iPhoneography Inspiration To Paint

Last night, I was going through my iPhone photos and kept coming back to this photo I took of the blooming Cherry Blossoms that are starting to make its appearance everywhere. I love the colors of the pink and white against the blue sky. It is so gorgeous.... Spring is definitely in the air and I cannot wait to see more signs of spring reveal itself as we begin to see flowers in bloom and hopefully more sunshine... Because this girl needs me some SUN and I'm so looking forward to feeling its warmth up here in Northern California.

Spring, just come now already!!!

Anyways, onto what I was saying.... with Instagram and my latest favorite photo app, Tadaa, photos are instantly turned into works of art. I love playing around with the filter affects and making colors pop or give it that retro affect. If you think about it, long gone are those days when cell phones were merely used for just calling peeps, but now its used for almost everything from email, shopping, social media, planning, listening to music, watching videos.... my goodness, technology has definitely changed and evolved. But, I absolutely love the fact that smart phones have the ability to transform into a camera or video recorder. NOW, that is such a huge breakthrough for us photo geeks.:)

One thing I knew I had to do when I came across the photo above was to paint it and practice my still life painting skills. I came across another artist on Instagram--@bettyann--who has truly inspired me to learn this other concept of painting. I'm sure there are many still life artists out there who are amazing, but seeing this lady's work led me to give my hand a try at it... Betty, if you're reading, thank you for inspiring me :)

Down below is my painted picture of Spring Blossoms using Caran d' Ache Neocolor II crayons and a water brush pen and that's it. I lightly sketched out the branches and from there I painted the flowers first, then branches, and then filled in the blue sky last. I wasn't sure how it would turn out as I randomly painted the blooms with no predetermined idea of how to do it. Everything just flowed so freely, something that doesn't happen too often as I'd like. To me, although it may not seem like a big thing, it's a pretty huge accomplishment. Yay! So, here's to my first watercolor still life painting in my art journal! I have lots of practicing to do and as I go about life, I'm going to keep my eyes open and will continue to be inspired by the beauty around me and paint, paint, paint...

When In Doubt, Sketch It Out...

 There are days when I know exactly what I want to work on, whether it be a page in my art journal or a project assignment, but there are a lot of days in between when I lack the motivation or the creativity to work on anything. Lately, I've been lacking time and energy with so many changes going on in my personal life plus the fact that my boys have a whole week off from school for President's Week. Yet, I know that if I don't do something creative every day, it will get harder to get that groove back and perhaps lose focus on the goals I had set out to achieve at the beginning of 2012. Yeah, you know how they say that "Life gets in the way." I've made that same excuse so many times over the course of my creative journey and always find myself regretting that I had given up so easily. So, what was my solution? 

SKETCH. DOODLE. DRAW.

Yes, I love to paint with abandonment and make a mess in my art studio. Yes, I do love the feel of dried paint on my hands and getting my clothes dirty. I love that feeling of being a child at play, without any reservations of trying so hard not to make any mistakes. But, who says you can't bring some of your work to bed? :) 

Lately, I have been keeping a sketchbook, watercolor crayons, pitt artist pens, china marker, charcoal pencils, and a water brush pen. Then as I wind down from the day, usually around 10:30pm, I take that time to doodle and draw. If I'm still feeling up to it, I'll add some watercolor. I can go to sleep at night knowing that I haven't neglected that gift that is so special to me. The gift of being an artist. That gift that I have forgotten about for so long since my teenage years and finally found again. I realize that when we have a special gift or talent, no matter how much we forget or neglect it, it will always come back to you and offer you another chance to nurture and protect it. I know that now and I believe it will be here to stay for good. :) Thanks to Jeanne Oliver's workshop--Creatively Made--for opening my eyes to this.

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A He{ART} Journal To Remember

After our recent move, it's funny how things turn up that were buried under so much clutter. As we are finally getting settled in our new home, I had to share this journal of mine. It's not your typical diary that was a written by one person. It belongs to both my husband and I. It is more like letters that we wrote to one another prior to our engagement. Our thoughts and feelings were poured out through words and inscriptions over a span of 3 years. Sometimes we added memorabilia or personal things like ticket stubs, sketches, colorings, stickers, etc.  It turns out, as I realize more now than before, that this may be my very first 'art journal' so to speak. Emotions that we felt often displayed the colors that it reflected like when we argued or when we were happy. It was also a place where we could express ourselves creatively, making our relationship grow in ways unimaginable. Even though we could talk and laugh for hours on end, this journal was a more intimate way of conversation through artistic expression such as poetry, lyrics, and colors. Very sacred, indeed. I hope this will always be part of our legacy to our children and the future generations of our family... It holds such a valuable purpose to teach that real love is not perfect, but it also keeps no record of wrongs and is not bound by material or worldly things, but by trust, honesty, and unconditional love that God has placed in us, especially with those who are close to our hearts...

