Who Are You

  This month I'm participating in Dawn Devries Sokol's NaNoJouMo 2012 challenge.  Each day she posts a prompt.  I like the challenge because they are titles of rock songs from the 70's.  Since I always listen to music while I'm creating, this challenge appealed to me.

  I am using "Walls Notebook", by Sherwood Forlee for my backgrounds.

Airstream Dreamin'

  This drawing is a gift for my husband.  It's of our Airstream trailer that we recently bought.

Morning Pages

This morning's pages.  Out of curiosity I timed how long it took me to create them.

Colorful Time

  Sometimes when I share my journal pages, someone comments with "I'd love to see these done in color."  Well, me too.  I like color, but I like black and white too.  Honestly, the reason I don't do a lot more pages in color is because I am impatient.  It takes TIME to color in stuff.  I'm lucky to get my pages done, let alone color them.  It's that short attention span thing.
  Today I did my pages in color because I got a brand spanking new set of colored pencils.  I had fun coloring.  And just as I figured, it took a lot of time to do them.  I was getting impatient to get them DONE.

Maybe that's ME

I've always been enchanted with other people's drawings.  Mine-not so much.  Why was I so critical of my own creations?  Are all artists that way?
I had FUN doing these pages and I did them in less than an hour.
Maybe they're child-like, maybe they're whimsical.  Maybe that's ME.

Doodling

What I did before bed time:  Noodles.  Night time doodles.

Current Events

  Some days it's not easy to journal, so I fall back on some easy prompts.  And before I know it, I've created a concise picture of my day.

Journal Pages

Spreads from my drawing/collage book and my daily journal

Memory Matters

  I have a journal just for my quick drawings and collages.  I'm not always happy about my drawing, but the memory is all that really matters to me.

 

Journals Today

  I've been in a good creative place recently.  I give some credit to the fact that the temperatures here in Colorado have been "cooler".  Ironic that I call temperatures in the mid 80's "cooler" but that's what they are compared to those of Tucson.
  I have two major journals going on right now, my daily one and one devoted to drawing.  Maybe there's no real difference between them because I make collages in both.

I only wear these around the house.

I sat on our back deck and quickly drew this.  I was behind a screen, so the squirrel couldn't see me.  I really could hear it as it chittered at my dogs.  It lets my dogs think they can actually catch it.

Filling the Void

  Four hours sleep last night means I've been dragging all day.
  Somehow I managed to put these pages together.  What's unusual is that I've used magazine images in my past two spreads.  I've NEVER done this before because I believe magazine images are someone else's vision.  Then there's the huge problem of copyright issues, should I ever have my journal published. (Not that anyone's been knocking at my door to do so.)   So I don't  want to get into the habit of making magazine images a major part of my journal pages.

  I couldn't help myself though.  Because I haven't been well, I've been taking it easy by reading my favorite magazine "Vanity Fair".  Recently VF has had ads that have really appealed to me, whether it's the composition or the color or the flat out BEAUTY of the clothes being shown.  Inspiration!

Prada Day

  I'm working with aching hands and a headache today-it's overcast and threatening to rain.  I love rain.  I just wish I didn't have to hurt when it rolls in.
  Prada has the most gorgeous ads for this Fall.  They feature actors like Willem Dafoe and Gary Oldman.  My kind of men-craggy, kind of dangerous...mysterious.

  My pages may not make sense today and that's alright.

Just DO IT

I did this spread this morning, after several days away from my journal.  I was avoiding my journal.  I don't know why-I didn't have any words in me.  That's when I tend to go back to doing some drawing or collage.

I need to remember whenever I have spells like this that I need to just put a pencil mark, or a piece of paper or tape down...JUST DO IT.

