Alchemy - Art Memories

new collage project

2012-02-12T23:57:00.000-05:00

"Trees in the forest" 8 x 8 inches mixed media fiber arts.

Here are some images of a project I just finished. Had a lot of fun creating it - my attempt at including fibers to my collage art. I finally got a chance to sit in front of my sewing machine and play with the various stitch designs and color threads. I'm getting hooked... plan to see more of this type of work coming from my art studio.

Enjoy,
Sandra

Close up of sewing details.

Playing with the layout on my work table in my art studio.

Details of the collage before sewing details are added.

The process of laying out the composition.

Happy New Year 2012

2012-01-06T23:50:00.000-05:00

I spent ringing in the new year with my brother and his family. My niece Amelia and I created ATC cards to welcome in the new year... we had fun exploring the many, many, many papers, pictures and text I carted over in my craft shoulder bag. Here are the results of our discoveries may it bring you some joy.

MY niece Amelia's ATC series she did a combo... she really had fun.

ATC collage 2.5 x 3.5 inches by 9-year-old niece Amelia.

MY ACEO ATC series which I titled "Three Cups of Tea"


"Three Cups of Tea" series ACEO ATC collage 2.5 x 3.5 inches.

I came up with this series because for 2012 I want to be mindful of my time spent on ME. I've been told one too many times by people who really know me that I GIVE too much and I need to find BALANCE and JOY for myself. That it is okay to be selfish and focus on my needs and wants. So for this year I want to be more mindful of my fashion (ahhh, I'll have to forfeit buying art supplies and books for new clothes), of my fitness and allow for outdoor playtime like hiking our beautiful trails in PA, and mindful of my tranquil mind by enjoying at least three cups of tea a day. I already start my days with a cup of tea, I now have been adding a cup at lunch and a cup before bedtime. Of course different blends to meet my different needs. Black Tea is great in the morning to get my energy going, Green Tea at lunch with a little honey is warming and keeps my immune system up and Camille Tea at night relaxes me and gets me ready for sleeping.

It seems to make much sense just like the tea custom says:
"The first cup of tea is sour as life. The second cup is sweet as love. The third is soft as death."

Fits so well for me since I am not a morning person and the first cup is a bit sour and the last cup brings me to a soft sleep as sweet as death... don't get me wrong I am not done living my life but there is no peace, like that of a deep sound sleep to restore your spirit and undo the man made stresses of our earthly lives. So we may awake again; restored and ready to rebuild our purpose driven lives.

How did you ring in the new year, have any art ventures in mind for 2012? I welcome your comments and storytelling.

Enjoy:-)
Sandra

Three Cups of Tea for the New Year

2012-01-06T23:37:00.000-05:00

The first cup of tea is sour as life. The second cup is sweet as love. The third is soft as death.

I first learned about the "Three Cups of Tea" custom in 2005 when I was visiting my local Ten Thousand Villages store/restaurant located in Ephrata, PA. It was the end of the school year and I was treating 3 of my advisory students to a lunch at the restaurant and in turn we were ALL treated to some storytelling by one of the third world artists who shared the story behind the tea ceremony. What a joy, what an art memory... for the tea ceremony went beyond the tea leaves, and purity of water and boiling time lapse... while we waited for each cup to steep we were treated to a story of how to wear/wrap a turban and ahhh, the colors of the cloths were so beautiful.


May 2005 my three students visiting Ten Thousand Villages to meet a jewelry artist.

Movie on preparing the cups of tea click on the play button above to view.

Preparing the tea.

Making a new friend over tea and learning how to wrap a turban.

Showing off the beauty of the different colored cloths.

I had been teaching my students that year about world crafts and fair trade and how to create crafts, and how to sell them to fundraise for local nonprofits like our local women's shelters.... it was nice to connect with my students on a weekly basis on how to learn how to knit and weave. It was a small charter school (only 100 students grades 6-12) and I so loved working there my 3 years until my grant position ran out and then I was contracted to work in the public school system under a different grant. Funny how even then .... years before I was to begin to even think about starting my own social venture (Alchemy: discovering, exploring, enjoying) I had the spirit of creating in my heart and the love for sharing my discoveries.

It seems like the spirit of the "Three Cups of Tea" is becoming a theme for me in 2012. First with the creation of my New Year's ATC cards, second with me finding these old photos of my students, and third with me also finding two very important books that spoke to me years back and yet I had discarded them for a future read not having time to devote to them. Never having enough time to sit and complete my readings once I found them again in my home library I placed them center stage on my coffee table so I would move forward with my 2012 venture to create art and balance in my life and in my enjoyment. I am glad to report that I am almost done with "Art is a way of Knowing" and "Three Cups of Tea" is close behind.

My 2012 Reading List:

Art Is a Way of Knowing

A Guide to Self-Knowledge and Spiritual Fulfillment through Creativity

By Pat B. Allen

Three Cups of Tea
One Man’s Mission to Promote

“Three Cups of Tea is one of the most remarkable adventure stories of our time. Greg Mortenson’s dangerous and difficult quest to build schools in the wildest parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan is not only a thrilling read, it’s proof that one ordinary person, with the right combination of character and determination, really can change the world.” -Tom Brokaw

What is on your reading list for 2012?

Enjoy:-)
Sandra

"Purpose" Art Card

2011-12-04T15:37:00.001-05:00

So after having fun making the "Winter PLOW" mixed media project last night I also got a second wind and made this sweet little art card. A great gift for a friend or yourself to help to remind us that we ALL serve PURPOSE and all days are A Day To Remember. The card is made using a reproduction digital print (printed on glossy laser paper with a laser color printer). Inside is a special surprise (handmade one of a kind painted and varnished collage strip signed by me). The fibers used have a slight gold shimmer to remind you that in deed this is an Art Memory piece from your artist friend at Alchemy: discovering, exploring, enjoying.

Enjoy,
~ Sandra

Here is the latest listing at my Etsy shop. An art card titled "Purpose".

Making Some Discoveries

2011-12-04T11:42:00.001-05:00

Yesterday I had the pleasure to reintroduce myself to Mitch Lyons. I first met Mitch a couple of weeks ago at the annual PA Guild of Craftsmen Fair held in my hometown of Lancaster, PA. If you have never attended this arts and crafts fair... IT IS A MUST... I encourage you to visit the PA Guild of Craftsmen website and mark your calendars. I also highly recommend visiting Mitch's website you will not be disappointed! Mitch is a master at making clay monoprints. YES I said CLAY!! I had never heard of such a thing and Mitch informed me "it's because I invented it". Thanks for sharing Mitch! God Bless.

