Art journaling con't

I am learning so much in the Art Journaling 102 class - I am doing things that I have never attempted before, like image transfers. I had no idea how easy they are to do: the middle page is an ink jet transfer and the bottom is a laser copier transfer. I am using Omni Gel as I purchased a bottle a couple of years ago when I took a BPS class with Carol Wingert. We did one image transfer and it didn't come out very well so I never did any more. These two came out just great. I am also quite pleased with the gessoed and painted background on the bottom page - I was trying to do something that looked sort of old like patinaed brass. I used the painted and sprayed silhouettes from yesterday's pages on the top page along with a poem I have had laying on my desk for a while. the cardboard is what I used to create texture on some of the other pages and then it just seemed to need the flowers and stitching. Dina Wakley is such a great teacher and I am really looking forward to the next 2 weeks of classes.

Art Journaling 102

I am so loving my Art Journaling 102 class with Dina Wakely. I really should have taken 101 but unfortunately we have only so much money for frivolous pursuits. Anyway, today our lesson was on motifs - picking a motif and using it in many different ways - we were to use paints (acrylic and all I have are cheap mm and Michaels so they are way too thin) and spray inks (all I have is glimmer mist and it doesn't work very well with gesso as you can see in the middle photo; the top photo is glimmer mist sans gesso and it worked so much better!) This is great fun and I have to admit I am tired after painting and stamping most of the day. I am full of ideas right now but I think I need some energy - a pot of tea is steeping as I write.

Yesterday I got several great books at the used book store including a 1920 copy of the Blue Book to London - you should see the incredible maps and floorplans - oh such love! I was devouring the floorplans of the British Museum - how many books have I read where the characters go there. I also went to the library and on display were 2 young adult books that I checked out - the Tree Shepherd's Daughter and Into the Wildewood. I've already read the first one - a fun easy fantasy set in a permanent Renaissance festival site. What's really weird is that I recognized the site as one that we used to go to in Colorado; however, the author relocated it to Fort Collins and that bothered me a little as FC is not exactly in the foothills. Oh well, I just pictured it as I knew it (actually the site is Larkspur, between Denver and Colorado Springs) and it brought back memories of Brian who always insisted on wearing a brown hooded cape (he was a thief in D&D gaming) and who always had to eat one of the huge turkey drumsticks. Such fun!

Classes classes classes

My watercolor class this morning was great fun - working on palm trees which, of course, in Florida is a must. Since there are several varieties of palms and the fronds are quite different, we spent quite a while practicing different styles.
When I got home, I decided to sign up for Dina Wakely's Art Journaling 102 on Debbie Hodge's Get it scrapped website. I have been debating this for a while - the wanting vs. the NOT BUYING IT pledge, and today I decided that I could scrounge the funds from another category and do it. (I know, rationalization!!!) I am super excited about the class and fortunately I have all the supplies except for the water soluble oil pastels (which Dina says you can get at Staples for less than $5). We will be using spray inks and I have some glimmer mist (although she really likes the Tim Holtz stuff so that's on my wishlist).
I'm finishing up some layouts to submit to the Graphic45 DT call and some ATCs for 2 SIS swaps. Tomorrow morning I work at the bookstore and then I will go thrifting on my way home. I will post some pix tomorrow.

Jouvay - the start of Carnival

We spent six months living in Trinidad on our sailboat and had the good fortune to experience Carnival up live and personal. We actually went to see the judging of king and queen, visited a pan band practice, visited a costumier and saw how the costumes were designed and made, attended a lecture at the art museum on the social and political meanings of the costumes (very important to the understanding of Trini history and culture). Our sailboat was moored just offshore in a protected bay in Chagaramas (the west end of the island which used to be a US naval base during WWII (actually one of my cousins was born there). On the land were several outdoor rock clubs and the Saturday night before Carnival was Insomnia 2000 where they played all night. It was so loud our boat literally vibrated.

But Jouvay is the real beginning of Carnival - you get up at 4am Monday and go to downtown Port of Spain and wander around watching bands of people march through the streets - some are painted all over like the Blue Devils and others wear trashy, funky costumes. Still others carry buckets of wet mud and they throw it at you - did I mention you should wear old clothes? Then you come home, clean up, and go back downtown to listen to the pan band competitions. Then on Tuesday you go downtown to watch the parades of costumed bands marching and dancing. Then you literally go into a coma - Trinidad pretty much shuts down for 3 days during that time.

Every year I do a little decorating for Mardis Gras/Carnival as you can see by the pix. The green bear is Erin, whom I purchased while we were living in the camper/trailer after the hurricanes. Our beloved cat Sam had passed soon after the second hurricane (17 years old and the vet said the stress of 2 hurricanes in 3 weeks just literally killed him) so I got Erin for our pet while we lived in the trailer. Erin gets decorated for holidays and he still has a place of honor in our living room even now. Hana, our current live fur companion, just ignores him.

I did three layouts yesterday and will probably do another posting later. I also plan to go see Slumdog Millionaire today.