Art at Stone Lake

My Studio Journal

As part of my ongoing commitment to really apply myself to visual journaling, I've also started a Studio Journal.  It's a place to keep notes on experiments, samples, ideas, images that inspire me, doodles, and more.  I paint many of the pages with watercolor or acrylics as a background, and then work on the painted pages. Painting these backgrounds is a good way to use leftover paint on my palette when working on other projects.  Or, it's just a good warmup!   I plan to keep some pages white--just in case I really want to work from a true blank page. The book is a Canson XL Mixed Media pad, spiral bound.  I painted the cover as well. 

I decided to put in an affirmations page about myself as an artist. I wanted to create a spiritual space in this book. That's the one at the top of this post.

The page below is from another spread--leftover bits and pieces, notes.  I also have to remember to put dates on these pages since I don't work in sequence, page by page.  I can never work in a straight line...smile....

 

Affirmations

In my 'other life', I am a consultant on leadership development. I often include art based/right brain activities in these programs. 

Recently, a colleague and I completed a 9 month program with a wonderful group of people at a government agency.  In our closing, I designed an art-based activity.  I painted canvases and collaged a piece of hand painted watercolor paper to each one.  I used a wide range of colors.  Each participant then selected a canvas, and drew their own hand in outline, and added affriming words that described their strengths.  The participants then added an affirmation to everyone' else's canvas--it becomes sort of a word portrait.  Here's mine--and the wonderful words that these great people wrote for me.  Thanks Everyone!!

Sketchbook Project

I've recommitted to do a LOT more visual journaling.  This is one of the projects I've taken on to keep me limber!   I signed up for the Arthouse Coop Sketchbook project a couple of months ago.  My theme is "The View From Up Here'.  I have to say that I almost backed out because the themes didn't initially call to me.  However, I decided that the challenge was to STRETCH my Imagination, so I jumped into it. 

Link to the site:  Sketchbook Project

The finished sketchbooks will be housed at the Brooklyn Library in New York City, and will travel to other venues.  Quite exciting!

I started out in this sketchbook by turning to my dictionary and playing with each word in the theme.  I collaged in copies of dictionary pages, wrote comments about the theme and even wrote a short poem.

On the left, you can see a piece of fabric that I just liked...nothing to do with the theme.  I just needed to start out with some texture.

This next spread includes shots from a moving train.  On the right hand page, I have a comment that reads: "From the train window, the horizon is clear, sharp.  It's only the near distance that passes in a blur."
 

 

Next spread--I collaged in a monoprint --acrylic paint on glass and then monoprinted onto watercolor paper.  One of the prints looked like mountains and forests from an airplane (left hand page). I made a note that this is an 'interior landscape'--one visible only in my/your imagination.   I love this type of monoprinting. The right hand page is also a monoprint, but the paper was crinkled quite a bit.  More texture.

 

 

I'll post more in a couple of weeks. 

 

 

Identity and British Nationality -- Digital Catalog

Hi,

I ran across an interesting item online.  The Neuberger Museum in Purchase NY has uploaded a free digital catalog for one of their exhibits.   The Exhibit was titled, 'British Subjects: Identity and Self-fashioning, 1967-2009.  Fascinating catalog and it is free!!

Here's the link to download it:

Digital Catalog

Enjoy!

Carole

Artquilting in Costa Rica!

Hi,

 

I think I mentioned on an earlier post that one of my quilts is being exhibited in Costa Rica!  It's part of an exhibit curated by Dr. Carolyn Mazloomi, who is a truly world class quilt curator, historian and artist. In addition ot the exhibit, several of the artists also traveled there to conduct talks and classes.  Here is a link ot the FABULOUS blog by Marion Coleman that is a moving documentary.  Please click below to share their amazing journey.

Costa Rica Blog

And, here's a detail of the artquilt that was in the show.