since wednesday i have looked outside to see

if i couple catch a glimpse of the planets

in alignment.  the last time this happened was 

11 years ago.  there has been an early morning

 cloud cover which has obscured the view ...

until this morning.  even with the full moon

i could see the plants!  they were so bright.

just the sight of all of them was thrilling.

look in your local  paper to see where the best place 

to catch this  sight in your area.  i think there

are a couple of days left.  

ps venus is like a shining jewel in the sky!

pss  a full moon always captures my heart because 

it reminds me of the night my son was born

my friend lorraine wanted to have an art day

to celebrate her birthday.  we decided to make gelli plate prints.

it is a great way to loosen up, try different colors and make papers for future art pieces.  

then afterwards we drew in journals and collaged our drawing

with the papers we made.  i used tissue paper, scrapbook paper, 

magazine papers, well, whatever i had in my ever growing stacks of

ephemera to print. my journal is a 1907 children's primer.

when i showed the journal to a group of artists 

i got the  comment that  i was defacing a book.  i like to think

of it as up cycling.  but i guess this is up for personal 

opinion.  another comment was that this girl always 

shows up in my work and wondered if i talked to anyone

about that.  i wonder, who would i talk to?

comments welcome :)

this week i also continue to paint daily on the little tea bags.

linked to paint party friday

with the lovely hostesses kristen and ava
and #artjournaleveryday 

journal spread

i used to journal regularly but have gotten away from it.

as one of the assignments in  katie kendrick's online workshop 

i collaged an image of one of my paintings along with other papers.

and intuitively added acrylic paint, marks with 

a graphite pencil until it felt finished.  

i dont know why i don't do this more often.  

it was fun!

i have linked this with julie blazer designs, 

5 top reasons to art journal

i started painting on used tea bags this week.  i have

saved stacks of bags because i thought they would

be perfect  a possible project.... but i did not have

a project until i saw jeanne-marie's tea bag girls.

she painted 365 last year and said it changed her life.

even though i am only on tea bag girl # 7,

i have had a lot of questions on how these are 

done.   i told my friends that there are good tutorials online

but they encouraged me to do my own.  so here we go.

i  started simple with these

basic supplies 

used tea bags, dried and the tea emptied by cutting a tiny

slit in the back.  i am experimenting with various brands and  sizes

gesso ~ white, black,  clear.  

i started with white using a wet brush, applying it to the

emptied, dried tea bag, letting it dry on wax paper to prevent

sticking to the surface.  if the brush is too wet, which mine were,

you will need two coats.  i read that clear gesso helps prevent

wrinkles.  i also find that after applying the gesso, whatever color,

smoothing the bag with the brush helps.  also check out the bags 

during the drying process and resmooth if necessary.  

various size brushes

water container

watercolor, acrylics, water soluble pencils

i started with watercolors then  to 4 colors 

of  derwent intense blocks.  the watercolors needed 

several coats after it dried.  because of the texture

you could not tell what color it would turn out until it dried.  

it resulted in  a soft dreamy feeling.

the intense blocks gave more intense, immediate colors.

today i tried acrylics.  i use acrylics so much that

it was a familiar medium, without many surprises

diluted white gesso, watercolor

diluted white gesso, watercolor and intense blocks

black gesso, white acrylic and pencil

white gesso, clear gesso, charcoal, acrylic

i am always available if you have questions and

would love to see what you do with these mini tea bag canvases.

also if there is anything that is unclear, let me know and i will

try to clarify.


thank you so much for visiting today!


posting with paint party friday

day 9, 30 paintings in 30 days

i fell in love with a painting by james ensor

while on display at the getty museum.

it was so different from anything i would paint

that i decided to paint my version of it.  these

funny faces were quite enjoyable and challenging.  

day 8, 30 paintings in 30 days

i worked on this previously started painting

it is finished for now ... but that does not 

mean that it's seen its last paint stroke.

do you ever do that?  paint, then let the piece

sit for a while until it tells you what it needs?

day 7, 30 paintings in 30 days

i started this painting a while ago.  after finishing a smaller

similar painting i wanted a larger painting with brighter colors.

doing a painting a  day does not give much time for a thought 

process.  i like that because it encourages the intuitive decisions.  

i am also taking on a drawing challenge that i saw on instagram

under #cbdrawaday.  i have not kept up a regular drawing

practice.  i start then stop and then remember that i should start 

again.  once i make a commitment, i try to honor that and 

this will give me an incentive to draw for the month of january.  

here are my drawings to date.  i skipped on day which was sneakers

because i wasn't excited about the subject.  i will probably go back and 

give it a whirl.

and i did one more fun project with my 

experimental art group this week.  

paper dolls!

so as you can see, i've been busy!

tell me what you have been doing.

posting with paint party friday and 

30 paintings in 30 days

midnight reverie

day 5, 30 paintings in 30 days

thank you for stopping by!

sweet wild thing

day 4, 30 paintings in 30 days

did you know there is a bunny museum in japan?

also a cafe in tokyo with rabbits that touts rabbits 

you can pet for a price.  well,  last year i painted 7 

rabbit paintings in a week.  they ran amok here in

in my studio.   i guess i had one more in me today!

essence

day 3, 30 paintings in 30 days

at times, less is more

day 2, 30 paintings in 30 days

relocated

honoring my family and the 

125 other japanese who were relocated

to internment camps in the 

united states.  may we learn from

previous actions.

30 paintings in 30 days, day 1

promise, hope, longing, renewal, beginnings

all words on this, the first day of the year, 

only hours fresh.  wishing that all of  your 

dreams, wishes and hopes come true in 2016.

thank you for your visit here at my blog.

thank you to those of you who take the time 

from your busy day to comment.  i love hearing from

each of you. although creating art can be a lonely

experience for some, i find it is a fulfilling, exciting  and timeless

place where all else drops away.  i am always changed 

when i allow myself to enter the creative space and feel 

the unity and connection will all other creatives.

X O X O

linking this post with the weekly community

of paint party friday so lovingly created and

maintained by eva and kristen