Jens Arty Life

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...