Charlotte Poole feels the felt for week 4 and PPF #46 v.2

Each week I make a cover page for it and link it to Paint Party Friday.
I also invite an artist to make a piece (any size, anytechnique) for the week´s number which I will publish on Fridays.
Weeks still available if you want to play along and be published here: 05, 07, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 20, 21, 24, 25, 26, 27, 29, 30, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 38, 39, 40, 41, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48 and 49.  Please send me a message to my Paula - Buenos Aires Facebook page to check dates & availability. 

My guest for week number 4 is a multitalented artist: Charlotte Poole.

This is what she wrote about her piece:

I decided to needle-felt a little picture, the 4 hearts represent me, my husband and our two boys as I wanted to make something I could put on display to remind me of our little family as well as your project! I thought it was fitting with your project and the ethos of your blog to have a go at a different type of art!

I really liked doing this Paula, thank you so much for including me in your project xxxxx

Soon Charlotte will be back at blogging at her blog "Twinle Twinkle" where you can see her fabulous scrapbook layouts and her gorgeous boys.

Now it´s my turn! :D

Picture taken by my daughter from upstairs

 Want a closer look? That is me copying a drawing from a magazine in the log cabin we are staying in San Carlos de Bariloche, Río Negro, Patagonia Argentina. You can see Cerro Catedral ski center as a background. 

Watercolour pencils on Canson white paper plus some collage.

See you next week here!

A magnetic guest

For Paint Party Friday I will show you my work so far for Ayala Art´s  29 faces in September. You can find what I did for May´s edition here.

 It seems I do better with moody expressions than smiley ones. Experimenting with B&W shading.

After a while I realized what was odd about this one. I had magnified the face x2, the hat was only about x 1.5 and the leaves were the same size! Playing with coloured pencils.

Have you gathered your magnets this week? Ready to make something with them?

I have been following Denise from the blog Denthe for a while. She is a wonderful artist who works in different mediums and makes beautiful and practical pieces like canvas paintings, decorated boxes and mosaic mirrors. She is participating in Ayala´s 29 faces too with fantastic one liners. You HAVE to go and see them! Plus she adds the coolest quotes.
She used magnetic backed canvas, which I didn´t know existed and here´s what she has to say about her process:
These are some magnets I made. I found canvas with magnetic backing and immediately my mind went into overdrive about all the things I could do with that. So I ordered a few sheets, divided the sheet in 9 rectangles and started painting.

But I didn´t listen to my inner voice when I started. The voice that said: "shouldn´t you first put some gesso on there and sand it down, because the canvas structure is really prominent?" No, I´m an impatient person and wanted to start right away. It was hard to paint that small on the rough canvas, but the trouble really started when I wanted to write quotes on there. It looked like it was written by a geriatric 90-year-old. So I put some transparent gesso on there and sanded it down. And removed some paint in the process. So I had to start over in some spots. Grrr! Since I usually mix my colours, it was hard to get the exact same tint, which meant I also had to repaint the spots that were still good :-(.
Lesson learned: ALWAYS listen to your inner voice!
These are the magnets cut up in rectangles (the size of an ATC)





Thank you for letting me use your pictures Denise. It is a pleasure to have you as a guest here today. :)
Remember to come next Monday for your next decluttering task!.

PPF #10 v.2

Thanks Kristin & Eva for another round of Paint Party Friday!
I´m taking part of Ayala Art 29 FACES in May project, so it´s been all about portraits this month. I sketch a lot while waiting for the kids at the school doors.

This is the face I was working on two weeks ago. Now I worked on the background adding some stamping, bubble wrap colouring, watercolour pencil, marker border and a quote by Pablo Picasso: When INSPIRATION comes, let her find me WORKING.
The final stage of these art journaling pages.

Want to see my table? Here it is:
P.S: my "desk" is our dining table. That means I put stuff out, work and put stuff away. My working space isn´t like that allllll the time. ;) And yes, I´m verging OCD when placing my materials in a line. :D

Now, there is something I want to say to you:
If you are coming from the PPF link, let me tell you this: YOU are one of the most interesting peeps in this world, that´s why I keep going back there. :)
 If you are coming from Jamie Ridler´s Wishcasting Wednesday: my truest gratitude for your loving & continuous support. I´m wishing for you too.
 If you are coming from Sunday Snippets: it´s sooooooo cool to get to know you and your vision of the world. Thanks for being my eyes where you are.
 If you are coming from Creative Every Day: keep creating my dear! You are making this planet a better place.
Yay for International Internet Day (May 17th)!

