MessyJessyCreatesArt

As I sat in my studio listening to the moaning of our 18 year old do who is in 'hospice' in my studio because she can't get up and down the stairs to the house and has no bodily function control, I painted.  This week's lesson was titled "Reach for the Stars" with Jenny Wentworth.  But all I could do was think about Chi Chi.  I listened to her in pain and thought about all of my memories with her.  I tried not to cry.  I talked to a couple of friends about the grief I was feeling and how to decide when it was time to have her put to sleep or just make her comfortable until she passes.  I painted all of the beautiful flowers thinking about these things.  As a family, we decided that it was time.  The decision, and the thought of loss for our beloved pet of 18 years, weighed heavily in my heart.  But it is time.  For Chichi.  So I dedicate this piece, not to reaching for the stars myself, but to the memory- the life and death- of Chi ...

This week's lesson was from the wonderfully talented Roben-Marie Smith http://www.robenmarie.com/alittleaboutme .  I just love her style (swoon).  The theme was "From Here to There" and she shared with us many of her techniques for creating her art journal pages.  (Thank you xoxox)  One of the journal prompts that she used was something that started with the first letter of her first name.  So, I went with "J". A few days ago, I was reading the Art Anthology blog and was drawn to their monthly challenge color palette.  It was amazing!  It reminded me of fall (my favorite season- I love fall!) and consisted of colors that I would not normally choose for myself.   http://artanthologyinc.com/blog/?p=10378 So, for this week's Lifebook 2015 art journal page http://www.willowing.org/ , I decided I would use the color palette :-) Although I do not own any Art Anthology paints (on my wish list for xmas and birthday), I used what I already had on han...

I finally found a bit of time to do week 26's lesson and I enjoyed it very much!  As some of you know, I have fibromyalgia and everything that goes with it.  The lesson's theme was about expressing our inner male archetype, our strong side.  For me, nothing says "I m strong" other than being a FIBRO WARRIOR PRINCESS :-)  As with Lupus, the symbol for fibromyalgia is a purple butterfly.  Therefore, I repeated the purple butterfly in the background using a stencil by Tamara Laporte, modeling paste, and Panpastels.  I continued to include a purple butterfly embellishment into her 'thorny' crown, as well as a purple ribbon to show support.  The journaling around her head is done in white Posca Pen and says:  If you are in pain, don't feel down.  Simply smile and pick up your crown.  Princess of Pain you now are.  A positive attitude will get you far.  I found this on the internet by there was no author to give credit :-(

Beautiful, Inside and Out This week's lesson was from Jane Davenport- Oh she's great!  I collaged the paper with bits of ephemera to represent my beautiful inside, drew the figure, and painted around the figure to leave negative space visible for her dress and hair.  I like her :-)

It has been so long since I've been able to do any Lifebook lessons. http://willowing.ning.com / It felt good to actually do art for ME :-)  This week's teacher was  www.kristinvanvalkenburgh.com  and we were encouraged to write a letter from our younger selves to the us of now.  Inside the door in this piece is a letter encouraging me to remember to be myself and embrace my uniqueness.  It was a fun page to create using many layers.

This week I used a headshot to create a mixed media piece to represent myself.  The message was to follow the yellow brick road because you never know where the path will take you...... I'm Glenda, the good witch :-)

Playing Catch-up on my Lifebook lessons.  October is hectic for me with sewing costumes and all so my art usually gets put on the back burner.   Week 40 lesson was about keeping somethings inside of you..... and that's, OK :-) I fully intend to add things to the inside of the hands that I keep inside.  

The focus of this piece was printmaking. First, I used lino and chisel to carve my leaves.  It's very simple to make your own stamps :-) Next, I used my Gelli Plate to create mono prints with acrylic paints on deli paper in fall colors. After that, I used matte medium to glue down my mono prints onto my piece of mixed media art paper. Then, I used black acrylic paint (because my stazon ink pad ran out) to stamp random leaves along most of the border of my piece. After drying a bit, I used my Luminart shimmering watercolors to add a little sparkly fall color (persimmon, alfalfa, and autumn butternut) around the page and leaves. Next, I used my black china marker to create a border around the page. Then, having found a suitable poem about fall, I printed it out on regular printer paper and used matte medium to attach it to my page. Finishing touches:  Ok, so I can't just leave it without a little bling ;-) so I added a little embellish...

This Lifebook 2013 Lesson was one in which I was in need of (thank you Tamara LaPorte xoxox) I think that most people chose a lesser issue to practice with and as a piece of public artwork.  However, I had already done much of the internal work for this and was ready to move on and let it out! Tam uses "Non-violent Communication" or "Compassionate Communication" in this lesson..... so, here goes the process First comes Self-Empathy.... Observation- Cause of distress is failed marriage/relationship I know all of the why's and how's of this.... spent the past two years on this so identifying the cause of my distress was the easy part. My Feeling- hurt, betrayed, enraged, depressed, disappointed, exhausted, worn out, embarrassed, ashamed, hate, animosity My Needs-  understanding, shelter, love, connection, safety, stability, harmony, peace, honesty, authenticity, joy, communication, closeness, security, TRUST My Requests- to take time for my...

As I sat and thought about all of my wishes and dreams for this lesson, I noticed that they all had to do with being happy- me, my family, my situation, etc.  So the theme for my piece is "Take a Voyage to your Happy Place". I love the background because I used lots of modeling paste and sparkle watercolors and spray inks and such.  Hope you like it !  Oh, and the Hula girl is me..... someday..... when I make it to Hawaii.... that would make me happy :-)

Well, with crappy internet and a messed up computer, here is what I came up with for my lesson this week.... First, I used one color sharpie to write down my my fears, another for my worries, and another for things that make me angry. Then, I used a layer of gesso to cover those bad boys up :-) Next, I collaged the sillouette of the strong woman with images that represented me. After that I used watercolor crayons, stencils and sprays to create the background. Last, I typed out the words and used gel medium to put the piece all together. The words that I chose were from a journaling prompt from Effy the Wild's class "Moonshine Summer". I wrote a love letter to myself and I thought that would be great to cover up the worries, doubts and anger issues I had :-) Anyway, here it is..... taaadaa!

This class was fun to do with my 7 year old step daughter.  She is learning soooooo much and loves art!  She also thinks it's neat that you can learn from people on the computer from the other side of the world :-)

OMG!  I lurve Mitsi B!!!!  She is so cool! Anyway, check her out at  http://www.mitsib.com/ This lesson was about honoring your emotions and expressing the true you.  Here is my take...... this is the outside of my piece... And I'm not quite done with the inside but here is what I got so far.... On second thought, I think I will just wait until it's done :-)  My piece shows that it's ok to feel blue sometimes as long as you can see the bright side as well.

This is my unfinished piece.  I still need to add details and eyelashes and stuff but I am a little scared that I will mess it up LOL Maybe I will seal it with gel medium and then work on it some more :-)

The original lesson was what inspired me to do this canvas for my wall as inspiration.  I think she turned out pretty well, don't you think?  LOL

My little Step-Daughter is LOVING the mixed media art lessons I have been giving her.  She is AMAZED that water color crayons are paint and the amazing qualities they possess :-)  By the way, she is 7 years old :-)  Here is a picture of my page from the lesson.