New Moon Activity or Lack Of ...

During the moon's cycle we humans ebb and flow along with everything else organic. For me, I notice a deep dive into the shallow end of the creativity pool. It always catches me by surprise ... how can I have so much energy to work for hours at a time one day and the next I can hardly pull myself out of bed?! I blame it on the moon.

When a New Moon arrives I find it's a great time to think about what I want to do next. Right now I'm feeling I want to stretch a little and do things not within the comfort zone but I'm not there yet. It's coming and it'll probably be drawing, most likely faces or people because I really struggle with that. My brain likes creating abstract art because I'm not strong at drawing. I'm good with doodles because they're abstract. Mine are, anyway. However, even with all the low energy happening at the moment, I did manage to do some kind of art every day.

While cleaning out a small box, I found this little handmade journal I started in 2022, I believe. And so one night I grabbed it and did a quick bit of art (the right hand side) with Pasca acrylics and Sharpie.

The prompts were: bubbles, an eye, fuchsia, ruffle. Seek, Gather, Create old prompts from a few years ago have made it, finally, onto my desk. The up side of cleaning out a box and thinking "what's in this?". I found the prompts list for 2 years! Every so often I'll grab it, I know, and find something to do from it. I especially liked this because the ruffles looked like bubbles and the bubbles under the eye looked like tears. Perfect for the sentiment: turn your troubles into bubbles.

WIP - the prompts were: bird silhouette (you'd think it would be easy to do but I failed in doing it and so I just glued it down instead), leaves, teal, a grid. Still have things to do on this, probably mark making or a quote or something. But I love the color and the paint plus stencil were done using a baby wipe dipped in paint.

 

193-196 in the collage a day journal

Clouds were the subject for this grid. Using only a few colors in watercolor and a paper towel, I played with the sky.

 

It was time to do a layered collage on a small wood panel. I ended up doing 2 because I love this technique so much. And I still have leftover papers!

 

2 layers down with a paint layer in between. Now ready for sanding, stenciling and a final black glaze.

After sanding. Love the layers peeking through and a bit of the paint in between can be seen.

The stencil faded a lot on this once it dried but I can see it and it's awesome.

Both are 4x4 inch. I painted the sides in black and have them hanging on my walls. I love the grunge!!

Handmade book using junk mail paper, brown packing paper and a few of my painted papers. The front and back cover has paper I made a while ago.

After stenciling and maybe a little mark making on some of these pages, I'll be adding the hand cut doodles I've got in a box. It's overflowing and so it's time to use them.

The one on the left is so pretty. One of my roll-off papers with gold metallic on it. LOVE.

The back cover.

I love how this looks already and it's just been painted so far!

Some stencils will be used in these pages. I don't really need more handmade journals but I really do love making them and using them ... so maybe I actually need MORE!

197-200 in the collage a day journal. Top right looks like a top hat!

A journal page I actually had a dream about. I have a few more things to add here but it's basically finished. These kids are scary ... having said that, it was a photo in the book and I left it and painted, etc around them. When I dreamed about some of the things I wanted to add to this page I got up before dawn, found all the things I was thinking about and then went back to bed. Ah the life of an artist.

Enjoy your week!

Cindy,  EarthMotherMosaics - Mixed Media Art

Instagram: @artbyearthmothermosaics 

Stay Peaceful and Enjoy the Journey

Birthdays and Cooler Temperatures

September is a great month for me; it's the month my first grandchild was born. He's now 19! He's survived graduating from high school and a motorcycle accident. Life is never dull for him. On his birthday this year, I made him a monogram for a shelf or his wall.

 

4 inch wood panel, hand painted papers and printed monogram, acrylic paint along the sides.

He loves it!

I made the wrapping paper and added a tag for him as well.

 It's also my birthday month and I'll be mentioning that again as it gets closer. Our cooler temperatures aren't really happening much yet but we're getting there. I am so ready for autumn!

Right now, I'm ready to share what I did last week at the work table and some organizing I managed. 

I finished the sweet vintage photo of the little girl and made her magical! This was a lot of fun to do and adding embellishments in ink and fabric really made me happy. I love her!

I sorted the large amount of papers I had piled on my little cart next to my work table and found I could easily figure out what goes where. That's something I've struggled with for a while but I'm slowly getting a hang for how I like things to be and how I want them sorted. I also put a ton of scrap papers into one zip bag and that's what I use to do my daily collage journal and all the cards and old store receipts.

Nothing was thrown away, all were easier to find after doing this and that was the goal. The box holds a lot of painted papers still needing to be sorted and placed by color into the box dedicated for that purpose. Maybe I'll get to that this week.

