Making more Art

I am still trying to catch up in the 2015 Documented Life Project. I have completed two challenges this week and thought I would blog about the one I did this morning.

The challenge was PHOTO TRANSFER and we were given various methods to use from four artists plus we got a link to an article from "Cloth Paper Scissors" magazine about lots of other methods. I chose a method based on what I had to hand - an inkjet printer, normal copy paper and gel medium. EXCEPT that I forgot to re-read the instructions before I started.

The consequence of this was that I left the print on the page for a bit too long and had trouble getting the paper off. I started with a photo taken in Tasmania in 2011 which I thought had potential as one I could extend onto the page. The procedure is to put gel medium on the page where the photo is to go, place the photo face down, burnish the back and peel off after a minute. Well I peeled off after about 3-4 minutes with lots of white paper, but it did rub off especially when I used a baby wipe. I just had to be gentle about it!

The original photo is on the left and on the right is what I got after the transfer. Not too bad, but with a couple of holes in the middle.

I find that the gel medium acts as a resist to such things as coloured pencils and markers, so decided to use my chalk pastels. They have a nice range of green and brown colours which I needed and I quite like the hands-on experience of rubbing colour into the page.

The art work is a bit amateurish, but I enjoyed the process and am learning along the way - and that is the reason that I joined the Documented Life Project in the first place.

Trying to find my artistic style

For some time now, I have felt the need to get back to making art - art for arts sake, that is. I have always done crafty type things - embroidery, knitting, sewing, scrapbooking - but I stopped doing art (drawing & painting) when I finished school & started work.

My first job was in the city which entailed an hour's travel on public transport to get there and then another hour to get home at the end of the day. Suddenly I had my own money and spent it on fashion and other things. I went out with friends and enjoyed myself. I bought a car, got a job closer to home, moved out of home into a flat, moved back home, changed jobs, went overseas, changed jobs again, went overseas again, bought my first house in my forties, made a garden, moved house, took redundancy, retrained and at sixty found a new job in my chosen field.

So all of sudden, I'm settled in a great job, really close to home, living in a secure friendly environment, looking towards retirement in 5-10 years, but I'm restless - why? I need a crafty/arty outlet for my spare time and start trawling the net. First stop, Zentangle (see my previous post) where I discover a whole community doing some amazing art, and although I enjoy tangling it is not really where I want to stay. But the thing about websites is that one always leads to another and another ...

I found Frieda Oxenham whose site I look at every day  and get my daily fix of flowers, quilts, art, dogs, etc. Through her, I found the ladies at Art to the 5th with their Documented Life Project  where I can get a weekly prompt to make some art and inspiration from the artists taking part. I found Donna Downey with her videos and her artist gang where a weekly video offers inspiration. Of course, I found loads more that I check often to get inspiration, but I joined the 2015 Documented Life Project and took the step to actually making art instead of just looking at how to make art.

From the very start of the Project I became aware that I had little knowledge of technique - despite six years of art at secondary school. So just as well that the DLP 2015 weekly challenges give you the opportunity to explore different mediums & techniques while documenting various aspects of life. Now more than half way through the Project, I think I have finally hit upon a style that I am happy with and can use over and over.

I used this technique in my scrapbooks a couple of times - where I cropped a photo and then extended it using free-hand drawing. In this case, some ugly weeds in the photo are replaced by branches extending out over the water.

By pure luck because I used a magazine cover as the basis for a DLP challenge, I have found a style which I can use for lots of artwork. The photo is stuck to the page and colour is added to extend the photo across the page. This challenge was to use cheesecloth and as soon as I saw the magazine, I saw that I could use the cheesecloth as a net laying next to the boat. 

And here is another challenge using the same technique. This time I used two photos from my  trip through South Australia in 2011 to see Lake Eyre. The gel medium I used to glue the photos down took away some of the ink when I swiped it around the edges. I really like that grungy look.

