The Newest ICADS

Hi, Friends,

This will be a quick post, with my latest bunch of  ICADs.  I confess that I have not kept up with them every day.  I do try to make up for the days I've missed.

I've had some rough times these past few weeks, mostly about my struggle to find a job.  I've had a few interviews, but nothing has worked out.  I try not to complain on this blog about my personal life.  I want to keep it focused on my art.  But at times, I am very, very afraid about the future.  I don't qualify for any further unemployment compensation benefits, and I do not qualify for public assistance.  I'm overqualified for most clerical jobs (I was a secretary for 13 years) yet I don't seem to be qualified for a "better" class of jobs.  I can't lie about the fact that I earned a bachelor's degree--in fact, I'm damned proud of working through night school to earn one.  So, I feel rather stuck at the moment.  There have been many tears and hopeless thoughts.

But I keep trying.

Art is one of the only things that is getting me through it all.  That, and my pets, friends, and family.

So, without further adieu, here are my cards.

Le Lapin.  Materials used:  Pencil

Bubbles.  Materials used:  Rubber stamp, Faber-Castell Gelatos and Big Brush Pens.

Green.  Materials used:  Stickers, mulberry paper, paper leaves, sewn scrapbook paper.

Map.  Materials used:  Scrapbooking paper, transparency, image from my collection, postage stamps.

Stripes.  Materials used:  Images of Jack and Meg White (a/k/a The White Stripes), UPC code, various ephemera, PaperMate Permanent Markers. 

Owls 2.  Materials used:  Scrapbooking paper, ephemera, image from Alphastamps, faux postage from Artchix Studio, tissue pattern paper. 

Patriotic.  Materials used:  Vintage postage stamps, Faber-Castell Gelatos, vintage text from atlas. 

Postage Stamps.  Materials used: Vintage postage stamps, Faber-Castell Gelatos.

Pear.  Materials used:  Colored pencils.  This is a freshly picked pear, one of a bunch my husband picked.  Our pets have really been enjoying slices of these fruits of summer (as well as the branches and leaves from the tree). 

You'll notice I've been using a lot of postage stamps in my ICADs.  I plan to do a post on postoids, or faux postage, very shortly.  I've been creating some of these stamps in Photoshop Elements, and having a lot of fun.

Until next time, take care and stay cool--

On Art Journaling

"When my daughter was about seven years old, she asked me one day what I did at work. I told her I worked at the college-that my job was to teach people how to draw. She stared back at me, incredulous, and said, "You mean they forget?"                                                                                                  ~ Howard Ikemoto

Hello, Friends,

Welcome to a wet August! It's been raining here for a couple of days, but you won't hear me complaining about that. Just about every summer around this area, there's a prolonged dry spell and the news media starts screaming "drought!" My friend Tom calls them the Weather Nazis. They're the same people who declare every blizzard the "Storm of the Century."

Anyway...I'm still working on my ICADs every day, and finding an interest in drawing/sketching some of them, such as Owl and Linen. I've been drawing on and off all my life (see the above quote), and did quite a few sketches in my teens of various rock stars and other celebrities. As time went by, I abandoned my sketchbook for the written word (I've always kept a written diary) and eventually, art journaling.

But sometimes I missed drawing.

I don't feel that I draw very well. About 5 years ago, I tried doing Danny Gregory's Everyday Matters challenges.  Alas, I didn't stick with it for very long.  ICAD is the first art daily art challenge I've been keeping up with, even though it has been difficult lately.

Now, I'm thinking of keeping a sketchbook journal again.  I've started to draw every now and then, and am seriously considering some online classes in sketchbook journaling.  In a way, however, it feels strangely like a betrayal to collage and mixed-media.  I can't quite figure out why. 

Do you keep a journal?  If so, is it a written one, an art journal, a sketchbook, or a combination of all three?


Here are some artists I find inspiring.  Give them a visit--and if you know of anyone else whose work I should check out, please let me know.  I love finding inspiration out there, whether in Bloglandia or in real life.

• Laure Ferlita offers "Imaginary Trips" to places like Italy, Paris and NOLA, plus basic art journaling classes.  
• Jane LaFazio's next class starts on August 11!
• Visit Watercolor Journaling for all kinds of fun.  These two ladies also offer a DVD for purchase if you're not in their region for a live class. 
• I like Gwen Diehn's books, "The Decorated Journal" and "The Decorated Page," but sometimes I feel she looks down on the kind of mixed-media art I enjoy doing.  In one of her books, she talks about purchasing images of, say, Victorian children, and how one should avoid those types of packaged ephemera because they are not original and are somewhat meaningless in our lives and art.  I tend to disagree, because if it were not for my love of vintage photos, I probably would not have become a mixed-media artist. Maybe this is what is contributing to my above-expressed feelings.

Till next time--