I love my local community too. That being said, I haven´t been able to form a local art/business tribe. I think I haven´t been asking the right questions. In a place this big there must be some "same wavelength" women. :)

It is great timing that Jennifer Louden is offering a "Learn to Create your own Mastermind Group" course! She will teach topics like the different styles of groups and how to determine what style you want, the  structures, finding the right people and how to manage the group. Groups are formed by humans, and as such they evolve and change. Lots of useful "how to"s about that too. :)  If we have met before you will certainly recognize some of the cool interviewees names and jump for joy. If we haven´t: check them out! They are awesome! Danielle LaPorte, Andrea Sher, Tanya Geisler + Rachel Cole + Kate Swoboda + Bridge Pilloud + Julie Daley + Jamie Ridler, Fabeku Fatunmise, Elizabeth Marshall, Mark Silver + Michele Christensen + Molly Gordon + Michael Bungay Stanier + Eric Klein (Louden´s group).

The dates: May 22nd & May 29th (4 pm Pacific / 7 pm Eastern) ~calls will be recorded~

 Finding the right people is nowadays the one point I need to master the most. The "more than one" group comment got my attention as I know there are people I like that have some points in common but not others and mixing and matching is an art. :D
After reading about Jennifer´s offering I met with a new mom from my girl´s class. I might be on my way! :D
 

PPF #8 v.2: 29 Faces

I will be joining Ayala Art at 29 FACES this month.

We have 31 days to make 29 faces. That means 2 extra days of room to wiggle, which I lost by starting too late! *sigh*

Guidelines:
* It's all about a face! Any medium, size, techniques and forms are welcome.
   --It is OK to post an unfinished work too! Don't stress if you can't finish the  whole thing the same day.
* Your posts have to include the label/tag 29 Faces (make sure you type it in every post for this challenge!)

** Write an introductory post in your blog, tell people what it is etc AND use the tag/label. THEN click on that label, (it will take you to another blog page) then you copy the URL from your browser and paste it here in the Linky

Example: http://yourNameHere.blogspot.com/search/label/29faces  

The link you post will take the readers to ALL your individual challenge's posts. This way we only post one link, and have all our 29 postings showing!. (^._.^)  

Face #1 (May 2nd): Just faffing around playing with eyes. Tatiana (12yo dd) is very much into manga stories like Naruto and is our resident expert in eyes. She taught me the worried look which might be quite effective if practised.

 

Face #2 (May 2nd): now this is more my style. 

Face #2 colouring (May 3rd): my working table. I looked for an ad in the same position to understand the light.

 I used oil pastels for a first version, which I didn´t like so I went over it with watercolour pencils.

Final touches with watercolour pink which I also used for the background.

More work on the background next week.
I will be posting that and more faces on Friday for Paint Party Friday. You can visit other artists working different mediums and styles there. :)

PPF #2 v.2

Working on my quotes/tips journal:

 My oooooh, ermmmmm, lady? girl? wise woman? voice? guide? whoever it is she has a female spirit. Where was I? Oh, yes. My "her" starts to show.

 Background details:
*tapping watered down acrylic with cloth (an old cotton T shirt).

 *water drop. Non intentional but cute.

 I´ve been practising proportions by copying faces from magazines. I wait for Tati at the school gates with my sketch pad. Today I met another mom with "I´m soooooo happy to see you! Let me have a look at your hair" Lol! She almost freaked out but she remembered I´m harmless. ;) "I can´t get hair line right", I explained showing my book in my left hand and pointing at her hair with my HB pencil in the right one.

 Some acrylics and watercolour pencil work. Still loads to go.

PPF #1 v.2

A year and a week of Paint Party Fridays. :D I´m having another go at "using stamp pads as stamps for backgrounds" like last week for PPF#52. 

