Journal Friday #63: Catching Up

 
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It's been a busy few weeks, and though I've had time to work in my journal, I haven't had a chance to post a Journal Friday. So, I'm playing catch up now. I worked a lot different pages in the journal, but I'm only sharing some of them.

Before my trip to Kansas City, I went back to some earlier pages in my big journal and worked on some embellishments. I added some image transfers and some large words - even cutting out the stenciled letters from the page in one instance. I always enjoy going back to pages that I started months ago, and adding bits and pieces to develop the ideas, images, and concepts further.

Slowly over the past couple of weeks, I have added some other embellishments as well to other pages - some collage, more image transfers, some lines, faces, and color to some notes from the NAEA Convention in Seattle. I even included the scoring from a game of Farkle while I was in Kansas City. It's good to see so many pages starting to take direction.

But the bulk of the work has probably been this past week. I began cleaning and organizing the studio in preparation for the Western Loudoun Studio Tour June 2 & 3, and as I purged my stash of fodder, I tried to use up a lot of things by gluing them into the journal. I glued in old doodles and drawings, images, and text, and much, much more often using the collage to start new pages. I even glued in fodder that I collected in Kansas City, and a short vacation to the beach last week. I can't wait to see where these pages will go.

Things have settled down now, and I don't have any travel plans for a while, so hopefully I can keep up with the Journal Fridays.

Artful Layers

During April, I was fortunate to teach my Artful Layers workshop to two awesome groups. The first was in Harrisonburg, VA at Larkin Arts. We had a blast in this one-day version of the class, and I bombarded them with techniques, ideas, and materials. I loved the enthusiasm and excitement that the students brought to the class. It seemed like about half of the students were teachers or former teachers, and it was good talking to them about their teaching experiences and about how they might implement some of the ideas from the workshop into their classrooms.

We had a great day of making art together. I am very grateful to the eight students who spent the day getting messy with me. I thoroughly enjoyed the day!

A couple of weeks later, I travelled to Kansas City, MO to teach a two-day version of the class at Amanda Jolley's Studio Joy. Amanda has an amazing studio space in a former garage, so each student got a table all to themselves, which was good with all the art being made and the stuff they brought to the class. I loved that fact that Janus the studio cat oversaw the workshop.

It was very nice to stretch out the ideas and techniques and to dive a bit deeper into the process with two full days, and there was plenty of time for the students to just work on their art and explore the variety of possibilities offered through layering. Again, the students were awesome and full of excitement and enthusiasm, but there were often times of utter silence as everyone was just deep into their own making.

Since I never have an end result in mind, I encourage experimentation, exploration, and working on multiple pieces at once. I am always amazed at what the students come up with, and these two days were no exception. I think that artists need to work alongside other artists, at least every now and then. The ideas and the inspiration that comes from working in close proximity with others is truly priceless.

I am very thankful to Amanda for hosting the workshop, and showing me around Kansas City, and to the nine awesome artists who spent the weekend making art with me.

Thanks to everyone who joined me in April for a workshop. I can't wait to offer more.

Journal Friday #62: Building Layers

 
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I've been working in my current big journal for 3 and half months now, and some pages are really starting to take shape, so I spent time this week building up layers on pages that already have a lot going on.

When I begin pages, I often have no idea where they're going, and themes and concepts often develop as the page progresses. I worked on a few pages this week using stencils and drawing words as ideas popped in my head. Sometimes the words are in response to what's happening on the page. Sometimes they're from reflective writing, and sometimes they're reactions to things that I've read, heard, or seen.

Along with adding writing and words, I broke out the Chartpak blender marker and created several image transfers with some photocopies that I have lying around. Image transfers are an easy way to add imagery, and the marker transfer results in a fuzzy, transparent image that is perfect for layering over top of other materials.

I also added some imagery with my pen, and drew on a few pages. I love to draw monsters, so I spent time experimenting with a variety of silly, sad, and confused little beasts. I also added a stylized face to another page. Though I often use my pens to draw rectangles, lines, and shapes, it's nice to break out some recognizable imagery once in a while.

I always enjoy how pages develop over time and seeing how different pages can of in completely different directions!

Journal Friday #61: Red Ink

 
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As I've mentioned before, my visual journal pages are a slow accumulation of actions, and often what that means is that I sit down with a specific material and work on quite a few pages at once. Sometimes I sit down with watercolor paint, or watercolor pencil, or with scissors and glue. This week it was my red uni-ball pen. The uni-ball Vision pen is my go to pen, and I always have a black, blue, and red on me. This week I spent time revisiting pages and embellishing words, images and shapes.

Besides embellishing, I used my uni-ball to do some writing in the journal using several writing techniques including stream of consciousness and note taking. The note taking was doing a little bit of research for a new series of artworks that I am working on. I've been focusing on the idea of relics, so I looked up definitions on a variety of dictionary websites.

 
 

So, it was just a few minor things this week, but not all actions in the journal can be grand and big. Often they are small details and embellishments that build depth and meaning.