1.Colored slip is added to the leather hard clay slab.

Until you are able to make your own personal pilgrimage to PA to visit Mitch enjoy these photos I took yesterday (with Mitch's approval of course) which captures the intricate, beautiful, monoprinting demonstration Mitch so graciously presented at his home art studio located in New London, PA.

2. Introducing more color by sifting in chalk and pastels.

Mitch is planning to hold a two day weekend workshop in April 2012 and I am already saving my pennies to make sure I am there! See his website for details. If you are not able to visit his studio he does sell DVDs on his art making process. Either way his artwork and process are so inspiring and captivating you will not be satisfied with just one peek at his website you will want to meet him in person - he is planning to host some traveling workshops and he is open to doing one day demonstrations.

NOTE: I have added my personal captions to these photos but to read how Mitch explains his clay monoprinting process in details click on this link.

3. Getting ready to make a monoprint.

As I stood next to Mitch yesterday I could not help but to be re energized about the art making process and re discovering the joy it brings me. Mitch is just what I needed to boost up my creative spirits and I left eager to jump into my little attic art studio to explore what my own emerging art journey had to offer.

4. Creating a charge with a brayer (Mitch said "it's a pizza roller").

I am so blessed to live so close to such remarkable artists like Mitch who have been making art for over 40 years; yet Mitch still holds the enthusiasm of a mindful artist discovering his pleasure in art making for the first time. THANK YOU, Mitch for sharing your love of art making, answering all of my "Curious Girl" questions and I look forward to revisiting your studio in April for your weekend workshop.

As for the fruits of my labor upon my return from visiting with Mitch see the pictures below of the fun I had creating and exploring my own recipes for making an original mixed media collage art project.

Enjoy;-)
~ Sandra

The elements: a recycled iPhone box I painted with white gesso, my hand painted mixed media papers, and a laser copy of an old fashion hand plow (the plow image shows up in other artwork I'm currently creating inspired by my summer volunteering at my local CSA at the Lancaster Farmacy). I miss the farm.

Close up of the hand painted papers adhered to the substrate using Golden Soft Gel Matte Medium with some additional handmade markings layered on using a Faber-Castell watercolor pencil (black).

Adding on additional hand painted paper (remains from another project - nothing goes to waste). I just let the negative shapes created by the cutouts dictate the orientation of the layout.

Front view of the piece thus far. I love how you can still see some of the Apple wordage seeping through the gesso.

Close up of the overlaying papers and the texture they create.

The final piece with the hand plow image added on using a gel medium transfer.

Defining the size: 3-1/4 x 5-1/2 inches.

"Winter PLOW" mixed media collage

Mixed Media Success - Just Follow Your Art!

2011-12-02T11:08:00.001-05:00

I just made a big leap this week! I gave up my fear and listed my Art Memories Scrapbook Album on sale at my Etsy shop.

http://alchemy-artmemories.blogspot.com/2011/10/tea-party-time.html

If you've been following my blog you are aware of my issues with letting go of my original artwork. I started off by participating in an ATC card swap with the lovely Lenna Andrews at the Creative Swaps blog site (a great place to start - the exchange of ATCs was wonderful).

http://alchemy-artmemories.blogspot.com/2011/08/my-entries-for-atc-creative-swaps.html

Then I ventured into giving close friends and family my artwork as gifts. Again a good place to start to experience "letting go" and it also provides you visiting rights because you know who the new art owners are :-)

http://alchemy-artmemories.blogspot.com/2011/09/flowers-for-friend.html

Finally in late November I made a BIG SPLASH and opened my first every online shop - My Alchemydee Etsy Shop. With great encouragement from my online art community I DID IT! Thus, far its been quite nice (I even made two sales during the Thanksgiving weekend. SUPER!!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/alchemydee?ref=em

Yet, when I looked back at my Etsy listings I saw I was still playing it a bit safe with offering only prints and small original ATC cards for sale on Etsy. So I started to ask myself why the fear to LET GO!

Here is the concern - I get so invested in the creation of each project that once it's complete I don't want to send it into the world. It is more then a cute, pretty, or beautiful piece of artwork to me, it's my ART MEMORIES that I am sending out for sale. For me my art making is an art therapy session wrapped in transformation surprises of a better understanding of who I am, my purpose, my spirit, my life journey. So once I've come to a point of being "done" I take great pride and comfort at viewing the original art and having it near me; almost like a safety blanket. It's like a fear of "out of sight out of mind" if I don't see it I will forget that part of my journey and I will fall back to old habits and views I'm trying to change in my life.

I NEED TO HAVE FAITH - in the journey which has been placed in front of me. For my journey is God driven and its when I allow my flesh and mind to lead my pathways that is when the fear creeps in. Easier said then done. Blogging helps me to work through these concerns.

But indeed if I opened an Etsy shop to help add to my income then why do I hesitate to list my original art for sale and instead keep them stored away taking up space in my tiny attic art studio on my bookshelves or on my work area (do not recommend this because many accidents can occur causing unexpected glue, paint or cutting knife to find your little art gems and alter them unexpectedly)?

I was struggling with these questions this week and after reading an update from Cloth, Paper, Scissors this morning (I receive weekly email updates) I figured I would open up my questions and concerns to my art community. Have you been here (selling your art is not the same as selling baked goods)... just attended a PTO meeting last night for my job where parents spent about a half hour unsure of what baked goods to sell for a future fundraiser and how much care they took in the details of what to sell, how many, for what price value. I sat there thinking 'these are store bought cookies they are struggling over - how attached would they be if it were homemade cookies'?

Handmade is a beautiful way to go but it does require a lot from the artist when preparing the listing details; especially what ARTWORK will be listed. I respect all the beautiful Handmade artwork I see advertised for sale online at Etsy and all the artists who share their Art Memories with the world.

God Bless and if you're looking to go holiday shopping or just want to view some brave artists revealing their artist soul. Please start by shopping Etsy first before going to your local mall.

Enjoy,
Sandra

I'm a Winner and YOU can be one too!