185-188 in the collage a day journal

Old receipts and cards plus some random pieces of paper are all getting scraps. The larger pieces will get additional embellishments and mark-making soon.

I never throw much away. There's a use for everything at least twice or in a different way. It can lead to clutter if you're not careful but I use everything I save to be used in some artful way. Including bandages too big that we never use but always save because they're perfectly fine but not really perfectly fine to use.

Now these bandages have scrap paper on them and will get put in a journal or used in some way on a card. Everything can be used for art in my life!

189-192 in the collage a day journal (a favorite grouping)

When I was attempting to draw flowers to put on top of the art boxes, I drew a lot of shapes to try to find the one in both size and look that I wanted to use on practice paper. Once I did the art box, I put the papers aside. These resurfaced when I did my sorting and I decided to pull out the acrylic pens and ink pens and have some fun.

I scanned these pages for future printouts. I might use them more than a few times.

A doodle I wasn't all that fond of got colored in as well but I didn't like the way that looked either. And so, I did my negative space technique on it. NOW I love it! 

This week I have some online classes to watch. I love when I find a group of talented individuals who do much of what I like to do but show maybe one or two things I haven't tried yet in their daily practice. Everything I watch has the potential to teach me new things or ways to expand on what I already do. This means I'm always learning! I can't wait!! It's going to be an awesome week!!

 

Enjoy your week!

Cindy,  EarthMotherMosaics - Mixed Media Art

Instagram: @artbyearthmothermosaics 

Stay Peaceful and Enjoy the Journey

 

Sometimes No Decision is the Best Decision

Funny thing happened on the way to set up an appointment to get gallbladder surgery. I discovered a few roadblocks, mostly due to doctors no longer in my network with my insurance, and so for now, I'm not doing anything. I'm not always in pain and when I am, pain relievers and a heating pad make it stop. I'm eating differently, again, many smaller meals which are less difficult to digest seem to help. Therefore, no decision has been made as to when.

Which leaves me to making no decision on my Facebook Art Page. I was going to deactivate it but I have a lot of people I follow using that page and am not sure I have the stamina to go through each one and follow them on my personal page. I don't like my personal page very much, really. I do like my art page but there's spam to deal with and ridiculous messages coming through asking me if the art is for sale when clearly it's not and if someone really read the caption or the description or even the blurb under my page that says I do not sell my art, I wouldn't get any messages at all. I'm okay with that. I just like to have a dedicated art page after so many years of doing it this way, I don't want to really change it anyway.

And so, no decision has been made about that either.

Now, let's look at what I DID make decisions on, at the art table, because it was a fun week. I even finished the mosaic vase! Whoohoo!!

 

Numbers 177-180 in the collage a day journal

This card is on my blue table at the moment. I love it's simplicity and it's message.

Look who is finished and resting, waiting for grout! Yay!! She's gorgeous, isn't she?

I had an entirely different plan for this awesome yellow butterfly but it wanted to go here. So be it.

The prompts were: a window, green, something blurry, a repeating shape. Taken from Seek, Gather, Create a free, twice-yearly mixed-media art scavenger hunt challenge hosted on Instagram, probably over a year ago maybe two years ago (and yes, I'm just getting to it!).

Using the scrap papers on old store receipts, I made birds with words. 

Nothing makes my heart sing more than a new package of paint brushes.

This long armed stapler has been on my wish list for a while. It will help me staple my handmade books together instead of only having the option of sewing the signatures in place (although I'll still do that as well).

The latest journal pages were done in black and while (and silver). They are not meant for the end of the year but for the September birthdays coming up in my family. I just happen to have a few black and white things that I thought would work on these pages.

I made a belly-band using the black and white sunflowers and the card in the middle is the only bit of color there is on these pages.

Here's to Health to all those that I love.

Using Emerson quotes I've got printed out by the hundreds, I took some of them and put them on my little scrap papers that are on receipts. I'll finish these up with ink and maybe using some decorative scissors to cut them, possibly paint the backs and then put them in journals when the mood strikes. I love having options to use for my journal page days.

This was so much fun. Taking embroidery floss and adding wonky things to old vintage photos is something I've seen on YouTube, done much better than what I managed here, but I have to say, I am going to make more without too much concern as to exactly how perfect they are. I'm more concerned with the fun I'm having as I'm creating things.

This little fairy will have a pink skirt attached to the bit of embroidered cloth I had in my stash. It fits well as a little apron here. Still considering what to change the suitcase into. Stay tuned!

Days 181-184 in the collage a day journal

Enjoy your week!

Cindy,  EarthMotherMosaics - Mixed Media Art

Instagram: @artbyearthmothermosaics 

Stay Peaceful and Enjoy the Journey