Jens Arty Life

I'm so excited to receive this award! And hello to my new followers. I have been spending a lot of time making coloring pages for my ETSY shop. You can find my shop here  https://www.etsy.com/au/shop/JensArtyLife?ref=hdr_shop_menu

I'd like to submit my latest work ... peacock Fantasy to the Mixed Media Challenge . The theme this month is bird of a feather so i went crazy with peacock feathers which I adore. Her hair piece is 3 dimensional. I sewed on suffolk puffs, a charm and a shiny button and the feathers are secured using silicone. The "beads" of her necklace are also secured using silicone. She will go on display at the Winmalee Artfest in May. Thanks for looking. Jennidee

Mixed media on paper. She was done for my local art show in May. But I would also like to enter her into the Mixed Media Challenge for birds of a feather. I hope she sells a the art show, I need the money for supplies. But it's not until May. Jennidee

So, I have been practising with my new Gelli Plate. I still need to work out a few things, like what colours look best over others and how to do layering prints without it getting too over done pattern wise. But here are two that I rather liked from my efforts. I think I've worked out which of my stencils work best for the printing. And I would like to try making some masks of my own. I've also started a drawing challenge this weekend ... 43 faces in 43 days. I chose that particular number because I just turned 43. :) Her is my first face, drawn yesterday. Not all of the faces will be turned into journal pages that I will share. Some of them may just be sketches as the idea is to practice facial features, head angels and hair styles. I think I'll do another challenge after that to do bodies. To make this journal page I used one of my own print blocks.  I make these by drawing into foam sheets. If you would like a print block like this. I think I wi...

I'm not that keen on the colours of this page. But I have to accept that I won't love all my pages. I wanted a sand and sea type colour scheme - which is there, it's just not as harmonious as I would like. The round circles are cut from my first ever Gelli Prints down with my new Gelli plate. It was my birthday present and I'm loving using it. These are just the first few efforts, and the ones I did last night are nicer. They will probably appear in later pages. Now that I look at it ... I think the reason I'm not in love with this page is that the sandy colour is very flat. It might have looked better if I had used some textures and layered it up a bit with some stamps or stencils. I was just so excited about using those Gelli prints that I rushed it I think. Not to worry ... we live and learn.

To my dear followers. I'm so excited you have chosen to follow my journey. Thank you very much for your views and especially the comments which are always appreciated. But even when I didn't have any followers I enjoyed art journalling. And this page is to celebrate that; I changed the quote slightly. I said 'I want to MAKE beautiful things, even if no-one cares.' When I saw the quote on Pinterest it felt so true I knew I had to add it to my art journal. It's just pencils and a black felt tip pen. I didn't feel much like getting the paints out because 1. I'm working on a quilt for Sydney Quilt show and the deadline for entries is coming up, and 2. we have a new addition to out family. Her name is Olivia Jigger (a Jigger Rabbit is a slang way of saying cat in Liverpool). We call her OJ or Ollie for short. Olivia came to us from the RSPCA in Katoomba. My husband and my daughter drove up to get her on Saturday and she is quite the gorgeous di...

Could there be anything I want to do more than use pink??? So this page is for the Think Pink challenge this month at Mixed Media , and I'm also submitting it to Brenda's Blog Party at Bumblebees and Butterflies. I went for a cartoony style for my fairy to match the cutesy ness of the rest of the page. Once again I got so involved in the process i forgot to take photos of stages ... sorry. I used paint, journalling pens (including a really cool white paint pen which I will be using heaps I think), pencils and stencils. I was inspired by Krishna's keepsakes page to do some tangle dangles. I hope you enjoy! Jennidee

I've been working on a mixed media piece on canvas. This afternoon I finished it and I like how it turned out. I had a photo as reference for her pretty face and I think I have managed to make it look a bit like her. Sorry, but there are no in progress photos as I got excited and totally forgot to document the steps. She is for sale https://www.etsy.com/listing/222680585/day-dream-mixed-media-original-painting?ref=shop_home_active_1 I hope to do some more for the art show at our local high school in a few months time. I'm entering this in the Mixed Media Monthly Challenge  I think you can see where the 'think pink' comes in .... oh my gosh I love pink. I may do another one before Feb 28th. Thanks for having a look. Jennidee

All this art journalling has brought out my desire to draw again. I've been taking my little journal and a pen with me when I wait for things. And these pages were created with just a black pen. I have another journal which I use exclusively for the zentangle type drawings. So I don't want this one to be solely full of drawings. I'm enjoying it so much though that I'm considering doing a challenge of one 30 minute drawing a day for a year (starting on my birthday which is the 27th of February). In particular I'd like to practice drawing faces and female figures so that eventually I can draw from memory rather than looking at a reference all the time. Anyway, I just thought I'd share what I've been up to with my 4 WONDERFUL watchers (I HAVE FOLLOWERS HOW EXCITING< THANK YOU!!!!) Jennidee

At first glance this page seems happy and bright (just as I wanted it to be). But if you look deeper you will see the writing in black pencil. You may not be able to read it on the computer so I'll type what it says. On the left page I have written 'Why can't I love my art for what it is?' And on the right it says 'It's sad that I feel I need to have Cheerleaders. I am always seeking other people's validation'. So if people flick through my journal they will see a happy bright page. If they want to know more about me and stop to read the text they will see what I was working through. My word for this year is 'Allow'. So I am going to allow myself to be what I am and share my pages. I saw another lovely page that read 'Give away your gifts'. So I think that is a more positive way of looking at what I do by putting my work on the internet for other people to see. And for that purpose. Here is my process. 1. Stick down news...