2011-11-29T22:39:00.001-05:00

Just found out that I won a beautiful art card created by the lovely Alicia from Alicia Art Shop.
To learn how to become a winner too follow this link: http://aliciaartshop.blogspot.com/2011/11/contest-competition-free-gift-to-lucky.html

Here is the card I won! Beautiful - Thanks Alicia;-)

"What Lies Within" by Alicia Art Shop

Inching in some quality time with family and art!

2011-11-27T15:05:00.001-05:00

Downtown Lancaster, PA on Friday for the annual Mayor's Tree Lighting event.

I love living in Lancaster, PA! Where else can you greet Santa Claus with free Egg Nog and Apple Cider at the local Marriott Hotel, take in a tree lighting and community sing-along of holiday tunes with the town's local brass band, do a little window shopping in 100 year old downtown shops and local Central Farmer's Market and end it all by trying out some of the new wooden toys at the local TellUs360 shop. My mother, sister-in-law, niece and I inched our way through large crowds on Friday evening at the annual Mayor's Tree Lighting Event. If you're ever in PA you must come visit Lancaster, a gem of a town;-)

Enjoy,
Sandra

Amelia and Jessica share some mother daughter time.

Three generations of Granthon girls take a photo.

My mother and I stop for a photo (tons of people behind us).

Checking out the goods at the local Central Farmer's Market.


Amelia doing a balancing act at TellUs360 in downtown Lancaster, PA.

PS
I was also able to inch in some art time this weekend. Look at these sweet little collage inches I just started. LOVE THEM ;-)

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T09:57:00.001-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving my fellow artists! May you enjoy in a wonderful day spent visiting with family and friends and of course enjoying yummy homemade dinners. After you're done eating and you're ready to start your holiday shopping early before Black Friday feel free to visit my Etsy shop where you will find handmade art ready to be delivered to you or a friend as a gift. And to show my gratitude for all your support and love starting right now until Monday, November 28th midnight Eastern time ALL my items are FREE Worldwide SHIPPING! For the love I've received has come worldwide. God Bless and much love.

Enjoy,
Sandra


4x6 Original Print of "Amongst Friends" now available at my Etsy shop.

3 Square Owls on the run - find out how to catch one

2011-11-22T21:06:00.001-05:00

click here to learn how to win this sweet artwork

Little Red Henry just opened her Etsy shop - to learn more about her Black Friday give-away start by clicking on the sweet square owl.

Enjoy,
Sandra

Somerset Studio published artist - Alicia Hayes (ART CONTEST)

2011-11-22T08:43:00.001-05:00

CONTEST .. Competition ... Free Gift to LUCKY Winners!

"What would life be if we had

no courage to attempt anything?"
Vincent van Gogh

http://aliciaartshop.blogspot.com/2011/11/contest-competition-free-gift-to-lucky.html?showComment=1321969216074#c8760676217673174243

I first was introduced to Alicia's beautiful artwork in the Somerset Studio magazine July/August 2011 publication (saved my pretty pennies to buy this one after many in store glances). Little did I know then that one morning by pure luck I would be drawn to her beautiful artwork again through her Etsy shop Alicia Art Shop and with more curiousity lead to her blog where I've come to discover taht that very image that first drew me to her was now up for grabs in a holiday contest for Thanksgiving. Of course I entered quite quickly and could not help but to share the GOOD NEWS with all of my blogger friends.

Good luck and I'm crossing my fingers ;-)

Enjoy,
Sandra

MY Etsy Shop is OPEN!

2011-11-20T22:21:00.001-05:00

My Etsy Shop Banner: http://www.etsy.com/shop/alchemydee

God Bless this day - the official opening of my Etsy shop online.
I DID IT! Small; starting with 5 listings but plan to add more every week so please feel free to browse and share with your friends. It's been a lot of work to take quality photos, create a shop banner, and all the details that go into opening up an online shop. Stacy was correct, it does take a lot of work when you want to do something with PRIDE.

Thanks to Stacy, Robin, Maggie, and all my followers (readers) for all your support throughout my blogging months and I look forward to blogging and sharing with the coming weeks new artwork and art experiences. Happy Holidays everyone - there is much to be grateful for on this up and coming Thanksgiving Holiday.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/alchemydee

Enjoy,
Sandra

Something to DISCOVER

2011-10-30T15:38:00.000-04:00

Something to discover and enjoy;-)

Here is a website that reminds us how creative spirits are discovering how to share their gifts of art for healing.

http://scrapwisdomcollage.blogspot.com/2011/10/luanne-kessi-and-permission-to-play.html

To read the back story behind this post click on 1. Discovering page and happy reading.

Enjoy ;-)

Sandra

Tea Party time ...

2011-10-26T12:02:00.002-04:00

Here is a "pretty book" I created inspired by the video posts of Mystele. I promise you after you visit Mystele's blog site you will find new purpose in everything 'used' in your environment and want to try your hand at creating your own "pretty book" and if you do please share with pictures!

Enjoy,
Sandra

Front cover "Tea Party" 5.5 inches squared handmade book made out of recycled papers, bags, cardboard and fabric.

Overview photo of "Tea Party" with pulled inserts ready for photos, your favorite recipes or just a kind message or note to share with your favorite person.

Imagination

2011-10-16T23:43:00.001-04:00

"This world is but a canvas to our imaginations."

~Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

My canvas has been blank for way too long in a state of "ischemia of the imagination" causing a temporary paralysis of my creative mind. With the restart of my full time contract in late September, working as a Student Family Liaison at a public elementary school in my local community, I have been left brain focused and my physical body is now taking revenge on my cerebral nonsense. Today I awoke to immense pain in my neck and shoulders - mainly on my right side.

Yup - it was my right side brain working its way through pain spasms to wake up my body to the knowledge that I had gone back on what I had promised I would never do again - neglect my creative spirit. So as I started my day in worship feeding my christian spirit of faith I felt a similar pull to release my anxiety developed from a right brain discarded.

Here is an image of one of the hand printed papers I created right before my lapse.

"Blue" series 4 x 6 inches Golden fluid acrylic paint.