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I always had a deep fascination for butterflies, the beauty of transformation is astoundingly amazing.

A glimpse of our back to back letters to each other in our journal...

A drawing that I drew of my dream home by the ocean....

Pressed flowers that my hubby used to decorate one of his pages...

A rough sketch of a photo of us. It was my documentation of when he was seeing me off at the airport. I left for a month to Hawaii to visit my sister...

He drew my name, graffiti style...

Lots of color and writing....

We were down to the very last pages of this journal and this is where he proposed to me....

And of course I said... YES!!

And its been 8 years since we got married and we are living happily ever after.... 

This is our purpose: To Love Each Other So Other Purposes Will Be Fulfilled 

{CREATIVELY MADE} Week One : Altered Journal

{CREATIVELY MADE WITH JEANNE OLIVER}

WEEK ONE: Altered Journal Cover

Just letting you peek on my current project for Creatively Made, workshop by Jeanne Oliver. The first week has really been amazing as I watched some of the videos from Jeanne sharing some of her wisdom and insight about the creative gifts that have been instilled in us. I sometimes had moments where I would choke up and feel like crying because a lot of her messages were very relational to what I had gone through as I began my journey towards discovering my dreams and desires to become an artist. The challenges of balancing life with family, to overcoming fears about finding my purpose in what I do, to not giving up on the dreams I have for myself and family and some of the realities that she and many women struggle with, was very encouraging and eye-opening that it taught me the importance of finding that voice in ourselves and connecting with the God-given gifts that was placed in us. We all have a gift and it is to inspire and bless, not only ourselves, but to inspire and bless others. One thing that really resonated in my heart, was her insight that our gifts and creativity, will always be in line with our family values and dynamics, it will never oppose and conflict with what's important to our family. Simply an amazing revelation, at least to me. It just felt so good to have that affirmation that I am not alone. Hearing her stories, as well as the stories shared by everyone in the class, has been such a blessing to me so far and really uplifted my spirit and soul in an immeasurable way. 

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We had already finished Week Two, but I am still behind in creating an Altered Journal cover from Week One's lesson. I had such a busy week that I couldn't begin on it right away, but I am determined to work on it and finish at my own pace. 

I spent today looking through magazines and found some clippings of words, quotes, titles, and also images of models and cool backgrounds, like the peacock feathers which I love. This is my first time actually doing a mixed media collage using cut outs from magazines, so I'm not that familiar with this technique, but I'm really excited to finally experiment with it and see how it turns out.

So, here is a peek at what I've done midway, using this lady that I cut out from a magazine ad, ephemera, acrylic paints, stickers, rubber stamps, and a butterfly die cut. Will share more details on that once I complete this project. :)

I'm about to leave to watch the Niners playoff game, so this is going to be sitting on my table until I get back! Woot, woot!!

GO NINERS!!!!!!

Doodles Unleashed : Inspired By Traci Bautista

Traci Bautista's Doodles Unleashed online workshop is a free class on Strathmore's website that I am currently taking and because I've been so inspired by her work already, it was a great chance for me to get to know Traci and learn from her. Doodling comes so naturally to me already which is why I was so excited to join in and I'm so glad I did because I am having so much fun with it. So far, I've created a few pieces from the last two lessons that were posted and wanted to share my take on them as I applied some of her cool techniques in my art work. There are two more weeks of her workshop and I will also be posting about that as well, so don't forget to come back and check out my blog!

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Lesson 1: Playful Printmaking

In lesson 1, it was about printmaking and creating doodles shapes for the background, but I didn't really create too many doodles because I was more focused on creating a theme for an art journal page and wanted to incorporate a title as you can see above and some writing onto the page. However, I did love this lesson because one of my favorite things to doodle, are flowers and botanicals. 

Dream: "Never let go of your dreams...you and only you can live out your dreams."

One of the dreams I have is to 'write a book' and to 'teach'. 

I know that these dreams can bloom, grow, and flourish if I hold on and never give up.

I used a white gel pen to journal with, but Traci has a list of her favorite white ink pens + markers on her blog which I want  to try out in the future.

As I was experimenting with letters, the letter 'd' was actually not freehanded like the rest of the word. I used a chipboard letter as a mask when I sprayed ink over it and then traced and painted it. I think I will do that with all the letters next time to give it a more cleaner look... But, it is what it is and that's okay :)

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Lesson 2: Creating Spontaneous Watercolor Backgrounds

Lesson 2, was all about playing with watercolor and creating watercolor backgrounds with doodles and stamps. I particularly LOVED this lesson since I primarily work with acrylics in my art and never really use watercolors very much. But, I think this class turned it all around for me and I absolutely love the whimsical, dreamy feel to this project. I used watered down acrylics and watercolor crayons.