I started this page thinking it would be a quick sketch with some nice peacock feathers in it. But the universe said 'No! Jenni, you should practice drawing hair!' It took all day in the end ... but i really enjoyed being able to spend some serious time on an artwork. I've used colour pencils and I'd forgotten how much I enjoy using them ... how much control they give me. I really must do more with them. I had another picture from deviant art to use for reference for the face, http://astraldreamer.deviantart.com/art/Lithium-315592570 My face isn't exactly the same which is good ... I don't want to make an exact copy. I'd like to think it has some of me in it. I forgot ... I'm adding this to Brenda's MOST EXCELLENT blog party  and maybe you have wandered over from there. I am enjoying that link up so much. I look at everyone because I can't seem to get enough journalling. And one of the things I've just noticed (yes I am soooo obser...

If I am not journalling, I am quilting. I have a home business quilting for other people. So I created this page which allowed me to create a journal page and practice quilting patterns at the same time. I might do black and white patterns on the facing page with no writing at all.

Almost as soon as I had finished my last page with the face of a girl, I wanted to do another one. But I wanted a smaller face and some body. This is what happened. I feel like I really need to work on my eyes and noses ... but I guess it will come. She kind of surprised me how she kept developing. I used a base of acrylic paint and then added watercolour pencil, some of which I diluted and some was left. Once the basics of the angel were done I used Gesso on both pages and started layering. I wanted a fairly soft, uncomplicated  look to the page, so I didn't over do the layers. The letters of ANGEL were stamped in black ink. It's not that obvious in this photo, but I added some little sparkle embellishments, gold and red stars and a diamonte on the heart. She is helping me hold my heart because sometimes it gets heavy. Thanks again so much to Brenda and her blog party. I hope you have enjoyed seeing my page. Jennidee

Two posts in one day! I wanted to follow the free tutorial on healing through art at Tamara's site http://willowing.ning.com/ And even though I feel AWFUL. With this stupid cold, by following her instructions I created something I'm pretty proud of Not only do i really like the double page and my faces continue to improve ... it was really healing. So thank you Tamara. And maybe you have found your way here through Brenda's Blog party so thank you again Brenda.

I have a summer cold which is making me feel awful. So I didn't feel like getting out any paint. Pencils and pen were a great way for me to do something creative without thinking too much. I have three gorgeous sets of 72 pencils that i have invested in over the years. This pages was made using the watercolour pencils but without brushing on water. The page needs to be sealed carefully afterwards to avoid any running. But I just love the softness of their colours. This page just begged to be created after watching the Socceroos win the Asia cup. Just looking at it I realise I failed to mention anywhere what the match was :) I'll have to go back and fix that. I used 4 colours (two greens and two yellows) in the swirls, a blue and red for the "Australia's" and a black pen. All the players names are written in the swirls. Pages like this are important to me. I dont' just journal because I love to create art (though I do love it). I want to really docum...

How ironic that Brenda at Bumblebees and Butterflies has used greens and butterflies in her page. Without seeing her page, I've done the same. Just like a butterfly this page went through a metamorphasis. I thought I had finished the page ... I wasn't happy with it but I thought it was done. Then, when I was working on the next page over, water spread from one page to the other and ruined it. So i painted over it with gesso (keeping the butterfly textures and the colours peeking through) and started again. Now I really like this page. So I suppose the disaster of the water from the rain page paid off in the end. Thanks again to Brenda for her blog party. i am really enjoying seeing your journals. Jennidee

I wanted to do a page about rain. I had an idea ... I searched for a good image to draw. And it was looking really good. And then I ruined it. I decided the backgound wasn't 'drippy' enough and sprayed some more watered paint onto the page ... which then ran down through my black lettering in a pen that is water based. SIGH. I dried it and went over the letters again, but it isn't as good as it was. The page behind it was also totally ruined. Thankfully I hadn't worked on it much. But it did have some feathers I'd collected from budgies we were baby sitting, including a quite rare spotted feather. I had taped them to the page ready to draw the birds around it. I've tried to pull the tape off and the feathers came off intact, but the tape is all papery and the feathers aren't as visible as they were. I will have to see if I can affix them to something so they can be saved. So the lesson learned? DON'T OVER SPRAY THE PAGES OF THIS JOURNA...