I felt it only appropriate in true alchemist fashion to start a new venture in my art journey with a transformation of my blog design. I was influenced to create a more interactive abstract blog site with the intent that viewers could discover their joy of preferred reading style (click and hold the text "Magazine" found flushed left under my blog title Alchemy - Art Memories to explore various viewing styles). I am also exploring the feature of adding PAGES to my blog. As of right now I have played with the creation of a page titled "For Sale". This is a holding spot to what will become visual links to my future etsy shop.

Although I have been out of my studio for some time and not posted anything new the last couple of weeks I am eager and full of joy to have rediscovered the secret to my joy, my love, my art that saves me. Thank you to all my followers and new readers who have continued to leave comments and viewed my site during its dormant stage. Ahhh, I feel the circulation of my imagination beginning to flow.

Enjoy,

Sandra

Everyone deserves a Compliment.

2011-09-22T16:00:00.002-04:00

So here are the results of my journey down the path of color theory. I LOVE color: saturated, pulsating, vibrating color that pulls you into the art! Complimentary colors!

As you can tell my main complimentary study was the relationship between Blue and Orange. Now I will let you know I mixed my own orange- no just squeezing it out of a preprocessed orange acrylic tube here. Also I used fluid acrylics whenever possible to create that watercolor transparency of layers to build up depth. But for an extra punch I did mix in some heavy body acrylics to pick up some texture. I used some of my handmade paper as my base. If you look at the edges of the paper you can see the delicate fibers. I love the texture of the light weight paper. I definitely plan to make more of this type of paper in the future. It was done using the Japanese method for paper making.

Here are some websites I discovered when I went exploring online for a lesson on Color Theory.

http://www.tigercolor.com/color-lab/color-theory/color-theory-intro.htm

This one below is very interactive and great for web designers:
http://colorschemedesigner.com/#

Enjoy,
Sandra

Life on the Mountain

2011-09-20T16:15:00.002-04:00

"mountain series" set of three mixed media 2.x 2 inches on handmade paper.

Here are three of the many small mixed media projects I have been working on the last two weeks. I have been exploring my abstract visual mind as I was working through some life questions and where it lead me was to this quiet mountain site to meditate and breath gently as I explored my feelings of fear of the unknown through my art.

"I've learned that everyone wants to live on top of the mountain, but all the happiness and growth occurs while you're climbing it."

This quote touched the true meaning behind what I was feeling as I introduced paint to paper (pushing and pulling paint on and off the delicate handmade paper until my mind was calm and my body said it was time to rest). I made this paper years ago and rediscovered it in my studio just last week.

Enjoy,
Sandra

"United" Minimal Art

2011-09-15T00:42:00.001-04:00

Here are some ACEOs I created this week inspired by a new group I joined over at International Union of Mail-Artists (IUOMA) called MINIMAL MAIL ART! To see the individual pictures of each ACEO click on the caption below the image and it will open up my Flickr account for you to view the cards up close.

"United" set of 4 ACEO 3.5 x 2.5 inches mixed media collage.

In addition to creating the "united" series I also created two special cards for my new friends at the IUOMA Minimal MAIL ART Group (Carla and Nancy). Click on their names to be redirected to their personal websites. I am very impressed by there artistic talents and look forward to receiving MAIL ART from them both in the future.

"cheerful" mixed media collage

"shining" mixed media collage

On the left you can see the elements of the collage pieces prior to being glued down using an Elmer's glue stick. You can see the hand painted mixed media paper I cut and punched to create the flower elements. I used acyclic paints with a dry brush technique to create the rough textures.

I plan to make more hand painted paper this weekend. So much more fun then just using designer paper... every page is a surprise waiting to be explored.

Enjoy,

Sandra

ATCs "I AM" MAIL ART

2011-09-14T23:57:00.001-04:00

MAIL ART! MAIL ART! MAIL ART! I had to shout it out loud three times one for each sweet ATC I received in the mail. Here are the ATCs I received from some fabulous ladies over at Creative Swaps.

Laura Hummel

Frieda Oxenham:

http://friedaquilter.blogspot.com/

Lisa Robinson

This was my first ATC swap and I have to say it was great to have Lenna Andrews as the host! I highly recommend to anyone starting off with ATC swaps to start with Lenna she makes it look so easy.

Enjoy,

Sandra

Flowers for a Friend

2011-09-06T23:48:00.003-04:00

I had the honor of receiving a beautiful ATC card from Rasz over the Labor Day weekend. She's been a God sent since I started my blog; providing me support and inspiration through her blog posts and personal emails. We decided to do an ATC swap. Check out the "Flowers for a Friend" ATC card she created along with the coordinating envelope. Thanks Rasz! I love it!

"Flowers for a Friend" ATC swap with Rasz

My niece saw it displayed in my art studio on Monday and was tickled with the idea that grown-ups can still PLAY... she made an ATC titled "BFF: always together" to give to her BFF at school. I love it when we can influence the next generation.

Enjoy,
Sandra

Sounds of Peace

2011-09-06T23:16:00.000-04:00

So the Labor Day weekend kept me mad busy and yet I still was able to create some new little gems to share. Here are two new ATC cards I made using my hand painted collage papers (canson mixed media 98lb paper) adhered to canson 140lb watercolor paper.


"By The Sea" 3.5 x 2.5 inches ATC mixed media

This ATC was a lot of fun to create. It went from an abstract to a pulled art seaside view off the shoreline. I just allowed the piece to develop as it wished - every time I looked back on it the seaside story was whispering in my air (waves playfully touching the rock formations insisting I take off my sandals, and take in the peaceful sunset). How could I deny myself such a request.

"Prayer Bell" 3.5 x 2.5 inches ATC mixed media

Thus, it was no surprise to me when my second ATC lead me to draw a beautiful eastern inspired prayer bell that I could envision myself carrying into the dark night's canvas. A soothing sound of meditation accompanying my every footstep as I make my voyage back to my cabin sanctuary.


Slight side view of "Prayer Bell" to show you that it is 3D.

"in medias res" 3 x 3 inches on wood base (mixed media)

In the end the sounds of peace helped carry me in a gentle balance of creating art alongside spending quality time with friends and family on a three day holiday tour. Hope everyone enjoyed their holiday weekend.

Enjoy,
Sandra

I am a featured artist for the month of September at Willowing & Friends!

