated his words into 

my self portrait at the retreat.

I am frightened

not frightened

Powerful words, no?

I printed a copy of the original

and journaled on the back.

I wrote about my fear of death.

My fear of aging, getting sick,

and dying.

Of losing my "beauty". 

Of becoming invisible.

Of walking next to my teenage

daughter in the mall and

the 50 year old guy

looks at her and not me.

Again, I am grateful I do not have 

a hand gun.

teehee.

So I purged it all out,

and cut the print into strips,

then 1 inch blocks to cover

the exsisting inches

in the spread.

 

 

I said good by to all that 

 bad habit energy, and

  glued the blocks down with

Goldens Heavy gel medium.

On the facing page

I glued down a flower 

I've used billions of times

as a mask and stencil

ala Traci Bautista.

This one is actually

the one I used in her class.

Altho stamped with Fear,

its a symbol of the growth

I experienced at Art and Soul,

and the growth I am experiencing

on my path to Buddhism.

I put a little pic of the 

original photo used to 

represent wholeness.

and because I look hot.

teehee.

I did some journalling on the page,

and left room to add thoughts

about experiences that occur

that frighten me.

So that's the whole shebang so far.

I have a feeling that I will not feel 

the "decoration" for the cover 

of this journal until it is complete.

But thats ok.

Effy taught me that! 

My next spread will be for a 

week of days, 

and then Mondays spread!

Which is about

Excepting Where You Are 

In Your Artistic Journey!!

Amen, I'll take Acceptance

for 500 Alex!

Until next time!

xoS

Effy's Book Of Days: Letters to 2011/2012

In Effy's Book of Days, 

we have a spread that 

incorporates a letter we write
to the year 2011.

I think this is such an amazing idea.

We also incorporate a pocket 

for a letter to 2012.

We don't touch that until, 

um, 2012. 

This spread is the very first

in my upcycled journal.

I begin by using my favorite 

color, Golden's Cobalt Teal.

I think Heaven is an Urban Outfitters 

and the walls are all this color.

oh, and the clothes all fit...

teehee, seriously,

What I really think is that 

Heaven is Now.
OM.
Back to Art.

Now my favorite color combo

on the planet

is teal and red. 

But I wanted to say 

good bye to 2011

and greet 2012 

in a less vibrant fashion.

So, I went with teal and pink. 

A pretty, gentle, and compassionate 

meet and greet. 

teehee.

In the pic below I am playing around with the layouts.I have had that PAPAYA! sticker for years! who knew the importance a lotus flower would come to have for me 

years later.

On the side is some vintage wallpaper I was lucky enough to score in a trade with another Art and Soul 

attendee.Also there are some assorted scrap booking elements left over from those days too. And the pic of the thread spools is from an old Coach catalog, believe it or not. Back in the day I cared about stuff like that. That's ok. I got my first Coach bag when I passed my State Boards, I was 26. Some of Sam's school mates

had them in second grade, but I am coming dangerously close to my what is happening to the world we live in diatribe...back to art!!!

So I'm almost ready for the glue.

For my letters I am repurposing

a thank you note from my sister, Linda.
I'm just going to write my letter
in between her writing. 
very cool. 
Since she wrote
in orange pen, 
I may just write
on top of her letters in black.
So I get to keep a little of her, too.
very, very cool.

I always loved 
the henna tattoo/paisleyish 
pattern on the notecard

and had grandiose dreams of 

tracing it and cutting it

into a rubber stamp. 

HAHAHAHA.

I will scan it though.

Just in case...

I have the years stamped

with one of those 

office date things.

and some stenciling

through some cool

punchinella, 

or sequin waste. 

I also used some 

PAPAYA! tissue

and twinkling H2O's.

Do Not Hate Me

for getting you hooked.

I am an Art Supply Enabler.

Below is a pic of spread 

without the letters in the pockets.

There are some stickers used

and a clear envelope 

from when Sam was a baby

and I was scrap booking every fart.

She's almost 18.

Therefore,

my "use what I have" year.

Long Overdue.

Below more

gratuitous closeups. 

Cuz I'm a closeup whore.

And there you have it,

my first ever

Art Journal spread.

and it was constructed

mostly in bed

with foot elevated.

  

So, my word is

Mindfulness. 

I hope I can live up to it.

Thanks for looking!

xoS
PS I have no idea why
that column of text is way over to 
the side, and I'm way too tired
to fix it. Let's just all pretend
I meant to do it that way.
Thank. You.

BIG CANVAS ENVY

20" x 48"

Clear Gesso

Goldens Gold Paint

 

Sketching out the design

with some willow charcoal 

Adding more Golden paint

What I have so far:

That's all for now, lots more layers to go. 

Happy Today, whatever your beliefs are.

xoS