REDONDOWRITER'S SACRED ORDINARY

A Two Page Art Journal Spread - Divine Feminine

As i mentioned earlier, I took an art journaling workshop from Orly Avineri last Saturday and the first spread, which I am not showing here, was to replicate as closely as we could a piece of someone else's art. Because I don't draw very well and the supplies I brought were limited, my rendition of one of Andrea Matus DeMeng's collage women did not do her original justice. It was an excellent exercise nonetheless. The second page of that spread was to, in our own styles, play off the first exercise. Again, so many new things learned and my confidence grew stronger. 

Then came the time for a spread of our own making. Here is my second two-page spread which is filled with symbolism for me personally. I find myself so perpetually drawn to female images and certain shapes and colors. You can double click and enlarge it. 

I'm in the process of reorganizing all my art and computer supplies and had the delightful experience yesterday, a totally "free" day, to work outdoors on the patio with some spray paints and wet mediums. Last night our monthly journal group met (23 years, can you imagine?) so it was a day of creativity all around. 

 

Praising Orly Avineri: One Artist Journal

Yesterday I had the great pleasure of finally getting to take an art class with Orly Avineri who happens to live in Redondo Beach. This is a photo of Orly with a copy of her hot-off-the-press book "One Artist Journal," which all of us purchased. It is such a delicious book and I am savoring it a few pages at a time. 

Not only is Orly an exceptional artist, she is a gentle, affirming teacher. If you haven't taken a class with her yet, I certainly recommend one if you are interested in going even deeper into art journaling. She has a way of bringing out the best in people. 

There were nine of us in the class and it was in a private Redondo Beach home only five minutes from my own. This was especially convenient for me as I had to go right afterwards to babysit two of my grandsons. I'm still pooped today--from all the creativity and from dual boy energy. The nearby location also was beneficial because in the excitement of closing up the workshop, I left my journal there. Gulp! I went back today and picked it up. 

Orly's teaching schedule can be found on her blog and she also is giving away a copy of her new book to one of the people who sign up there for the drawing. Maybe it will be you! 

 

 

What I Did on Mother's Day: Art Journal Page, Sacre Bleu

Lovely morning with a brunch at my youngest son's home with three moms present, including my daughter and daughter-in-law, and four of my six grandkids. The sun decided not to come out today, but we chattered non-stop and ate yummy waffles, sausage and fresh fruit and reminisced, of course. Now my former son-in-law is spending the afternoon and my eldest son called from Washington. Life is good!

And I've just spent the last few hours finishing an art journal page I've been layering for a week: Sacre Bleu. I've just completed Christopher Moore's novel Sacre Bleu, a delightful, dark comedy d'arte about the French painters in the 1800s. It was a wild read but I loved it. 

Though I don't wear a lot of blue, my home the last two decades has morphed into a blue palette. I've collected cobalt blue glass for a long time, but a three week house sitting gig in the 1980s in my friend Anita's home, really started a blue and shades of blue trend for me. She was a wonderful decorator and I picked up a ton of ideas from her. 

Lately I've been adding dashes of maroon to some of my accessories as well and because of Moore's book, I've been researching the color blue. I'm not a trained artist so I know little about color. Imagine my delight to go to a Friday estate sale and there was an astounding book for $4 called Blue: The History of a Color by Michel Pastoureau. Below is a photo of my Friday "junque" haul, none I need, but hey, a bargain is a bargain. I keep telling myself there could be worse addictions. Because I do largely recycled art these days, I have convinced myself that my junque forays are helping the planet. Yeah, right! 

By the way, I got stiffed this weekend by a little old lady in Palos Verdes who had lost her house (according to her) and was agonizing over the memories of each items(s) she was selling to each person. I took a fancy to that little blue and white pitcher on the right which was cracked and poorly repaired. She asked $5, I offered $2 and she took it. I gave her a $20 and she said it had been a favorite she bought in Portugal many years ago and how she never thought her life would come to this. She handed me a bunch of crumpled bills I knew I should count but she was having such angst. When I got to the car I counted and she had shorted me several dollars. Go back? No way. Every time I put flowers in that blue pitcher I'll remember Swedish Susan with her long grey hair telling stories of her travels around the world as she sold her worldly goods. Damn, I'm grateful for my own life.  

So, a mom got to have a perfect weekend being with friends, with family, reading, estate saleing, art journaling, and the continual organizing I am also addicted to. What did you do for mom's day? 

Art Journal: Honoring Pied Beauty and Gerard Manley Hopkins

It has been many weeks since I've created an art journal page, but I literally compelled myself to go to the "creation table" today and work. A little bit here, a little bit there, and voila: my tribute to Gerard Manley Hopkins and my very favorite of all his poems, "Pied Beauty." Each time I read Hopkins, I feel utterly elated.

Because my handwriting may be hard to read, here is Pied Beauty typed out. 

Pied Beauty

GLORY be to God for dappled things—         

  For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;    

    For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;  

Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches’ wings; 

  Landscape plotted and pieced—fold, fallow, and plough;           

And áll trádes, their gear and tackle and trim.           

 

All things counter, original, spare, strange;           

  Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?) 

    With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;    

He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:                   

                  Praise him.

