31 October 2007

Happy Halloween


The beauty of working with kids is that I get to celebrate Halloween with them. I can dress up and be anybody. I love it. Didn't have time to take a picture yet but you'll see my disguise later tonight or tomorrow. I only used things I already had at home (regular clothes and accessories.)

Have a fun day!


Edit: here's the picture! I kinda look like my brother!

It's 11pm and I'm getting ready for NaNoWriMo. I'm excited!

PS to Violette: See the 2 orbs? One below my left hand and the other above the toaster oven. All day I've been feeling a presence...

27 October 2007

Of friends, cards and a boy

Last night, my mother and I went to my friend Catherine's place for a Halloween themed evening. We're scrapbookers and cardmakers so we like to meet for a crop night and work on projects. I had no idea what to work on so after drinks, chatting, showing my art journal to Steph, Catherine's daughter, mounting new rubber stamps, I finally made this Christmas card. It's very simple and very anti-christmas colours but I like it. I started another card but still need to finish it before I can post a picture.

Remember my Super Ordinary Boy? Steph and her friend said last night that if I made a book about this little guy, they'd buy it and would tell all their friends to buy it. Well it got me thinking and all of a sudden, S.O.B. (as he will now be referred to) started appearing with my main character for Nanowrimo. I think I might have a twinkling of an idea for my story! Woohoo!

Rainy day. I slept in late and have been feeling kind of yucky all day. Chicken broth didn't seem to help so it's not a cold. Maybe my body's telling me something... I'll go work on my triptych for a shrine I'm making (from Violette's e-class at Go-Make-Art.)

25 October 2007

A bit of panic

Nanowrimo is one week away!!! Yikes!!!

22 October 2007

Works In Progress

This is a page in my spiral journal that I started last night. I had a dream the night before about a small girl who falls in love with a giant half-human/half-robot. I love the way my drawing came out. What I've done so far on the page is Gesso, make a masking tape border all around, add a piece of scrapbook paper, paint, gesso some more, gold ink (from an ink pad), smudge oil pastels, colour the drawing with gel pens, watercolour pencils and a leafing pen and finally white acrylic paint on top of the oil pastels so I can doodle and journal. I'm getting better at doing layers.








This is the third (and final) mixed media painting in my Citrus serie. I already did Lemon and Lime and this is going to be Orange. It still needs a lot of work.

Tonight I'm taking a Christmas Card class at Catherine's with mom. Can't wait!

17 October 2007

Art Journal Pages and Birthday!


Just a little post. Here are 2 more pages in my smaller Art Journal. You can't see it from the scan but the backgrounds are done with Metallic Watercolours (found at a dollar store!) so there's a bit of a shimmer there. I didn't want anything complicated on the curtain page so I did some drawing and doodling with a fine marker. Filled in the curtains with a Sharpie PosterPaint Marker. Wrote the line with a permanent marker and then put some pink crayon over the "stage" background. I like it like that.

The second page also started with the Metallic Watercolours. Then I covered it with crayons. Then with acrylic paint mixed with a tiny bit of gesso. Then I put a heart shaped PostIt and crayoned over it. It looked like a lion's mane so I went with that. Finished the drawing with permanent markers and Signo pen. The tab is a piece of scrapbook paper covered with masking tape that was then doodled over with permanent markers. So far this is my favourite page in this journal.

In a few hours (6:28am EST to be exact,) I'm turning 30. Yep, I'm THAT young! Most people I know were scared by that number. Not me, no sirry bob! I'm embrassing this new number, this new decade. I've been through some rough patches in the past and I figure that it's time I had fun and a great life. I love my job and I mean LOVE my job. I have a wonderful family who support and encourage me. I have few but VERY IMPORTANT friends (well I'm finding more and more friends thanks to blogland and the magic of the internet.) I'm planning a great trip for next summer. Things are going my way and I want more more MORE!

Happy Birthday to me. And you know what? Happy UNbirthday to all of you! We should celebrate each and everyday because life is a gift in itself. Now I'm off to bed. Goodnight, sweet dreams...

15 October 2007

NaNoWriMo

Yep, that's right! I'm going to try writing a novel during the month of November. I have no idea what I'll write. I have no plot. No characters. Nothing. Hmm, quite a challenge. If I write between 1500 and 2000 words per day, I should be able to make it. 50 000 words in 30 days. Maybe I'm crazy. At least I'm trying something new!

What to Write in My Journal?

http://www.creativity-portal.com/cca/quinn-mcdonald/write-in-journal.html

I particularly like the phrase: "[journals] are the GPS system to your spirit." Especially since I'm a proud member of the Glitter Power Sisters.

09 October 2007

Self Portrait

I'm an artist who likes to experiment with different techniques and different medium. I do acrylic painting, watercolour, mixed media. I collage and make assemblage. I dwell in scrapbooking and cardmaking. I write. I sing. I'll do pretty much anything as long as it's creative and artistic in some way. I love textures and colours and smells. I always smell my paints when I open the tubes or pots or what-have-you. And I always touch and smell my papers. I love to run a brand new paintbrush on the back of my hand and on my neck. Some people say I'm crazy, weird, eccentric. I say THANK YOU! and so be it!

I like art, artists, painting, cats, crows, squirrels, animals in general, playing guitar, creating, dreaming,
day-dreaming, wearing colourful clothes, Halloween, making my own things, movies, music, writing, nature, paint on my face, paint on my hands, apple-picking, petting my cat, playing, reading, singing, sleeping, talking to animals, the smell of flowers, the smell of food, walking by the lake, watching sappy love movies and bad teenage dramas, working (told you i'm crazy!) and so much more!!!

08 October 2007

Inspiration and life

If you haven't yet, go visit SuziBlu's blog and YouTube page. She rocks. Watching her Vlogs makes me want to buy a digital video cam and shoot my own mini videos or my art and Diesel.

Since I started putting her on a leash and taking her out on the balcony, Diesel has been meowing and crying every morning and after lunch to go out. She doesn't mind the leash at all. I'll have to bring her on the grass before we get snow. Soon.

Once upon a time, I wanted to be a vegetarian. I even wanted to be vegan. You know what made me change my mind? I love LOVE love milk and cheese, well dairies in general. And I LOVE my father's roast beef. So as much as I love animals and want them to be safe and happy and such, I can't be a vegetarian.


Now I'll go create in my journal before watching a bit of television. Heroes is on tonight. I'm addicted.

07 October 2007

It's all just a dream


A page from my 9" x 11" journal. Done this week. I really love how it came out. Used gesso, acrylics, handmade stamp, image from National Geographic, pieces of graffiti background, satin-like butterflies and flowers, self-adhesive ribbon, drawing ink and various crayons, pens and markers.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving in Canada. Lots of relaxing planned. And maybe a bit of cooking.

05 October 2007

Of Mermaids and Halloween


Finally, I can show the mermaids I made for the swap on Violette's message board. These were sent to Sioux. The first one is an altered playing card doll. The picture didn't come out well but I can tell you there's glitter on her tail!








The second one is a paper spool collage. Of course, I used an image from ArtChixStudio on it.

The third one is a little watercolour painting with glitter added on the tail.





I've been wanting to do little banners like these and last night (seeing as I couldn't fall asleep even though I had to wake up earlier than usual this morning) seemed as good a time as any to start. I've been very inspired by all the Halloween art I've seen out there in blogland and in magazines so that's the theme I used. So the black and white one was done last night with finishing touches added this morning. The purple one I started this morning and finished this afternoon. The beauty of working small shifts in the day (lunchtime and after-school) is that it gives me time to create stuff and then walk away for a few hours before going back to it and seeing it in a different light (literally!)