A New Year, A New Start

 Since my "junk journal", that was bound with washi tape, was completed at the beginning of the month, it was time to create a new one. I decided this one would have a coptic stitch binding. I took me forever to put this one together. I worked on it in dribs and drabs for two weeks. 

The paper for the cover is gel printed using multiple layers of acrylic paint and a stencil. The signatures are mixed media paper. The mixed media paper is less expensive than watercolor paper and it should hold up to multiple layers of paints, ink, and pastels.

This is the fourth coptic stitch bound book that I have made and this one has the fewest mistakes! I had one row of stitching wrong but caught it before moving forward so I was able to pull it out and make the correction. I wanted to give it an embellishment so I dug through my bead box and found this little do-dad of beads and copper wire to tie on. I think I made it when I was practicing make swirls with wire. After looking through my box I am inspired to incorporate some raku fired beads or buttons into a future journal.

So here I am with lots of blank pages staring at me. Putting down the first marks are the hardest.

Happy Little Nothings

 

Last year I bought a set of Arteza Real Brush Pens. I thought I was going to use them for lettering but quickly realized it was going to be really difficult to use them for that purpose. They are really hard to control. I swatched the colors, played with them a bit, then they sat unused.

I hate it when I buy art supplies that I don't use. Last week I searched on YouTube for some demos using these pens. It inspired me to give them another try. I sketched out some doodles on watercolor paper and outlined them with a fine line Sharpie. The ink in these pens is water-based and they are blend-able. A water brush pen was included in the set. I went to work inking my doodles. It's difficult to get good shading, but perhaps with a little practice I will get better.

I cut out my doodles and created a two page spread in the small art journal that I have been working in.

It's bright, colorful, and cheery... especially in comparison to some of the other "dark" pages I have completed in recent months! My lettering sucks due to the texture on the background. The background is a combination of acrylic paint, bits of sheet music, gesso, and distress inks. It was a pleasant way to take some time for myself on Sunday afternoon. Sometimes mindlessness is a good thing.

Wishing all a creative and happy week.

Create without Fear!

 While the kiln was firing I spent some time with my small journal of gel printed pages.

I have been trying to let the backgrounds tell me what to do with them. There was an oval of lighter pink paint on the left side of this one that looked like it should be an elongated face.

I just took it from there. The journal is a great place form me to get in some lettering practice.

I struggled with this green and yellow print. I added some old book pages, stamped a background, then doodled the flowers using a simple sharpie marker. When I look at it now, I know what I would do differently. I would probably apply some gesso with a brayer to give it more of an "aged" look. I try not to be disappointed with end results. Journals are the place to explore and make mistakes. Create art for yourself and without fear!

I will leave you with a random butterfly. It's been great year for them.

In My Own Little Bubble...

 

Some months back I bound this journal using a simple method using handmade washi-tape along with electrical tape. The pages and cover were all made with gel prints on an inexpensive water color paper. In the handmade journal world, this probably falls into the "junk journal" category. My challenge has been creating artwork over the printed backgrounds. I have to admit that some pages have me stumped!

There are two page spreads with the same prints. Those are easier to be inspired by. I started the mermaid as a practice for a soap pump order. The buyer requested a mermaid scene. I hadn't drawn mermaids in a few years. I started this drawing/painting a couple of months ago and finally finished it this week. It took me that long to figure out where it was headed. The soap dispenser has long been carved, fired, and shipped to it's new owner. Lucky for her it didn't take me two months to figure that out.

I used acrylic paint, colored pencils, pen and ink, then finished it off with sparkly "stickles", a product from Ranger... basically a good quality glitter glue. Who doesn't like a little sparkle in their life?

I am happier with it now, but I know what direction the next one will go in.

 

 I find the pages with competing prints to be difficult. If I cover over one side it's a little easier to find a starting point. This week I added more washi-tape to a page and created a doodle inspired by my own end of summer flowers. It was quick sketch and relaxing to complete. I really enjoyed the Summer of 2020. There were some difficult times, and sleepless nights. Decisions to be made about business, concerns over the state of our country, and humanity... all of which weighed heavy at times. Despite all of this, Jeff and I fell into a rhythm of work, gardening, and cooking. Uninterrupted. Enjoying the moment. Our little bubble is a good place to "just be".

I've Gotten Myself Into A Bind.............

 But in a good way!

At last I gathered or purchased everything I needed to learn coptic stitch bookbinding. I FINALLY found a YouTube video that had easy to follow instructions. Last night I made my first book. 

I took the advice from the tutorial to start small. I am quite happy with my first attempt.

The cover is wrapped in paper that I mono-printed used a gel plate.

The nice thing about coptic stitch binding is that the book opens flat. The stitch is supposed to be loose but I do think I could tighten mine up a little more.

You will notice that the pages on the right are not even. Evidently there is a tool you can buy to trim edges. I am not going to let that bother me. I want it to look handmade.

Next I will move up to binding a larger book with four rows of stitching. I had so much fun making this book from start to finish. There wasn't any part of the process that I didn't enjoy, which is unlike pottery... darn I wish those pots would glaze themselves.

Here is a link to a video about Paulus Berensohn's journal making. It was my inspiration to learn this technique: Soul's Kitchen

Little Books & Journals

Last week I stitched a quick little journal out of water color paper. I wanted to use it to have some fun with water color splotches and ink doodles. I worked on it for just a bit everyday. It's a good exercise to stretch your imagination and creativity.

I stuck to one palette of colors for this exercise. It's a Prima pan set called "Woodlands". I plan to pop this little book in the mail and send it off to Danielle as a cheery surprise.

During this quarantine time I have also created a couple of other small journals. I am still using a simple binding method.

This one has a variety of paper types and sizes inside it. It will make a cute little art journal or a place to write down your thoughts and/or important dates. The fun part about creating these journals is using up odds and ends of paper and bits of artworks that in their original state you just weren't happy with.

Here in North Carolina we have entered into a "modified" phase II of re-opening the state. Here at 505 East Main we are continuing to stay at home and remain closed. We will give it a couple more weeks and then reassess opening our gallery to the public. In the meantime, you can buy our pottery online and we can ship or do curbside pick-up. A link to my Etsy shop is in the sidebar. Our website has links to both of our shops:

Gypsy Potters

Stay well, stay safe, stay home as much as you can.

Putting thoughts and ideas on paper

In anticipation of a slower work schedule I ordered some art supplies so that I can try some new mediums to work in. It looks like there won't be much down time this winter (a good thing) but I can do some exploring in the evenings. The alcohol inks are something I have been thinking about for more than a year. Over the holidays I spent some time watching youtube instructional videos and they inspired me to take the plunge. Another site that I find inspiring is Cloth Paper Scissors. Lots of mixed media ideas there. I bought the gesso to re-purpose an art auction catalog into an art journal.

I am experimenting with coating the pages with a couple coats of gesso, covering them entirely, or applying it thin to others, letting some images show through, or leaving them un-coated. The pages are quite wrinkly when wet, but sort of smooth out as they dry. The gesso will give me a good surface to use a variety of mediums. 

It takes quite awhile for gesso to dry. I can only coat two pages a day... it might be 2020 before I am done!