2011-09-01T11:27:00.000-04:00

Love it! What a great way to start my day. I just received an email from Tam to announce that I am one of the featured artists for the month of September on her online art community, Willowing & Friends. September is my birthday month so for me this is an early birthday gift. I am so honored to share the monthly feature space along with other amazing artists like Mindy Lacefield, Joanna Haber, and Brooke.

Trust me you do not want to miss out on getting to know these ladies and the amazing artwork they are creating. Here is one photo of their work just to wet your whistle.

"woddlesworth" by Mindy Lacefield

But for the full effect check out their art at Willowing & Friends and also read more about Willowings & Artist Friends up and coming LIFE BOOK; a year long online workshop (payment plans are available). I plan to register and join in the fun and the opportunity to be mentored by these amazing featured instructors: Wyanne, Jane Davenport, Mystele, Rhomany, Samantha Kira, Connie Hozvicka, Gritty Jane (Jane DesRosier), Adriana Almanza, Goddess Leonie, Jodi Ohl, Bonnie Rose Bryan, Guadalupe Cabal, Effy Wild, Juliette Crane, and Tam!

Registration opens on October 3rd! Classes begin 1st of Jan 2012! You will not be disappointed!

Enjoy,
Sandra

Discovery Wednesday - Amongst Friends

2011-08-31T21:29:00.001-04:00

Here is my inspirational mosaic for this week's Discovery Wednesday.

1. Hole Punch Flowers ATC, 2. Flower ATC, 3. Watercolor Flower ATC's, 4. Summer Flowers, 5. ATC_ violet flower, 6. ATC Pretty Newspaper Flowers 2/2, 7. Landscape: Spring Flowers, 8. Flowers ATC, 9. 3 flowers, 10. Traded: Springtime ATC, 11. flowers ATC, 12. ATC Traded - Button Flowers, 13. flowers - atc

Here is the ATC card I was inspired to create.

"Amongst Friends" ATC 2.5 x 3.5 inches mixed media.

Here are some pictures I took as I worked my way through the process of creating this ATC card.

(1) I used Strathmore Watercolor cold press 140lb paper as my base, glued a thin sheet of white tissue paper with Golden mattee medium, glued a hand torn piece of (single sided printed) designer scrapbooking paper half of the way up to start my composition for the field of flowers and finally added a glaze of Golden (heavy body) Titan Buff mixed with Golden Acrylic Glazing Liquid Gloss (1:1 ratio) over the entire surface and dried with my heat gun.

(2) I then began to play with my permanent color ink pads (golden yellow for sky and green for grass) and dried with my heat gun.

(3) I then continued to add more acrylic paint to build up depth, shadow, highlights and dried with my heat gun.

(4) I then played with texture adding marks using a metal ring and bubble wrap.

(5) Finally came the time to dive into my homemade collage paper I had painted the night before on Canson Mixed Media 98 lb paper. I have found this paper weight and brand to be my favorite so far for collage; especially on an ATC sized base so that it does not become to bulky when I overlap sheets. I hand cut various circle sizes and glued them on 2/3 of the way to add to the composition.

(6) The next step for me was to play with my oil pastels to continue to highlight the texture from the tissue paper and add depth to the overall image.

Hope you're having an excellent Wednesday and are inspired to go out and play and create art and of course stop and smell the flowers;-)

Enjoy,
Sandra

PLAYMAKERS make a difference in our society.

2011-08-29T00:01:00.003-04:00

Had to share this with you just in case you missed it. I found out about PLAYMAKERS by reading Stacy Julian's blog page (which I now follow). Stacy was the day 12 BIG PICTURE CLASSES instructor and her word of the day was PLAY.

If you have not done so already you must check out Stacy's blog page you will not regret it. What an inspirational artist and humanitarian. Way to go Stacy to get the word out about the power of PLAY.

Enjoy,
Sandra

Big Idea Festival - Day Twelve: Play "My Creative Spirit Sings With Joy!"

2011-08-28T17:36:00.004-04:00

WOW! I hope everyone weathered the hurricane well and is able to get back to life as "normal". In Lancaster, PA (I live about three blocks from downtown Lancaster city) it was mostly lots of rain and blasting winds. The wind more than anything alarmed me because I have a locust tree that sits smack in the middle of my courtyard which is over 100 years old (same as my house). Lucky for me the home association I belong to paid to have the tree trimmed last summer after a previous rain storm caused some over sized tree limbs to split in half, which nested amongst the remainder limbs just waiting for the next storm to come crashing down. I awoke this morning at 6am and ran to check out any damages to the courtyard and trees. I was happy to discover that only my little white flowering dogwood tree had minor damage (one long tree limb had split in half - easy enough for me to cut off).

Things are still windy but the rain has stopped and I feel safe to get back online (I was worried about power outage, lighting, and anything else that might zap my lap top or mess up my Internet connection: better safe then sorry). But funny enough without the Internet I was able to really PLAY last night and complete my last entry for the Big Idea Festival: Words to Live by challenge and at the same time start my own personal art challenge... read on and you'll understand.

LAST DAY of Big Idea Festival art challenge.

Day 12: August 27, 2011
Featured Artist: Stacy Julian
website/blog: http://stacyjulian.com/
Challenge word: PLAY

This is my entry for day twelve (the last day) of the Big Idea Festival scrapbook challenge.

Day 12: Play (digital page created using Photoshop CS3)

My volunteer work at the heART of Friendship Art Gallery has me questioning my art abilities as they translate to "realist fine art". I consider myself an artist (because "I MAKE IT MY OWN" as Michelle Ward would say), yet I don't define myself as a traditional or realist fine art artist. I consider myself more of an Outsider Artist if I had to give myself a label but more then anything I view my work as visionary and I'm okay with that. Or at least I thought so until I met Lynn the full time art teacher at heART. Lynn is a beautiful Christian woman who has easily over 30 years experience in the realist visual fine arts both as an artist and teacher. As a volunteer working along side Lynn to assist the heART artists I have learned to better appreciate what the world of realist fine art (landscapes, portraits, nature studies, and any combination of still life acrylic paintings) have to offer.

I guess I had always had a fear to try this type of realist painting style with the thoughts that I'd be horrible since I don't have any formal training in the field. At this point in my art journey I had favored created abstract art just to create; to play, to be happy without the worries of 'does it look real' or having to learn all the fundamentals; your basic art foundation.

My personal abstract art: ATC collage "PLAY" set of five cards.

