Artful Intentions: Week 8

The past few days here in the California Foothills have been gorgeous! Uncharacteristically warm for this time of year – into the 70’s! I actually golfed twice in three days for the first time in a long time! Big rain storm on it’s way though – which is great because we still really, really need the rain.

Cilenia’s Week 8 challenge to me was to

• Use drips or sprays
• Use the same image multiple times
• Journal something I’ve learned about myself recentlThe little devil! I had to think long and hard about this – was there something deep and profound I recently discovered that I could use as inspiration? Hmmm. There’ve been so many emotional upheavals since the beginning of the year certainly I could find something? Couldn’t I? Honestly, my mind was just blank and I started to panic as today’s due date drew closer. In an effort to distract myself … okay – busted. In an effort to further procrastinate, I scanned in a bunch of artwork – Gelli plate papers, paint and ink markings, spray ink and watercolor drips, etc. When I started the process of preparing the scans for use in Photoshop, I realized I was over-thinking Cilenia’s challenge. I could employ some of the same tricks I use when staring at a blank art journal page without an idea as to how to begin. I made Photoshop brushes of my scanned artwork and then, just as I would on a physical page, started painting them randomly on a new document. In a short time – a really short time, I had two artsy background papers – click one for a closer look

Then I used a round shapes to digitally “punch” circles from a scan of one of my favorite Gelli plated deli papers to create “flower”. I added some floral brushwork I made from my scans; some doodles, some of the spray ink and watercolor scans, a scrap of torn notebook paper, more doodles …. and there it was! What I learned about myself surprised even me!