How happy am I? Really happy that I have a technique to use that can be altered to suit lots of the DLP challenges. Happy that when I run out of inspiration, I have a tried and tested format to use. Happy that I am building confidence in my artistic ability. And really happy that confidence means I will try new things and other ways to express myself on the page.

The only thing I'm not happy about - there's not enough time left over after work, cooking and housework to get more art done!

http://friedaquilter.blogspot.com.au
http://www.art5academy.com
http://donnadowney.typepad.com/simply_me/2015/07/art-1.html

Zentangle - have you heard about it?

While processing books at work, I came across Beckah Krahula's "One Zentangle a Day: a 6-week course in creative drawing for relaxation, inspiration, and fun".

I immediately put a reserve on my local library's copy so that I could have a better look.

I really like the concept of Zentangle as a means of meditation, and a way into being able to draw again. The act of repeating the patterns takes your focus into the drawing and away from the distractions of everyday life.

So I did a bit of dabbling using the patterns in Beckah's book, did some surfing on the net and found a whole community of tanglers out there. Their work is inspiring and I really need to sit down and tangle more often.

I did this one for one of the Diva's Challenges.

This is one of my earlier efforts.

I would recommend anyone to try Zentangle - even people who say they are hopeless at drawing. The instructions for each pattern are clear and easy to follow. Before you you know it, you are off and running with a small (3 1/2 inch / 9cm square) drawing that YOU did!

Check out these sites:

http://tanglepatterns.com/book-reviews/one-zentangle-a-day

This is also a great site for getting tangle patterns to use.

http://iamthedivaczt.blogspot.com.au/2014/11/weekly-challenge-195.html

This is an interesting challenge from last month, scroll sown to check out all the responses.

https://www.zentangle.com/zentangle-method

The founders website with links to blog & newsletter.

Do you worry about your health ... and about the cost of health?

It doesn't consume me, but I do worry about both my health and the cost of keeping myself healthy. Two of my doctors (the heart specialist and my local doctor) want me to have a comprehensive full blood test.

This means fasting, waiting until 8.30 am (or later depending on where I am in the queue) and then ending up black and blue because they can't find a vein that doesn't collapse.

For starters, at 6.00 am when I normally eat breakfast - I have to remember NOT to!
Next, I have to sit around at home for a while, then go stand in a queue outside the pathology office.
Then, I go through the wonderful experience of some poor pathologist trying to get blood.

All that, just so the doctors can tell me that I'm borderline diabetic, my kidney function is dodgy, my cholesterol is only just within the acceptable range, and my thyroid function hasn't really changed since last time.

At least, I hope that's what they would say.
I certainly don't want to move from being pre-diabetic to having type 2 diabetes.
I would also prefer the other health problems stayed within acceptable levels.

Hopefully once I get the test done, the doctors will tell me to watch what I eat, to get more exercise and write prescriptions for the five tablets that I take each day (at least that is down from the seven I was taking a couple of years ago).

And there's my next whinge ... the cost of prescribed medication.
I am 61 and not likely to get off any of these medications in the near (or distant) future.
Why then is it costing me about $70.00 per month to get my prescriptions filled?

Surely as a senior person with chronic health issues, I can get some help?

It seems not ... I am working too many hours and earning too much money to qualify for a health care card and my seniors card doesn't get me a discount at the pharmacy.
Thank goodness, I am only taking five tablets now instead of seven or I would probably be spending over $100.00 per month for medication I CANNOT stop taking.

Trove Tuesday - Things were done differently back then!

I have just finished correcting text for an article about first-aid classes in Frankston in 1927. The article asks that those desirous of taking the classes should register their interest with Mr. Krebs, the manager at the E.S.& A. Bank.

Just imagine walking into the ANZ Bank (successor of the E.S.& A.) and asking the manager to add your name to the class list. Things were certainly more relaxed back then in 1927. Also Frankston would have had a much smaller population and no doubt Mr. Krebs knew lots of the locals and they in turn knew him.

Here is the link to the article from the Frankston & Somerville Standard of May 6, 1927:
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/74991508

Trove is a great resource for getting an historical perspective on life - whether you are researching family history or looking at past events. I love the little insights I get into life in 1927 while I am correcting text for my local paper.