Inspiration from the Ordinary

  5 Random Things about Me:
1.  For years I've collected quotes
2.  I sometimes read at least 4 books at a time.  I'm rereading "The English Patient" by MIchael Ondaatje now
3.  For years I've kept a little sketchbook of ideas, swatches, etc.  It's like the popular "smash books" people rave about
4.  Sometimes inspiration comes from just pasting things in my sketchbook.
5.  I never refer to my sketchbooks afterwards.  At the time of pasting, I just needed to do something with the bits of flotsam.  Or unload my swirling brain.

Here is today's very quick pasting of bits.  I loved the phrase I came across from "The English Patient"--"the drifting landscape of stars".

The photo is blurry because I was more in a hurry to get it taken and get to my idea!

Shifting Gears

  Lately my journals aren't "doing it" for me.  I haven't wanted to do anything in them-not even write an entry.  Instead of beating myself up about it, I know it's time to try something else.
  There are so many things I like to create with.  It was good to do something 3 dimensional, even if it was a small 6 inch square piece.

Raining Creativity

  It's been raining on and off today.  I'm enjoying the cooler temperatures and also hoping this rain finally douses the last flames of the Waldo Canyon fire.

  I finally finished a silk arrangement I'd been putting off for months.  And I did a few pages in my journal.

A Positive Message

  Two weeks ago I was headed towards my sister's house on the west side of Colorado Springs.  As I waited to make the turn onto her street I noticed huge black clouds and leaping flames in the horizon.  Something was on fire.
  Cedar Ridge, a community of beautiful, upscale homes, seemed to be engulfed in flames.  Many neighborhoods and mountain communities were threatened and evacuation was mandatory.  The fire appeared to have started in Waldo Canyon, a popular hiking trail up Highway 24.
  The fire had everything going for it.  Colorado has been in a drought for years and the mountain snowpack was non-existent.  Winds kicked up and greedy flames devoured the straw-like underbrush.  The most destructive fire in Colorado history was born.
  Two people died.  346 homes were destroyed and countless others were damaged.  18,000 acres went up in flames.  At the height of the fire 30,000 people were evacuated.  A popular local attraction, the Flying W Ranch, was totally destroyed.  It had stood for 60 years.
  Heroic efforts on the part of firefighters from all over the country have the fire at 70% containment now.  It will be at least a week before the authorities feel they have it under control.

  Watching the television coverage of the Waldo Canyon Fire paralyzed me.  I was horrified and felt helpless.  Then I realized the victims of this fire would need help now and in the months to come.  So I joined the people of this beautiful mountain city and gave what I could in time, money and resources.  A community will be rebuilt.

Wasn't Broken, Didn't Need Fixing

  After just a few minutes making marks in the "other" journal, I lost interest.  So I'm back to my good ol' favorite, the Moleskine squared journal.  There was nothing wrong with what I was creating in, so why tinker with it?
  (Because we artists get bored...)
  What is different with this moleskine is that I got the soft covered version of the journal.  I love it!  I love its flexibility and how it feels to the touch.

  And I love my grid pages...

Trying Something New

  I experimented with many kinds of journals over the years.  It wasn't until I stumbled across the Moleskines that I found a journal I could stick with.  If I had discovered moleskines before, I would have saved myself a lot of money.
  I loved the 8x5 size and the options of ruled, blank, grid (square), watercolor and sketch paper.    The stretch band enclosure came in handy and the pocket in the back cover was brilliant!
  I've been using the grid/square type of moleskine exclusively for awhile now.  With the grid on the pages I no longer had that "blank page fear" or the "first page freeze" as I like to call it.
  But I still look at blank journals.  I can't help myself.  Today when I was at Hobby Lobby I found a black journal I just might try out.  It's an inch bigger than my beloved moleskines.  It has a stretchy band and a back pocket.  It also has a place to stick your pen or pencil.  I really liked the paper-it's off white, thick like water color paper and has a nice feel to it since it's not slick.
  What else to like about it?  It cost just $7.99, compared to around $15.00 for a large moleskine.
  We all like a bargain when we can find them.  I'm willing to give this journal a try.

Finished Quote Page

  Finished finally!