 

 

Art Journal Page: Woman at the Well

Though I have made some SoulCollage® cards recently, I have not worked in my art journals for literally weeks. It was like the muse had taken a long vacation. Today I bought The Art Journal Workshop by Traci Bunkers with a 50% off coupon at Aaron Brothers and Traci's inspiration enticed the muse to come home.

I've had the focal image in my stash pile for months, but all of a sudden I thought of John 4, that recounts the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well. I've used poetic license as I know that woman would not have been dressed like this, but this image hits home deeply because I love to wear thick white robes before and after the shower, and I always feel so refreshed when I'm done. Then I slather myself with one of my big luxuries--Michael Kors lotion--and I feel dewy and semi-young again.

In case you can't read my handwriting, this is the excerpt I've written from Rumi's Hidden Desire. 

I have come to drag you out of your self

         and take you to my heart.

I have come to bring out the beauty you never knew you had

         and lift you like a prayer to the sky.

 

If no one can recognize you, I do

         because you are my life and soul.

Don't run away, accept your wounds and let bravery be your shield.

 

It takes a thousand stages for the perfect being to evolve.

Every step of the way I will walk with you

         and never leave you stranded.

Just as the Samaritan woman must have felt comforted by Jesus and his offering of living water, I feel worthy tonight of just being who I am, the age I am, the place I am. It started with John, but the trick with scripture is to make it relevant. Rumi helped John's story come alive for me tonight. 

 

 

 

Two Art Journal Pages With Similar Elements

After a few weeks of not working in my art journals, I managed to finally create a few pages while watching the Academy Awards out of the corner of my eye. These pages were created for Kelly Kilmer's Revel in the Moment class on Tumblr. 

I used many of the same colors and some art cut out of an old beat-up copy of one of Louise Hay's books I found in the free box at the Peninsula Friends of the Library book sale. There is a little bit of everything here and the Buddhist Evening Gatha is one of my favorite sayings in the whole world. 

Art Journal Page: Little Frances and Balenciaga

This page was made over a several day span. I've been busy with company and the Muse came in small bursts of time. Someone gave me some 50s fashion magazines and this profile of a woman wearing Balenciaga jumped out at me. As a small child, I loved looking at my older sisters' fashion magazines. My eldest sis was an artist and she made special paper dolls for me so that I could live out my pretty lady fantasies. 

I was very thin as a teen, but had serious self-esteem issues so though I modeled a few times during trade shows, I was too timid to pursue anything resembling serious modeling. Little did I know that being so thin with an angular face would probably have held me in good stead. I look back on photos of me as a teen and young woman and though I felt like an ugly duckling, I was actually very pretty. Lord, if we could only start over knowing what we know now. 

 

Art Journal Page: The Lifelong Love of Margaret and Joseph Chadwick

I took great care and poured a lot of love into this art journal page. Commander Joseph and Mrs. Margaret Lee Chadwick were the founders of the school where I have worked for 21 years--Chadwick School. As the archivist, I have practically committed all her five books to memory, but it's her autobiography, “Looking at the Sunset Upsidedown,” I love the most. A school marm in Nevada, she decided she needed to take a break and determine where she wanted life to go. Her brother, Paul Lee, a Naval officer, was stationed in China at the time and while there, he introduced her to a handsome,young naval officer who swept her off her feet. How I love reading and rereading the chapters about their whirlwind courtship and marriage.  Both the Chadwicks had passed away when I came to work at the school, but after all the research I've done, I actually feel like part of their family. They were married for 49 years when Commander died in 1970. Margaret died in 1984 and a brief story is handwritten on this page. They are my Valentines of the Year in 2012! 

Among Other Things, I Am Grateful for My Hands

This is an art journal page I created for Kelly Kilmer's Revel in the Moment class. The hand with the writing is my hand drawn on a copy of one of my handwritten journals with other hands snipped from magazines on top of mine. I'm just so darned grateful for the mobility that I have and particularly my hands. If you enlarge the photo, you will see some of my musings about my hands, which all too often I take for granted. 

I am thankful that for the past few years they have functioned well and I haven't had frozen fingers lately from arthritis. When that happens, the doc injects cortisone and so far no surgery has been necessary. Knock on wood!  I forgot one more thing my hands/fingers do that I didn't write on this page--using the computer. 

Off the top of your head, what particular part of your body would you like to thank for serving you well? 

 

Haiku My Heart Friday: Miss American Pie

Nostalgia runs deep

When thinking of the 50s

I still feel sixteen. 

This is an art journal page I created for Kelly Kilmer's Revel in the Moment class, but it is also my offering today for Rebecca's Haiku My Heart Friday.

I was a teenager in the 1950s and Don McClean's "Miss American Pie" was written in 1971, but I've always thought the words epitomized what I was feeling when I was young. Last week I went out with old friends to Ruby's for dinner and this waitress is on the front of all their menus. Memories flooded back of hanging out at Bob's Big Boy in Glendale, CA--and then "cruisin' the main'" which I imagine kids still do today. I had a lot of fun creating this art journal page as it truly took me back to our coming of age experiences. Damn, we were so innocent, so clueless. The world then compared to the world now, especially for teenagers, seems very complex. The 50s were said to be a bland time in history, but I loved those years. But--I love these years, too.