Dancing in the Rain

Here is my January page for Kate Cranes art calendar challenge

As you can see, it looks quite different from yesterdays photos which were really just to illustrate the background technique I had used.

All my little squares were cut from scraps and boy did I have to rummage for those. I did learn that I generally don't use or buy lilac and purple shades of stash, I really delved into the depths to find enough to finish the page.

But, as it clearly is not a colour I generally opt for, I immersed myself in the challenge of making it work for my pages.

I originally planned to do those quirky images people are using all over their art journals, but if I am completely honest with myself, I don't really like crows on heads, pointy hats and mismatched body parts, they really aren't me, I am sorry, they look fine in other peoples books, Dyan Reavely and Kate  make them look absolutely amazing, but when I do them they look like scientific experiments gone badly wrong - ooooops !!!  

So I am going to remain true to myself and allow my own style to furnish my calendar.

The girlie started out as a black silhouette and initially she was holding the brolly over her head, but when I laid her out onto my completed page she looked wrong and far too dreary, so I paper pieced her and removed the brolly to position over the right side of the page.

I actually love the way the repositioning of the brolly worked out as the page now fits the quote really well.

The quote along the right hand side page reads :

Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it is learning to dance in the rain

So she now looks like she is wantonly flinging her brolly and dancing in the rain (although I did have to perform a little reconfiguration of her feet to make her look like she was dancing)

The days of the week and the quote were computer generated and inked to blend in with the other elements

My daily journalling squares were daubed with white paint lightly to blend in a little better with the background and also to make the eventual journalling stand out more, I added numbers to each day with a journalling pen

The title and year were created with letter stickers.

And so the art calendar begins - I wonder if I can keep it up for the whole year. 

I hope so. 

I LOVED completing these pages - thankyou for the inspiration Kate.

 It is not too late to join in the fun, Kate's website is linked in my sidebar if you fancy giving it a whirl ! One of the really wonderful parts of this project is that I am also doing it with some of my closest friends. Anita, Nicki, Margaret and Marie are also joining me, we plan to meet up and work on the calendars together throughout the year.

Sketch 365

Today I practiced 3/4 faces for my Lifebook class ( more on that later in the week)

The photo above is just a really quick basic outline, I was trying out shape and proportion mainly. I have been happy sketching faces front-on for a while but profiles and slightly offset angles are something I really need to work on. I am awaiting the delivery of my new watercolour paper so I won't be completing the actual piece until later in the week, but it is good to practice.

I promised yesterday to talk a little more in depth about my "One little word"

This is a project started by the amazingly talented Ali Edwards, you can find her blog HERE

The word I have chosen for the year is POSITIVITY

I am not a negative person generally, in fact, I am pretty optimistic most of the time, but positivity has so many nuances, I aim to explore them all through the year and return to the word to inspire me in my journalling, blog writing, creativity and personal life, I will share these on here as I go along.

Blogging took place pretty late last night, in fact I was still messing with photos and sketching ideas until 4.30 in the morning, naughty me!  In doing so, I totally forgot to add the 'afters' of my operation  - CLEAR CRAFT AREA

You can scroll down through a couple of posts to see the 'befores'

I emptied every single paper tray and drawer and sorted through their contents, most items were tidied, sorted into like groups and replaced in a tidier manner, a few objects were trussed in groups and sorted for donation ( mainly to Amy for her art and textiles coursework). So I did manage to rehome a few items.

An empty desk and a visible printer ( previously buried)

Completely clear window sills, floor and tidy drawers !!!

AJ said "Well done mum ! - are you going to keep it like that ?"

I had to admit  "Noooooo it will probably last about 3 days !"

Oh well, it CAN look tidy.