Get up. Get dressed. Paint.

Another Saturday morning painting with Rae Missigman and her SUMMER RE-RUN SERIES of 15 MINUTES OF MIXED MEDIA©. 

 She used an acrylic block like a gelli plate, added globs of paint then used a brayer to spread them out.  She pressed this right onto the page.  Easy right?  Nope!  Her’s came out with nice neat blocks of paint.  Mine came out in with blotches of paint.  Ahg! 

What I learned             

Ø  Rather than covering the blank page with torn paper, start by stamping various images in black ink. 

Ø  She doesn’t like all of her pages either.  She posted this:

“To be brutally honest, when I leaf through my 15 Minute Journal and see the last five weeks of pages I want to rip them out. They just aren't what I want to see as a finished art journal page. That's not a big deal. We all have pages like that. We all have slumps or weeks where creativity eludes us. The big deal is THIS - I didn't rip them out. I haven't even covered them up and started over. Instead, I choose to see those pages as a reminder that I need to get off this stool and be inspired. I need to take a walk and sketch something or leaf through magazines and feel the colors...”

“Every time I open this journal I learn something. To be able to weed out the things we like and don't like to do when we make art is just as important as learning a new technique or discovering a new favorite color. There is no progress without trial and error. So keep the faith and keep exercising your art brain!”

This, more than anything else I have learned during this journey, is what will stick with me.  Often I am not fond of what I have created but throwing it out is not an option.  I keep it and move on.  Later when looking at it again, it really is never as bad as I originally condoned it to be. 

Other works: 

This is my newest journal.  My vision is to use paint and textures with the the scads of old B&W photos I have hoarded away.

Shameless Plug

I host a monthly link party titled Stop Pinning & Make Something!  with the intention of creating some of those pins instead of simply admiring them on our boards.  Each month I select several pins that I truly want to make and recreate them.  I am inviting you to the party!  Get out those paint brushes, that saw & sander, open the varnish, unpack your knitting needles or crochet hook!  Perhaps heat up that oven or grill.  Let’s make one of those pins sitting idle on your Pinterest boards. It can be as small as learning a new technique for creating ATC's to as big as making a garden shed!  Your pins are your limit.

For this month I created this mixed media from THIS pin:

Mixed media on a brown paper sack

Pin THIS link and Stop Pinning & Make Something!  Won't you join me?
You can find the button at the top right. 

Paint Party Friday