Fortunes

8" x 10" double journal page, water color paints, Pigma pen, rubber stamps, collage papers. August 3, 2013.

I used watercolor paints to paint the fortune cookie before I ate it, and a red wash in the background. I added outline details with Pigma pen. I collaged a lot of my collection of fortune cookies around it, with a red chopstick paper wrapper. A business card from China Buffet, is in the top right corner. I used several rubber stamps, one of "Wisdom," the other "Hope" in Chinese characters. And a square stamp with Chinese characters, which I have no idea what it says.

Mixed Media Collage

Both - 5.5" x 8" brown craft paper, mixed media collage, magazine papers, dyed cheesecloth and paper towels. July 20, 2012

Both of these were made as background for future projects, I don't know if they are done or not. They both are made with a base of cut magazine strips, collaged to brown paper bag, with gel medium, one warm colors - orange, rust, gold, the other shades of blue. I added torn strips of dyed paper towel in random places, with gel medium, on the warm colors I added pieces of hand dyed cheesecloth in yellow & orange, more gel medium. On the blue piece I thought for a long time, then decided to try a new white gel pen to add highlights and detail, and it became a stormy sea, with lightening, and blowing clouds and highlighted the waves of one magazine print. I titled it "Squall." They are both nice color studies, with a little texture thrown in. Done Yet?

Green & Purple Prints

Both - 6" x 8" brown craft paper, mixed media. July 18, 2012

The green piece is done with a base of collaged magazine strips in green colors. I originally started to draw some doodles in black Sharpie marker, but I did not like it, so I over painted in green acrylic paints with white streaks, some of the doodles show through. The purple did not have a magazine under layer, just purple paint on brown paper. Then each was stamped with a foam stamp and white acrylic paint to make the patterning. The green one was highlighted with a white gel pen. I don't know if I am done with them or not, or will over paint them again.

Raven Sunset

6" x 8" brown craft paper, magazine collage, stencil, acrylic paint. July 1, 2012

I collaged a set of warm color strips cut from a magazine, reds, oranges, and gold, mostly solid colors, with gel medium. I made it mostly to use as a background for future art work. I decided to stencil a tree branch pattern in black acrylic paint, and add the raven magazine cutout. With acrylic paint I added the sun, and dry brushed contour lines around it.

Sunset Mixed Media

5.5" x 8" brown paper, photo, collaged painted paper towels, rubber stamps, Pigma pen, June 4, 2012

An original digital sunset photograph, cut vertically and glued to brown paper, collaged with torn painted paper towel with gel medium. Rubber stamped with nature landscape stamps, touched up with Pigma pen. I tried to add another coat of gel medium but the stamp ink blurred and disappeared." I tried to match the torn towels to the photograph colors.

New Blog Amy's Art Journal

I'm starting a new blog for my art journal pages. I was putting a few of them on my art quilting blog, but they really did not belong there. As I made more pages I decided to start this blog. A couple of months ago I got a copy of the Artist's Journal Workshop by Cathy Johnson, you can check out her site here It inspired me to work on my drawing skills again. I had done some older pages, and made a cover to hold them a few years ago, I added a few pages here and there, but not much.

The first few sketches were flowers on brown Kraft paper(brown paper bag) colored in with colored pencils. They were drawn from magazine pics or the Audubon ID book. Next I had made a few pieces with paint and design, to use to cut up for background for Artists Trading Cards, they are unfinished and meant to be used elsewhere.

I have always had a notebook in my purse to sketch in, so the next couple of years saw me use it, exclusively.