On top of that I painted an old pink (in Spanish it is called "rosa viejo" it has a faded brownish tint, does it have a proper name in English?) acrylic wash with a dusty green for the borders. I love Mariza´s faces, with the dark green/blue colouring. I still don´t dare going too dark but I quite like the end result for a first version. :) I used watercolour pencils over white gesso.

This is my first double spread for a journal that was originally called "This much I know" and has become something like "Tips for living". Lol! The first one is "One thing at a time" aka "Do what is in front of you". I tend to be a scatter brain.

I sound like I have what my friend Mel calls:  A.A.A.D.D. - Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder.This is how it manifests itself:

I decide to water my garden.
As I turn on the hose in the driveway, I look over at my car and decide it needs washing.
As I head towards the garage, I notice post on the porch table that I picked up from the postman earlier.
I decide to go through it before I wash the car.
I put my car keys on the table, put the junk mail in the recycling box under the table, and notice that the recycling box is full.
So, I decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the recycling first.
But then I think, since I'm going to be near the post-box when I take out the recycling paper anyway, I may as well pay the bills first.
I take my cheque book off the table and notice that there is only one cheque left.
My extra cheques are in the desk in my study, so I go into the house to my desk where I find the cup of coffee I'd been drinking.
I'm going to look for my cheques but first I need to push the coffee aside so that I don't accidentally knock it over.
The coffee is getting cold, and I decide to make another cup.
As I head toward the kitchen with the cold coffee, a vase of flowers on the worktop catches my eye - the flowers need water.
I put the coffee on the worktop and discover my reading glasses that I've been searching for all morning.
I decide I better put them back on my desk, but first I'm going to water the flowers.
I put the glasses back down on the worktop, fill a container with water and suddenly spot the TV remote control. Someone left it on the kitchen table.
I realise that tonight when we go to watch TV, I'll be looking for the remote, but I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table, so I decide to put it back where it belongs, but first I'll water the flowers.
I pour some water in the flowers, but quite a bit of it spills on the floor.
So, I put the remote back on the table, get some towels and wipe up the spill.
Then, I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do.
At the end of the day:
The car isn't washed
The bills aren't paid
There is a cold cup of coffee sitting on the kitchen work-surface
The flowers don't have enough water
There is still only 1 cheque in my cheque book
I can't find the remote
I can't find my glasses
And I don't remember what I did with the car keys.
Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done today, I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all bloody day and I'm really tired.
I realise this is a serious problem, and I'll try to get some help for it, but first I'll check my e-mail.....

I know everyone coming from Paint Party Friday is a painter but I also know that many of us dabble into other materials. I´ve been trying out the digi world lately.
When Liz from My Memories contacted me to review My Memories Suite v.3 the words "without" and "complicated" together totally got my attention. This is a software to create digital scrapbooks, photobooks, cards, calendars and other art pieces. I downloaded the software really easily. Very clear instructions all along and smooth streaming. 

Here´s my templates review from this week when I also chose some free embellies from the site, just for the fun of it.

Today I decided to try the personal design aspect. There were so many options to choose from that I started by participating in one of the speed scrap challenges at My Memories Facebook page. For a newbie it is great to explore the software with a guided exercise.

Do you want to try it too? ONE lucky winner will get a copy of the My Memories Suite v.3!

Leave me a comment here and I´ll add you to the draw. Are you a follower of my blog? I´ll add a second chance for you as a Thank You! Want another chance? Tell me which is your favourite theme to work with.

Paint Party Friday #52

It all started with Carolyn Dube from A Colourful Journey´s video. She had this green/blue/stencil/ink thing going on. Woooow! I thought. Preeeeetty! Want. Now.

From the beginning our paths differed because ... I couldn´t get things right. The seamlessly applied ink on her page was a chequered look in mine.  And the ink through stencil didn´t work either, so I turned the stencil and used it as a stamp (no, I wasn´t letting that ink going to waste ;) ).

Color blocking is in fashion for clothes and seems to be entering the apinting world too. I put my aquarelle pencils to work.  

On the other side I used the ink pad as a shape stamp. Aquarelle doodles. Got bored because ... it was not going as I had envisioned.

Time for a drastic measure. Butter acrylic applied with brayer. Too much acrylic made some peaks. Called it "good texture" and moved on.