I BELIEVE I CAN FLY

I used a butterfly rubber stamp and inked it up with my paintbrush, being careful to not mix the colors on the rubber stamp before applying it onto the page. It came out beautifully.... When everything was dry, I went in and added some detail with a white gel pen and black india ink pen.

Of course, I had to add journaling... "With God all things are possible."

Hand painted the words with watercolor took some practice.

Used a round metal cap to add circles. Then journaled, "Spread your wings and fly away."

Close up on the butterfly.

I went in and splattered paint in different colors...

The splatters left a trail in the right place which I think gave the butterfly a sense of movement and direction. 

THANKS to Traci for being an amazing inspiration to the art community. Looking forward to creating a stylized face in the remaining lessons of Doodles Unleashed online workshop :)

Japantown in SF :: Treasury of Cool Art Finds

Last weekend, my family and I spent a few hours downtown and originally, we only set out to visit one of my hubby's favorite places on earth, The Guitar Center. He and my eldest son, Josiah, are musically gifted and love spending hours in there playing guitar, drums, keyboard, etc. My youngest, Lucas, is more like me and loves anything colorful and artsy. So while they spent time doing their thing, I grabbed out my smartphone and browsed through the Yelp app for art and craft stores nearby. Surprisingly, I didn't realize that Japantown was just a 10 minute walk away, so Lucas and I set out on our little adventure.... Luckily, the weather has been really beautiful in our neck of the woods, sunny and mild, a little strange for winter, but I am not complaining!

When we get there, we take a moment to take a break and sit in the center of Japantown where they have one of their popular attractions -- The Peace Pagoda. Usually in the spring, the cherry blossoms are in bloom everywhere.  Every year, thousands travel to Japantown for their annual event--Cherry Blossom Festival--celebrating the Japanese culture, traditions, and diversity. Spring is just around the corner, so I am hoping to make it out here this year....

This is inside the Miyako Mall, Peace Plaza.

Strolled into Ichiban Kan, a Japanese Dollar Store, and saw these poster markers that were 2 for $1. Used them on a project that I will post about soon.:)

 

Next we walked over to Daiso Japan, another Japanese discount store where almost everything is $1.50. I absolutely adore it here. They sell everything from household, kitchen, hardware, stationary, art, gifts, food, and more. Sometimes I'll find the most unique items that you would've never thought was invented. Sooooo cool. This location is one of the biggest stores I've been too and has more products than the one closer to home. 

So, my first cool find is this foam placemat. Look at those details and can you guess what I am thinking of using this for?? A stencil mask!! I would probably cut it up to use on different sized projects, but I already know it would really fun to play around with it...

Then walking down their craft aisle, they have washi tapes, decorative ribbons, gift bags then I spotted these Lace Border Tapes... I am already imagining the uses for these on my art journals and canvases. I love the designs, especially the black lace. 

In the art aisle, the have tubes of acrylic paint in so many colors... I don't know if the quality is any good being that they are cheap, but I think it would be great to have on hand to play around with and incorporate it with other mediums.

Paintbrush packs, carving tools, drawing accessories, inks, palettes, etc... Very basic stuff, but affordable if you are on a budget. Love it!

Origami papers in so many pretty patterns. Yummy!

When I wandered by this end cap, I had to stop. These stationary packs with papers, envelopes, and stickers brought back memories of my childhood. Though they are not Hello Kitty or Sanrio, I remembered how I loved collecting these and pretending to play office with them or simply to just have and write letters or make cards.

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Kinokuniya Book Stores are just one of those places that I immediately fall in love with, mainly because I love books AND secondly, I love their Japanese collections of art and design books, magazines, and stationary. It's heaven!

Here is a whole table spread of artsy journals and notebooks.

I love the doodled design and the simple words-- I WRITE.

This face covered the entire front of a notebook. It totally caught my eye, kinda mysterious like me.

Here is where I can stand for hours just browsing through the art eye candy of graphic and print designs.

In their craft section, there are tons of instruction books on drawing, painting, ceramic and textile arts, etc. But they were all printed in Japanese.... One of my goals: Learn to read, write, speak Japanese!


Well, these are just a few of so many artful and creative finds that I discovered during my impromptu visit to Japantown. I can't wait to go back!

I've been thinking that maybe I can start a series of posts relating to creating mixed media or art and craft projects, using items we may already have at home or by purchasing affordable and inexpensive art tools, mediums, innovative supplies etc.  Hopefully, I can encourage and teach others out there who want to learn mixed media, but are on a tight budget like myself.

Let me know what you think????