"I Got the Blues..." - Baby's Got Sole !

So the GPP Street Team Crusade #21 - Irrestistable is a few weeks old now and I have so enjoyed checking out all the great rubbing and resists that the talented Crusaders have done ! Some people have such imagination, it blows me away ! One thing that grabbed my attention was how some people used the soles of their shoes as rubbing surfaces ! Lord knows, I have a lot of shoes (like many round chicks, I enjoy the fact that I can always find a pair that fits !!!!) so that inspired me to do another go-round of this challenge.

Here's the source of my rubbings (One thing I noticed is that I have a lot more "comfort" shoes now that I am in my 40's - they work better than the stilettos for this anyway !)

And here are a few of the nice papers after the paint. I used a white crayon and a grey oil pastel for the rubbings. The paint wash was regular craft store acrylic (I was too lazy to get out the good stuff !) and I thinned it out with a bit of water and acrylic glazing medium. That made the paint transparent and allowed the colors to remain a little more vivid than just water. All of these are done on regular photocopy paper.

I used the first piece of paper I made to do this journal page. I have been feeling kind of blue lately, as have a couple of my really good friends. This piece was inspired by the John Mayer song "Heart of Life" which I have been listening too over and over again as I work at shaking off these Blues, Baby !

Un fait accompli - My First Completed Art Journal

So I have done it ! I finished the last page of my art journal this morning ! I started it on October 15th, 2007 and now have 54 pages covered in little pieces of me ! It really does feel like an accomplishment to have filled all of those pages. It makes me want to share it with the world (except for the more secret things that I only want to share with people who I really trust) ! I guess by putting pieces up on the blog along the way, the whole world does have access anyway ! Cool !

Here are some pictures of recent pages, the new cover of my book and also my "finale" pages.

Art Journal Cover - A photo from my trip to West Virginia makes a great cover, don't you think ?

Page One - "Which way does the wind blow ?"- Done October 2007

"Friends in the Wood" - A recent page celebrating my new friend Sonia and our time at "Camp"

"We Laugh" - A recent page done for me and he - I love this shot of us !

"What Do You See When You Look in The Mirror ?" - A recent ode to PMS

"Letting Go" - Still working on this, big time ! (The concept, not the page !)

Finale Two Page Spread

I used a sheet of the rubbing and resist paper I made for the GPP Street Team Crusade #21 for the background and quoted the lyrics from the Coldplay song "Twisted Logic" for "The End".

The background is another rubbing/resist paper. I recently came across the same picture of this gorgeous red head that I had used on "Page One" in an old Oprah magazine and had to use it again on page 54, "You go backwards, but then, you go forwards again". The end of something is always the beginning of something else, right ?

So there you have it ! Mon chef d'oeuvre - my masterpiece ! (Mistresspiece ?) And now on to the new journal. I have bought it. It's empty pages lie on my worktable full of possibility! The same format as this one (a field watercolor book) because I love the idea of eventually having a whole series of the same sized book on my studio shelves, filled with little pieces of me ! Good job, Kimbo !

GPP Street Team Crusade #21 - Irresistable !

The first week of the month means a new GPP Street Team Crusade ! Yay ! This month : Irresistable - making wax rubbings that serve as wax resists when you apply paint ! I used to do this activity with my grade 1 students all the time. We would get out the Crayolas in our favorite colors and run around the class room and the hallways, making rubbings of any cool surface we could find.

In lieu of the classroom, I wandered the house looking for objects to rub. I wish I had found a magic lamp and a genie who would grant me three wishes but no such luck ! Had fun anyway !

I pulled out some thin paper from a childrens sketch pad from the dollar store and photocopy paper to make my rubbings. I like using thin papers like this when making painted papers. They can be torn or cut up easily and added to collages without too much bulk. Some surfaces were more challenging to make good rubbings on - anything rounded like the bottle took a little more care. I think my favorite ones were the mosaic tray and the mylar alphabet stencil.

Plastic Alphabet Stencil

Mylar Alphabet Stencil

Mosaic Tray

Bottle

Candle Holders

Rubber stamps

Picture Frame

Then it was time for paint ! Yippee ! Even more fun ! For this I got out my Golden Fluid Acrylics which are just wonderful when watered down. The colors stay so vibrant ! I added in some regular craft paint and some Lumiere Metallics which have such a beautiful metallic sheen when they dry on paper. I mixed some Fluids with water in a spray bottle and sprayed that around. I slopped watery paint around with a cheap boar bristle brush and dabbed it around and sometimes off with paper towel. I love just slopping color around - it made for a great hour of relaxing time in the studio this morning.

Plastic Alphabet stencils with paint

Mylar Aphabet Stencil rubbing with paint (Love the bronze sheen!)

Mosaic Tray Rubbing with paint

Bottle Rubbing with Paint - Subtle but Interesting !

Candleholder Rubbings with Paint - Remind me of sewer covers ?

Rubber Stamp Rubbing with paint - probably my least favorite !

Picture Frame Rubbing with paint - Looks like a magic door to somehwhere...

So there you have it ! I have a beautiful pile of painted papers to work into collages and I had a great time trying out an old technique in a new way. I got to make use of tools and toys I had around the house in a different way too, just as Michelle suggested ! So join in this one ! It was great fun ! Thanks as always to Michelle, for the inspiration ! Lady, you really ROCK!

Oh yeah, check out one last pic - my dried painted paper towels after the painting process ! More collage papers to work with , a la Tracy Bautista.

Cheers !

Kim