Journal Friday #60: Watercolor Layers

 
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Today was spent journaling at the coffee table. One of the great things about the visual journal is that it's a portable studio, so instead of needing to be in the studio, I can work anywhere, like the living room coffee table.

I worked primarily with watercolor adding to pages that I had already started. Because of their transparent nature, watercolor is perfect for layering.

Journal Friday #59: Reflection

It's been a couple of busy weeks with the NAEA Convention last week and teaching an all-day professional development workshop this week, and when things get busy, it's always good to spend a little time reflecting about things in the journal in an attempt to sort it all out.

I spent time today in the studio gluing things into the journal and adding color, shapes, and words with water-soluble pencil. I tend to collect a lot of fodder when I travel, especially at a conference or convention, and Seattle was no exception. As I glued bits and pieces in today from my trip, I began reflecting on the whole experience. Reflection doesn't have to be deep and personal writing, and it doesn't have to include many words at all. It's easy enough to get into a reflective mindset as you handle, cut, and glue the physical material and ephemera of an experience. It's a physical as well as mental kind of reflection, and as I glued in business cards, photos, tickets, and such from my trip I thought about the people that I met and interacted with, the sessions that I attended, and the places that I went.

I didn't limit myself to just collage today, and I broke out the Derwent Inktense pencils and added some color, lines, shapes, and words to many pages. These water-soluble pencils are great for building layers of bright colors, and work well to tie many of the collage pieces to the pages and surrounding elements. Like cutting and gluing, the repetitive movement of the pencil helps create a state of reflection since I was able to allow the experiences of the past week to just mix and mingle in the back of my mind as I worked. As I explored these pencils, I simple rolled things over in my mind and pondered the experiences. 

A few words and ideas did keep popping up as I worked, and I kept coming back to the idea of connection. This year's convention was probably one of the best, and not because I presented a bunch of things or I went to a bunch of mind blowing sessions, but because of the people - the connections. I got to see and hang out with good friends, and I got to know some acquaintances better than I had in the past. I got to talk to so many people and share stories and ideas, and I got to meet quite a few people who I have been able to inspire. I am always amazed and humbled when someone comes up and thanks me for inspiring them or shares a story about how I un some small way have been a help. For me, that's what it is all about. Art and education are all about the connections, and I am grateful for the opportunity to connect.

Something else has been going through my mind as well over the past few weeks, and my recent experiences have just reaffirmed the notion. Everyday, I want to know how I have uplifted people - how have I helped and inspired - how have I aided and motivated others. If I am not lifting others up, then I'm probably tearing them down, and I don't want to be that way.

I choose connection and inspiration. I choose to help and to uplift. 

Journal Friday #58:Travel

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This past week was the National Art Education Association's annual convention in Seattle Washington. Though I'm no longer a public school teacher, I stay active in the the association, which means traveling and presenting to art educators from across the country. Whenever and wherever I travel, the journal goes with my, whether I'm traveling for business or pleasure. On this trip I took four separate journals with me to share and to work in.

The NAEA Convention is a huge gathering of art educators, and it's always invigorating to be surrounded by my tribe. Of this tribe, I'm closest to a handful of artistic accomplices, especially David and our friends Sam Peck and Michael Dodson, and we often sit and work on journal in all manner of spaces during the convention. We can often be found working in our journals in our hotel rooms, hotel lobby, and bar, taking notes during sessions, and even passing around journals and sketchbooks before dinner.

For this conference, I was fortunate to spend an entire day working in my journals, as David and Sam presented a pre-conference, full-day workshop. It was great to spread out and journal. I was able to add to a lot in all of my journals. One thing that I used a lot was some punchanella - also know as sequin waste. These narrow ribbons of circles make great stencils for painting and drawing.

Of course, since the convention is a massive professional development, there are all kinds of presentations and workshops, and the journal is a prime space for taking notes, but these aren't the notes from your school days. These are visual and colorful, and often include imagery and collage elements. I'll go back in the future and embellish the notes and include more color and imagery.

I am always amazed at how much journaling gets done while traveling.

Artful Layers at Studio Joy

 
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Please join me in Kansas City, MO at Studio Joy the weekend of April 28 and 29, for an in-depth look at layering with mixed media in my 2-day Artful Layers workshop. I'm excited to teach in friend Amanda Jolley's wonderful space, and I'm looking forward to sharing my layering approach to a Midwest audience. So make plans now to join me!

April 28-29, 2018; 9:30-4:30pm
Cost: $220

Immerse yourself in the art of mixed media layering, and delve deeply into a wide range of techniques for creating artful layers in your work. The focus of this workshop is on developing imagery with complexity and subtlety as you explore the vast possibilities of layering materials, ideas, and images and incorporating personal themes, ideas, and images. Explore how to build up color and texture using transparent media like watercolors and water-soluble pencil. Discover the layering possibilities for using papers such as vellum, tracing paper, and tissue paper to incorporate color, writing, and drawing. Experiment with collage, image transfers, and personal text to develop narratives and themes. Learn to embellish and enhance elements to draw out focus and detail, and walk away with a variety of richly layered work.

Check out Amanda's website for more info.