Applied two greens with brush around the corner. 

 Have I told you it´s Paint Party Friday´s first birthday? Go and say Happy birthday to Kristin and Eva! If you´ve known me for a while, you know what is coming next! Yes! Multi projects! No acrylic is left behind.

Second layer. I´ve been watching Donna Downey´s Inspiration Wednesdays and she is doing a lot of circles at the moment.  Do I like my take? No, not really. I covered it up with corn acrylic which gave the page a golden light but didn´t cover the circles. More on that one next week. 

Some fingerprints on side B. I quite like the irl version and might call it done. On the other hand this is all about experimenting with layers so I might keep going.

These are my actual paper paintings but I´ve also been working on digital things these days. I have started using My Memories products and next week I will be reviewing the My Memories Suite v.3 software. Very intuitive and versatile. I will reviewing it this weekend and next week I will be giving away one copy of the software!

To participate in the give away leave me a comment from today on, telling me which your favourite My Memories kit is. Are you a follower of my blog? I´ll pop another paper with your name on it for a second chance as a thank you. :)

Paint Party Friday # 49

Honey, I´m hoooome!
After two months and a half, I´m back at Paint Party Fridays.
In fact after two months and a half I gathered my stash again. All of it. Just like it happens.

Dining-room table: painted art journaling on the left, scrapbooking on the right.

 Kitchen table: collage art journaling on the left, written journaling on the right.

 My word for 2012 is expansive. My iGoogle has a sticky note that says: Deeper than the ocean, higher than the sky. Yes, in English. I found it that way and loved it that way.
Now ... when things get stuck. My plan was to paint the title page with my word and use the journal for guide/intention quotes. Faber Castell aquarelle pencils on Canson white paper. You might remember the deep greenish/purple colour of the sea in Las Grutas.

 You see where this is going? If I wrote "deeper than the ocean" and then "higher than the sky", ocean would be written in the sky and sky on the ocean. And it just didn´t sound right the other way around.
One day I was telling hubbie about it and as I translated it ... it sounded perfectly the way I needed it to be in Spanish! Tan alto como el cielo, tan profundo como el mar. (We use as deep as the sea, not ocean.)
Voilá! My title page for this year´s art journal.

AEDM 2011: Day 21 Let it rain

For Art Every Day Month I show each day what I created the day before. My table on Nov 20th.

It all started with "I´m empty", meaning I had no ideas. You can see my photographs box on the table. I was shuffling papers for a couple of hours and no ideas for scrapbooking came to me.

Then I remebered Ok Go´s song that had the line "running on the fumes". Yups, must be that. AEDM took everything I´ve got (another line from the song).

Cue to endless repets of Let it rain while painting this. After the first colour I remembered the Travelling journal series by MaryAnn K and looked for my pen to write what this piece was all about underneath the colours as I had seen her do:

PS: Ok Go also has a song called "A good idea at the time" ;)

AEDM 2011: Day 20 Check In Chapter 10

For Art Every Day Month I show each day what I created the day before. My table on Nov 19th. Simple setting this time as one of my uncles and his wife were coming to dinner. Notice I even took the green cloth off the table? I "discovered" somebody else!!! That was SO NOT her plan. She intended to be ninja like and hide in my pages. ;) Another biggie for me: it is the first time I {kind of} journal in English. This is not a quote (I may have done that before) but an original line.

Time for our Chapter 10 of The Artist´s way by Julia Cameron Check In!

1) Did you keep up with the daily pages? Are you hiding out somewhere else? Like in a corn field?

2) Gone anywhere for your artist´s date? Had plans but didn´t?

3) Which was your favourite task? Which one your least favourite? Skipped any?

For this Check In I´d love to introduce to you an inspiring multi talented artist: Tammy Vitale. I met her through Art Every Day Month and was mesmerized by her outdoors pieces. I so want a garden like hers! She is playing along with us by answering several tasks. Thanks Tammy!

I'm such a huge fan of the Artist's Way. I first read it in the mid 90s. At that point in time, when I got to the chapter where we had to give up reading, I had my (then) kids reading me headlines from the 3 daily papers I felt I had to read in order to keep the world spinning. I credit that experience with realizing I am not personally responsible for saving the world - just my corner of it.