I have wanted to draw Elsa since I first saw Frozen and this page gave me the chance. I originally wanted to draw her in white but it didn't show up on the background. I wanted a kind of ghostly feel to it rather than a true copy of her form and I think i did that well. I ended up with blue ink all over my hands as I had gessoed the page before inking it. I will have to seal it with hair spray. But first I will be writing some things I need to let go underneath like jealousy of other artists (I didn't want to bore you with my angst so I've uploaded it in this state. Thanks to Brenda at Bumblebees and Butterflies for her blog party and Hi to you if you have drifted over from there. Jennidee

I love to doodle on pages. I had this painted background which I had no idea what to do with. So I started drawing in black pen and it came to life. I will have to doodle more. It's so much fun.

Over at art to the 5th http://www.art5academy.com/the-studio/the-documented-life-project-free and the Documented Life challenge, the challenge this week was Gesso. I've never used it before but I was keen to try. So I popped out and bought some. Here is my page. The journalling is actually the exact wording of the prompt. I used the Gesso in coffee cup rings and smaller circles that add texture to the page. I also experimented with crackle medium but it doesn't really show. I'll have to give that another go. Do you like the masking tape at eh top? I did actually rip the page and I thought ... Oh well, I'll make it a feature. :) Jennidee

I was feeling a bit down so I needed a pick me up. I typed 'funny' into Pinterest and spent an hour laughing. Later I created this double page. The painting on the right side is inspired by Noel Mignon. http://noelmignonlayouts.blogspot.com.au/2011/08/mixed-media-flower-canvas-mini-tutorial.html I wrote about not sharing the left hand side as I didn't feel it was worthy of it. it is just a scrapbook paper with a bit of lettering. Then I went to town on the other side and really enjoyed myself, so I thought I'd share the pages together ... one so simple, and the other side much more what I like. I've been trawling the internet lately for other bloggers who art journal as I've been a bit of a lonely artist these past few days. It's so nice to see what other people are up to. I joined a blog party that Brenda of Bumblebees and Butterflies ... so hello to those people who have wandered over from there. http://www.bumblebeesandbutterflies.com Jennid...

My one word for this year is 'Allow'. I have spent a lot of my life anxious and worried because I am so afraid of bad outcomes. Now I am going to allow them to happen (because they happen sometimes whether I worry about them or not, and sometimes they don't happen). I spend a lot of time worrying if my work is good enough to be seen ... good enough to catch people's attention, good enough to sell. That will no longer be my focus. Allowing for myself to be imperfect or fail does not mean that I stop trying. It means that I try for different reasons. I try because I enjoy the process, I enjoy developing skills and getting better, I enjoy seeing improvement and when there is no improvement I just enjoy moving paint and colour around. So I created this page; It's the fifth page in my journal. I had already created the background and I just wrote over it this morning. I'd been keeping the page for something meaningful about starting the year. Thank ...

My daughter asked me to watch the movie 'Lucy' with her the other night. I'm really glad I did because I really enjoyed it. Not only was it entertaining, but it was thought provoking too. It inspired this page; The face is much more realistic than my previous attempt. I have been watching painting videos to improve. I am really happy with this, though I know the girl doesn't bare much resemblance to Scarlet Johansen. The pages are curly so much I had to put a paper weight on the edge to take the photo :) Jennidee

The Royksopp and Robyn song "monument" inspired this page. I really enjoy creating an art journal ... I do it mostly because it's fun, but I do also hope it will survive me and perhaps tell others what I was like when I'm no longer here. I like the grungy look of this page even though it happened by accident. I was trying out a technique I'd seen on you tube where you put a stencil down on a painted page, spray it with water and then wipe off where the water has soaked through the stencil. But I couldn't get it to work and I tried to rub back all the black paint. When I got to this point, no more paint would come off and I decide I liked it anyway. I managed to get the effect I wanted by using an embossing powder over a painted surface, then painting black over the hard embossed areas. Then you wipe back the black paint from the embossed areas. In my version the embossing powder was an extra thick one and it bubbled strangely, causing the pits. so when I wi...

I found the project life (journalling) blog and loved the idea, so i went ahead and completed a page using the prompts ... book text and Goal Keeper. I've always wanted to try text under a face and this was the perfect opportunity to give it a go. The artists associated with the blog produced their own pages and I watched their video tutorials and looked at their photo tutorials before starting the page. Here is the result; I am really happy with the outcome. Materials used; old books for papers with text, acrylic paints, PVA glue, medium black marker, watercolour pencils, gold paint, lettering book used to reference the lettering. This required lots of layering and it took a long time, but the effect it wonderful. I've already layered the opposite page with text and paint ready to write my long term goals on (I'd already done a 2015 goal page (see below). Thanks for looking Jennidee

I was very inspired by a pin on Pinterest, http://www.pinterest.com/pin/497647827549771247/  and created this in response. On the stars I have listed the achievements in 2014 that I am most proud of. Materials; ink as sprays, acrylic paint, white journal pen, black journal pen, star stencil.