What I did this week-end

DLP - Week 44

So here we are at week 44 of the Documented Life Project, and I am still participating and uploading my efforts into the Gallery on the website, where they often pale into insignificance against other participants efforts (http://www.art5academy.com/gallery). There are some very creative people participating in this project.

We have just done five, yes five, weeks of translucent papers for the month of October.  I had to improvise in a couple of challenges as I was not sure of what was meant by deli paper and I had no glassine. Luckily the last challenge was "Tea bags, Dryer sheets, Fibrous papers" and I have plenty of tea bags - having saved some unused, very out of date tea bags to use for dyeing at some stage.

So I steeped one tea bag in hot water, emptied several others and added them to the pot to colour up - which they did nicely. Once dried, I carefully pulled them apart so they were ready to apply to my page.

Here is the page I started with:

It was made using up leftover Paynes Grey and just dabbing the make-up sponge onto the page. I also added some alphabet stamps to use excess ink, from the same project (see Dream BIG below).

To this page, I glued  my tea bags and selected three Distress stains which I sprayed on the page. Again, AS USUAL,  the red is too strong for my tastes but I  stayed with it because that was my original choice.

Here is the page after spraying over the tea bags:

As you can see the first spray with mustard in the bottom R/H corner is very tentative, but they get stronger with the red and stronger again with the peacock.

From here, I covered the page lightly with gesso, found some paint to match the stains and used the make-up sponge again to stamp square shapes on the page. I wrote this week's DLP prompt "Just Create", added some stencil elements, and called it done.

Not my best effort, but it has several layers and the colours look much, much brighter in real life.

Dream BIG

The other page I completed this week is in the journal where I use up any leftover paint or mediums. It had some brightly coloured geometric stencils on the page which I covered up with two different paper napkins, I put a pink wash over the napkins and outlined the edges in green. I added a fern-like stencil using olive green distress stain, but it didn't show up very well - BUT when I turned the stencil over to press the excess stain onto the facing page, I got a great effect.

So I redid the stencil in Paynes Grey (hence the start of my page above), and added a rubber stamp of the Paris skyline to go with the top napkin. A couple of tissue paper butterflies, some pen work around the edge, and letter stamps to say "Dream BIG" finish off this page.







































As you can see, the reverse of the stencil looks great and I will use this page in a journal  in the future. All together a very successful weekend for me. I am happy with what I produced.

It is hard sometimes to get inspiration or even motivation to keep creating. That was one of my goals this year, and I am very pleased that I am still going with the DLP and still creating something each week ... and sometimes more that one something each week!

It is very satisfying to have achieved at least one of my goals this year.

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.