For I am the happiest when I am learning and sharing without limitations; breaking rules or not following rules per say. Yet spending time with Lynn and the heART artists at the art gallery has opened up my mind to revisit my thoughts and views on realist fine arts and what I am missing out on by side sweeping this style of art making under the rug? I thought to myself 'am I asking myself to be open to the world of structure, formal process, and many, many rules on how to create art' did I understand what I was inviting into my life? After all creating art is my release from my stressful structured, formal, rule abiding lifestyle. Did I really want to drag that into my art making? So I thought about it for some time, and after about 48hours I answered myself without even over thinking it (which I love to do - analysis this... LOL).

Hurricane Irene was a blessing in disguise for me this is what it lead me to create. Without the Internet as a distraction and nothing good to watch on TV (I have basic cable 12 channels only). I started organizing my art books and came across a how to book "Be An Artist in 10 Steps" by Ian Sidaway. I opened it up saw the hot peppers exercise and thought 'what do I have to lose' so I started the art challenge of creating a realist style painting. It took me several hours from start to finish and I'm not yet finished (I want to add some graphite to the image to add more of a mixed media flavor - I can't deny who I am) smiles.


Acrylic painting "Hot Peppers" the process of underpainting. I'm learning so much about the tools I have.

The results of three hours of working with various layers of acrylic paint mixed with water and gel medium.

God is good... he is opening my mind to receive the courage to be public with my art abilities; first by sharing through this blog site with 30 DAYS OF GET YOUR ART ON. This made me more comfortable to join other art challenges like an ATC card swap with Creative Swaps and then try something new with digital scrapbooking with the Big Picture Classes.

All to this point have been online art communities but with my volunteer hours (twice a week for 3 hours a day) at the heART of Friendship Art Gallery God has planted a seed within me to move forward on this art journey in my 'real' life. A scary thought to allow your 'real' community to view your creations. It's one thing to be open to allow online strangers to potentially speak badly of your artwork (you can always block them) but to allow people who you know and interact with the opportunity to say things that might hurt your feelings (although most people have good intentions) that was enough to cause me to have a panic attack. But that's just what happened. Not the part about negative online art comments (my online art communities have lifted me up in my stages of insecurity - funny what kind words can do no matter if said by loved ones or strangers, and then there's those strangers who become friends like Rasz and Maggie).

I say God is good because I would of never chosen to put myself "out there" I tend to be a wallflower with a secret superstar spirit within - only revealed to a small pea pod size number of close friends and family. But God spoke to me to become a volunteer this summer at heART and at the Lancaster Farmacy and both have contributed to my spiritual growth, in term my self-esteem. Who would turn down a self-esteem jump start? NOT THIS GIRL!

Well, if I must be honest at first I wanted to turn it down; volunteering at heART my first week and seeing the fine art work being produced at the gallery (for sale) and here I was being asked to assist in the development of said art. I was like "someone made a mistake, this is not a good fit... I can't help in this process, do these people know who I am, what I'm not capable of..." I questioned everything; my art abilities, if I had the right to call myself an artist, was I going to be more of burden then a blessing to this nonprofit and its heART artists. It's scary when the business side to art making comes knocking at your door. I thought I would be a volunteer to JUST help develop art with the heART artist. I was so consumed with the imagery of the joy and fun art making provided me and how much I wanted to share that joy that I completely forgot about the realization that each heART artist strives to create art to sell at the gallery which provides them a personal income. All this became real on my first day of volunteering. Yikes!

I wanted to run but God had other plans for me. For this was not any nonprofit this is a Christian nonprofit who works with adults with intellectual developmental delays (heART artists) and staffed by two fabulous Christian women who embraced all my fears and doubts and invited me to try it again; to stay on as a volunteer. For both ladies (Lynn, full time teacher and Marsha, gallery coordinator) saw something in me that I could not see myself; they say my spirit... the real me.

My spirit was dim after so many months of self neglect not allowing time to create art during my full time employment and the added stress of being laid off for a second summer in a row due to budget cuts in education (I worked for a nonprofit in the public school system of Lancaster County). Which really gets you to ask why life cannot be more smooth and organized, what lessons was God putting forth for me to learn. I knew that staying on as a volunteer at heART was part of my journey that God had created for me. So in usual "Sandra" style instead of volunteering once a week I bumped it up to twice a week. I always feel like if you're going to do something sent by God better put in double the effort so I don't miss anything. Or in other words I needed at least two days to learn, one day was only enough to introduce me to the questions I would have I also needed a second day to reflect and share with Lynn and Marsha so I could better put my skills and studio time to use with the heART artists.

Its now been over five weeks since I first started volunteering at heART and now when I walk in to the gallery it's like visiting old friends. The heART artists always have such great smiles and kind handshakes to greet me with. I feel like Norm in the sitcom "Cheers". I feel so comfortable with the staff and other volunteers we sometimes sit after the heART artists have gone home and discuss openly about our personal views of art (which are all very diverse) we create ourselves and society's view of art (good and bad). This really nourishes my creative spirit and allows me to share my concerns with my art process and what God is calling me to do with my skills.

I know Lynn embraces the newness that my love for collage art has to offer (even though it is completely new to her and not a mainstream art favorite in an art gallery setting) for she along with Marsha have both invited me to help lead in instruction with various collaborative art projects that heART artists will be showcasing in future fundraisers. Here are some images of what has been created thus far. I instructed the Wednesday class to work at a small scale (ATC size 2.5 x 3.5 inches) during the brainstorming process. It was well received by the heART artists who enjoyed turning their past watercolor artwork into new creations. Everyone lite up with delight when I introduced them to the packing tape transfer technique which we used to capture the cityscape image for the ATC on the far right.

ATC collage brainstorming/idea cards completed by Wednesday's Class.

Full page 8.5 x 11 inches collage created by a Thursday Class heART artist (in progress).

This has lead me to where I am now; if a fine art gallery can be open to investing in collage art (mixed media) then I too could invest in learning more about the other side of art which to me is fine art "realist" - investing in reading, practicing, and need I say it, YES creating UGLY art for it will take time until I am happy with the results of my creations.