Here are some of the things I outlined in Chapter 10...they are things that I have since incorporated into my life and the way I live my life:

When we are clear about who we are and what we are doing, the energy flows freely and we experience no strain.
We begin to sense our real potential and the wide range of possibilities open to us. That scares us. (oh, my, yes).

In creative recovery, it is far easier to get people to do the extra work of the morning pages than it it is to get them to do the assigned play of an artist date. Yes indeed! I've got stars around that as it was exactly defining what I was doing at the time. I've gotten better!

The fact is I work all the time now - and I LOVE it because it is always about creativity. Then I was employed outside the home - but when I turned 54 I kept my promise to myself that when I turned 55 I could be a full-time artist (I started a year early - I'm an Aries. We're always early!)

Task # 5.1 * List two small victories: This year I imagined and completed the Garden Goddess with a gathering of women to make tiles for her area and bring gifts to bless the garden; I also kept a promise to myself to write a book, Wylde Women's Wisdom: Story (a Journal). [it's listed on the Wylde Women's Wisdom page]

Task #5.2 * List two nurturing actions you’ve taken: I made myself a necklace and earring set; I'm going to lunch with art girlfriends tomorrow.

Task #5.3 * List two actions you could take to comfort your artist: do my morning and evening gratitudes because that seems to always make my day go better. I also use that time to hold people I love in the light of the Universe and ask for their wellbeing - also for those I know in difficult times. My artist is pretty spoiled. Having been doing art full time for 10 years means that art always comes first for me and "it's my business" is the best excuse I've ever had to be creative! My artist tends to be very happy - which is good because when she is happy she is productive.

Task #5.4 * Make two nice promises to yourself, then keep them: I promise myself that there IS enough time for the important things in my life, and when I feel rushed or stressed to stop and reorient; I promise to give myself time to do something for Art Every Day Month every single day and post it - at the top of my priority list!

Task # 5.5 * Do one lovely thing for yourself each day this week: so far I've raked leaves - I love raking leaves. I love the way my yard looks afterwards (even if only for 1/2 day) and I get this lovely feeling of completion PLUS exercise! Yesterday I had ice cream for dessert. Tomorrow, in addition to lunch, in the evening I will participate in a group we call "Philosophies" which very much satisfies the intellectual side of me in a very laid back and creative atmosphere; Thursday is wide open and I can do anything I want (and I have a mosaic waiting for me - Thursday may be the day); Friday is Full Moon Dream Board day and an artist's date to Colonial Beach VA, about 1.5 hours from me where a client of mine is having a show of mosaics; Saturday at 5pm I will go join my artgal pals and we will continue a discussion about how to break open the art scene in Southern Maryland. We have no art scene but we are imagining and dreaming and intending one. Sunday we celebrate my son-in-law's 40th birthday. I do believe that's 7 days!

I´m sure you now want to know more about Tammy and her work. You will find her at Women, Art, Life.

She is also a coach and you will find a special offer for you for a coaching retreat following this link to her workshop´s section of the site.

If you spend hours perfecting your art but then struggle with putting it out into the world or you are overwhelmed every time you think about selling your art, it´s time to enrole in her Sell Your Art Keep Your Soul learning Modules.

If you want to take a little something away with you, daily wisdom and inspiration from women who have found the goddess and know She is them is provided by Tammy at Wylde Women´s Wisdom.

You may remember that at the end of chapter 5 I interviewed Jamie Ridler (Missed that one? Click here to read it & watch Jamie´s video for you). Jamie from Jamie Ridler Studios is a creative living coach. From coaching to workshops, from podcasting to blogging, Jamie´s work helps women find the confidence and courage to discover and express their creative selves so they can be the star they are.

Jamie has kindly given me copies of Your creative Spark to share with my readers. Camilla won the first one and now it´s time for the second one. Just leave me a comment stating your interest to be added to the draw.

How to share with MrLinky: you type in your name in the first box (the way you´d introduce yourself) and then the url/link to your post (not your whole blog url) where you share your work with the current chapter. When you come back next week your name will likely automatically be entered but you need to redo or paste over the url/link with your new post's address.