What were you doing 25 years ago?

There has been a lot on the TV lately about Tiananmen Square and the events of 25 years ago. This has made me think about what I was doing then, which was travelling around the Middle East and reading about events in China in the Herald Tribune, which because we were rough camping and had no access to TV, was the only way we could keep up with world events and was usually the only English langauge newspaper we could find.

In March of 1989, I left my job and flew to Kathmandu to join several like-minded individuals and embark on a journey to London, camping or staying in rough hotels in India, Pakistan, Turkey, Jordan, Syria, Greece, Yugoslavia (as it still was), Austria, Germany, and Belgium. Some of our group got visas for Iran and travelled through just before the death of Ayatollah Khomeini. Those of us who did not get visas, did a little tour along the Black Sea coast of  Turkey before joining up with the others near Mt Ararat in eastern Turkey.

At about this time of the year 25 years ago, the group I was travelling with had just spent a couple of days in Jerusalem - such a rich history and so many religious sites/sights - it was almost overwhelming. From there we travelled to Syria - marvelling at architectural and archaeological wonders like Jerash and Palmyra, exploring crusader fortresses like Crac des Chevaliers,  and wandering around old Damascus with my fellow travellers. We were met with nothing but goodwill while travelling through Syria and I find it very sad to see what is happening to the country and more importantly the people.

This was my first big trip overseas and it gave me a taste for travel to slightly exotic destinations - the following year I went to northern Pakistan and into China to Kashgar. A couple of years later, it was Egypt and some Greek isles. Work got in the way for a few years, until I went on a family holiday to New Caledonia with some cousins, and then I did some trips in Australia - Perth, Lake Eyre, Kakadu.

Travel is a wonderful thing - whether you go overseas or travel in your own country - it gives you a chance to meet a wide variety of people, to see how others live, how they work and how they fill their leisure time. Sometimes it's not that pleasant, but the experience of it broadens your horizons and makes you a more rounded, knowledgeable person.

So that was what I was doing 25 years ago - travelling through what is now a war-torn country, enjoying the weather, the food and the hospitality. I'm glad that I was doing that, as I have good memories of Syria and don't just know it from the TV news.

Renovation TV

Are you a fan of all these TV shows about renovation or new builds? I am. Not that every show actually gives you a good look at the rooms and layout ... which is what I'm most interested in.

I've always been fascinated by house plans and I'm always drawing up plans to remodel the house I am currently living in, or designing a whole new house - trying to maximise the winter sun, minimise the summer heat and give me the optimal space for living and cunning storage for all my craft supplies and BOOKS (including of course, books about houses and design).

I love it when a new season of Grand Designs comes on the telly ... and not just because that means more Kevin McCloud! Even if the house being showcased is not your style or you think the people building it are nut cases, you will always see some new product that may make it into the mainstream or get some great idea you could use, and let's face it, the houses are always interesting even when they are a bit too disco or a bit too greenie.

Compared to the other shows on offer, Grand Designs concentrates on the building and design process and even when Kevin gets a bit critical, the show keeps my attention for the whole 50 minutes. The other shows wander about sidetracked by history, repeating the same scene over (and over) again, concentrating on dissension (between partners or teams) - the actual renovation/room reveal seems to be an afterthought sometimes.

To my mind, fans watch the shows because they are interested in renovation, building, design, even interior decoration - so to take up too much time on other things means that fans don't get what they want out of the show. I quite like the history aspect of Restoration Home, but it does get a bit laboured at times. I absolutely hate all the arguments and sometimes sheer nastiness on shows such as The Block and House Rules - so I just watch the room/house reveals. And as for Australia's Best Houses - well that's just one big advert and they only scratch the surface with showing the houses.

So thank god for Grand Designs which concentrates on the house - how it is designed and how it is built, with a little bit about the personalities involved, some information about new or innovative products used, sometimes a bit about the decoration - but overall the house design is king.

Thank-you Kevin and team.