So this is my new art challenge - to develop my realist fine arts painting style which will in the process enhance the artwork I have always loved to create (mixed media visionary art). I will work my way through the "be an artist in 10 steps" book and blog about it from week to week. The season is changing and public school starts this Monday; in turn I hope to start my full time employment sometime soon. With those ideas in mind I don't want to fall back into old ways of self creative neglect but I also have to be realist that I won't have time to do as much art as I have in the past two months. So what I want to do is allow myself the opportunity to devote more time to studio discoveries one acrylic exercise at a time and and combine those new skills with my mixed media work. I will share the progress and results weekly thus allowing myself more time to get caught up on reading some of my favorite artist blogs and taking time to make comments on them. I hope you return to visit my blog (become a follower to stay updated) and continue to share with me your comments/feedback. I still plan to share any free classes I learn about and/or other artist blog sites and artwork with the Discovery Wednesday feature.

Funny how God reminds us of lessons learned from our past, that life is to be lived in BALANCE. Like I knew that but sometimes 'living life' makes us forgetful. (smiles)

If you have gotten to this part I thank you for reading and I hope you have a blessed day and may you nurture your creative spirit every moment of the day.

Enjoy,
Sandra

Big Idea Festival - Day Eleven: Embrace

2011-08-26T00:41:00.000-04:00

Day 11: August 25, 2011
Featured Artist: Nic Howard
website/blog: http://www.nichoward.co.nz/
Challenge word: EMBRACE

This is my entry for day eleven of the Big Idea Festival scrapbook challenge.


Day 11: Embrace (digital page created using Photoshop CS3)

This is a picture of my grandmother with one of her sisters. My grandmother was the youngest out of 13 siblings. She really loved her family. I love their hairstyles and innocent expressions in this photo as they share an embrace. My grandmother came to live in the USA with my parents in her old age leaving a majority of her family behind in Lima, Peru.

Enjoy,
Sandra

Big Idea Festival - Day Ten: Moment

2011-08-26T00:11:00.001-04:00

Day 10: August 24, 2011
Featured Artist: Steph C., owner of the Daily Digi and host of the Digi Show
website/blog: http://thedailydigi.com/
Challenge word: MOMENT

This is my entry for day ten of the Big Idea Festival scrapbook challenge.

Day 10: Moment (digital page created using Photoshop CS3)

This is a clay sculpture piece I created while taking a hand-building clay class at my local university during the Bush administration. I had tons of fun creating it and playing with the figures afterwards. It really captured a moment in time for me. Here are more photo of the process of creating the figures (my inspiration for the body type was indigenous warriors of South America). Our class project was to take a primitive style of an art form and reintroduce with a modern twist.

Enjoy,
Sandra

Big Idea Festival - Day Nine: FREE

2011-08-26T00:05:00.001-04:00

Day 9: August 23, 2011
Featured Artist: Karen Grunberg
website/blog: http://www.karenika.com/
Challenge word: FREE

This is my entry for day nine of the Big Idea Festival scrapbook challenge. Karen is providing her readers a free online self pace class called Embrace Imperfection. Check out the details by going to her blog or click on this link. http://www.bigpictureclasses.com/imperfection.php. Thanks Karen, for your generosity!

Day 9: Free (digital page created using Photoshop CS3)

This is a page from my moleskin art journal. To see more pages from this journal with the theme "FLY" check out my Flickr account at http://www.flickr.com/photos/sgranthon88/5958630453/in/set-72157627182590872 .

The book was printed as a travel journal of the city of Boston. I received it free from a friend and decided to recycle it and make it into my pocket size art journal (easy to carry in my purse). The pages are very thin so I first had to glue several pages together so it could support the acrylic paint and images I planned to glue on. I also experimented in making tabs that overhang off the page attached with decorative brads. I drew in the flower after I stamped the hummingbird image... the poor thing looked so lonesome without some sweet nectar nearby.

To me the word FREE reminds me of the empowerment I feel when I am able to create art, art that frees my soul to fly like our winged friends but more importantly fly in a metaphoric fashion to free myself of stress and the world of nonsense that I sometimes find myself consumed with. Nonsense to me is the world of negativity the world of materialism and consumerism. All I need is a small little book to carry my big uncaged ideas and wishes.

Enjoy,

Sandra

Big Idea Festival - Day Eight: LIVE

2011-08-23T01:06:00.000-04:00

Day 8: August 22, 2011
Featured Artist: Lisa Day
website/blog: http://www.lisaday.typepad.com/
Challenge word: LIVE

This is my entry for day eight of the Big Idea Festival scrapbook challenge.

Day 8: Live (digital scrapbook page created using Photoshop CS3)

I used a free download pdf sketch available to readers if you visit Lisa Day's blog page. I placed the pdf image on my background layer to use as a template and then started to layout my page. I used photos taken today of my niece Amelia and the clay stamps we created. We used the air drying clay that she received as a gift for her birthday. We now have to wait for 48 hours for the clay to completely dry. Next Monday she will come back to my house so we can move on to the next step of using our stamps to make ATC cards. I cannot wait!

We had so much fun today and I can't image living life any other way then creating art, with an open mind my eyes wide open, full of exploration and discovery, with opportunity to use art for healing and surrounded by love of family and friends.

Enjoy,
Sandra

Big Idea Festival - Day Seven: CHERISH

2011-08-22T02:19:00.000-04:00

Day 7: August 21, 2011
Featured Artist: Amy Sorensen
website/blog: http://www.amysorensen.typepad.com/
Challenge word: CHERISH

This is my entry for day seven of the Big Idea Festival scrapbook challenge.

Day 7: Cherish (digital scrapbook page created using Photoshop CS3)

Enjoy,
Sandra

Big Idea Festival - Day Six: NEST

2011-08-21T01:36:00.011-04:00

Day 6: August 20, 2011
Featured Artist: Emily Falconbridge
website/blog: http://embers.typepad.com/
Challenge word:NEST

This is my entry for day 6 of the Big Idea Festival - the word for today was NEST.

Day 6: Nest (mixed media from art journal, photography, and edits using Photoshop CS3)

You might notice that this entry is quite different from the other postings in layout design and style. I am still evolving in my personal style of digital scrapbooking. In playing around in the studio this evening I discovered that I enjoy the results of merging (hands-on crafting and digital editing using Photoshop CS3). Its the best of both worlds for me.

Hands-on crafting: here is a photo of the original "real" layout of corrugated cardboard pieces covered with various collage papers sewn together in my art journal.


