Painting with one hand

I recently broke my wrist from a fall so haven't been able to do much of anything. I discovered I could snap open a jar of paint, squeeze some out, and then finger paint or use a brush -- all with my right hand! Perfect!
Inspiration came from Flora Bowley and Alena Hennessy who introduced me to using a lot of layering when painting. This was originally an abandoned painted background that was dark and uninteresting. So I painted a pod - one of my favorite shapes - over top, then covered the background with buff paint. Allowing everything to dry before layering is key. I love how the colors underneath create a unique look.

Inspired by Basquiat and Jodi Ohl

I believe in the healing power of art journaling, so decided to share a very personal example.  JumpStart's challenge recently inspired me to study the work of artist Jean-Michel Basquiat who said, "I don't think about art when I'm creating, I think about life." Here's an inspiration from his graffiti-like style and my life experience. My dad lost his battle with heart disease yesterday, so I wrote a letter to him and covered it up with this art. The song by the Rascals "Asked my family doctor what's ailing me -- All you really need is Good Lovin'" came to mind for me. Here is what I expressed using paint, gesso, water-soluble crayons and Sharpie paint pens. Special thanks to Jodi Ohl for her interpretation of this challenge.
I included "depart/go in peace" because he said that at the end of every church service.

Additional Matisse

Following along with Creative JumpStart's Matisse inspiration, I tried some cut-outs for my weekly planner. This was really fun. I will try Michelle Ward's file folder idea once I get some spray paint and acetate! So here I simply sprayed masked squares with Dylusions ink and then sponged black ink on a negative of the shape and adhered white cutouts of the positive shape. It was actually relaxing to cut shapes with a scissor! I did cheat on the stars by using a punch.

Welcome 2016!

With Natalie's Creative JumpStart 2016. The inspiration came from Matisse as Rae Missigman shared her jumpstart with us using layers and layers of paint. This is a different process for me, so I gave it a try! My favorite part was scraping away the white to reveal the colors underneath. Love learning the different, individual techniques used by all the JumpStarters!

Here's to 2015!

View of my Documented Life/Faith Planner for 2015. I did every juicy week! Happy New Year!

Joy to the World

DLP inspired by Michelle Ward

November theme: Stencils, Stamps & Masks
Weekly challenge: Use a hand-carved stamp
Journal Prompt: Tapestries

Here's my interpretation of this week's challenge.
I found a leaf in my notebook, nicely pressed from last year. I traced the leaf, made a reduced copy on the copier and then transferred the design onto an eraser. I used the Speedball Speedy-cut eraser carving block.

I carved the leaf design and tested my design by stamping samples. I like to leave small lines to show the hand carving lines. If you don't, you can cut those away.

Then I stamped my new stamp onto tissue paper coated with gesso and paint.

I allowed the ink to dry overnight so in the morning I could cut the leaf image into strips of paper.
Then I glued all the pieces back together matching up the stamped images over each other just like a quilt!

Check out Michelle's beautiful DLP example here.