Mixed media in recycled art journal.

Photo taken at the Farmacy of an artichoke.

Hands-on photography: here is a the original photo I took of an artichoke at the Farmacy I volunteer at. I used Photoshop CS3 to weave new elements to the background of the page, add embellishments and tweak the color tones, light levels and added text to tell the story of what the word "nest" means to me.

Enjoy,
Sandra

Big Idea Festival - Day Five: ENJOY

2011-08-20T04:07:00.007-04:00

Day 5: August 19, 2011
Featured Artist: May Flaum
website/blog: http://mayflaum.com/
Challenge word: ENJOY

Day 5: Enjoy (digital scrapbook page using Photoshop CS3)

Enjoy,
Sandra

Big Idea Festival - Day Four: GIVE

2011-08-19T00:31:00.004-04:00

Day 4: August 18, 2011
Featured Artist: Wendy Smedley
website/blog: http://www.wendysmedley.typepad.com/
Challenge word: GIVE

BIF Day 4: Give (digital scrapbook page using Photoshop CS3)

Here is my entry for day four, the prompt word is 'give'. I decided to work around one of my favorite family pictures. It includes my grandmother, mother and niece. Three generations of strong females with creative minds and huge hearts. My grandmother was a self taught seamstress who made all of my mother's clothing growing up in Lima, Peru. My mother as I shared in an earlier post enjoyed drawing pretty girls for me to make into paper dolls when I was a young girl (and as of late has taken to doing folk style painting on recycled yard sale items). My niece as you saw in my first BIF entry for 'share' is a natural artist who not only paints, she does collage and ceramics since age 5 through our local art museum's children's classes. And when possible (she has a very busy enrichment schedule with brownies, YMCA swim team, Girls on the run 5Ks, and the list goes on) I instruct her in my art studio with various arts and crafts projects. We will start doing ceramic arts on Monday (she received a child's size clay turning wheel for her birthday last week).

I am so thankful for all these ladies and I try to give my time and energy to them always. My grandmother is now deceased (since 2005) but I still visit with her memory everyday when I enjoy my coffee on my sofa next to her picture. It's a cute picture maybe I will share this image in a future post.

Enjoy,
Sandra

Journal Fodder Junkies and Deck of Prompts Swap... Michelle LaPoint Rydell

2011-08-18T12:39:00.005-04:00

Call me crazy but I'm already thinking about my next art challenges. As I was uploading my most recent art journal page "adventure" on Flickr I discovered the artwork of Michelle LaPoint Rydell. who also shares her artwork in the Art Journal Everyday Group I belong to. Check out this "WOW Artist" mosaic I created with images of her artwork for you to explore. Super fun stuff going on there. So inspiring. I'm now a follower of her blog because I don't want to miss a thing this fab lady has to share. A WOW Artist she is!! To find out more about the art challenges Michelle participates in check out her blog at http://inspirationeverywhere.blogspot.com/2011/08/journal-fodder-junkies-and-deck-of.html

Snapshots of artwork done by Michelle LaPoint Rydell.

1. FTB Grand Finale Journal Inside Pages, 2. Inspiration Journal Back, 3. Look For Beauty, 4. Four Full-Tilt Boogie Journals

Enjoy,
Sandra

Big Idea Festival - Day Three: LESS

2011-08-18T03:29:00.006-04:00

Day 3: August 17, 2011
Featured Artist:Peppermint Granberg
website/blog: http://www.onelittlebirddesigns.com

Challenge word: LESS

My entry for day three, the prompt word is 'less'. I used a page out of my art journal which already contained the word and message for the featured image on this digital scrapbook page.

BIF Day 3: LESS (digital scrapbook page using Photoshop CS3).

Enjoy,
Sandra

Discovery Wednesday - Nature Inspired!

2011-08-18T00:44:00.007-04:00

Here is my inspirational mosaic of artist images that inspired me this week to create my journal page titled "adventure".

1. altered envie journal page 7, side 2, 2. opposites WIP- would like to add opposite colors to the yellow orange- Where do I go from here? I didn't even think of a background..., 3. Another fallen tree, 4. Olive Green Tip In Pages Right

Art Journal page 8x7 inches mixed media titled "adventure".

What I discovered in the process of making my own personal artwork was that I enjoy creating in a monotone color palette infused with a punch of highlight color. I also discovered that while I like the color harmony that was created in my journal page I also enjoy the irony of the opposing messages the images communicate.

The page is titled "adventure" with a subtitle of "a point at which to pause and think". If you study the top image (a packing tape image transfer of two hunters walking side by side carrying their 'prize') and the beauty of the bottom image of a songbird perched ready to start it's day you will glide over the letter 'Y' that was placed to sound out loud the question of why we hunt.

I have friends who are hunters and come hunting season they will proudly seek their weapons and children to join in their family tradition of hunting for deer and turkeys for the holiday festivities. I'm not trying to say they are wrong (I am a meat eater after all) but I do pause and wonder of all the animals in nature that find their end by the hands of humans and what might of been their destiny if given an opportunity to sing a song. Just something to think about.

Enjoy,
Sandra

Big Idea Festival - Day 2: WONDER

2011-08-17T11:25:00.003-04:00

Day 2: August 16, 2011
Featured Artist: Tami Morrison
website/blog: http://bcre8uv.typepad.com/
Challenge word: WONDER

BIF Day 2: Wonder (digital scrapbook page using Photoshop CS3)

As you can see I am a day behind with my Big Idea Festival challenge entry - yesterday was a big day with both volunteering at the heART Gallery and the Farmacy... did not finish at the farm until 8:30pm and I was covered in hay so I had to quickly take a shower and then the exhaustion hit in (ever been there). So I hit the bed early and now I'm trying to get caught up. I'm soon off to the art gallery again but I will be posting my Day 3 challenge later this evening and of course my Wendesday Challenge mosaic images.

So see you later this evening for more art sharing and joy;-)

Enjoy,
Sandra

Big Idea Festival - Day 1: SHARE

2011-08-16T03:16:00.002-04:00

So today I started my new online art challenge facilitated by Big Picture Classes: Big Idea Festival (its free and you can still join it runs for 12 days). Each day a new artist provides a challenge word of the day and followers are to create a scrapbooking page (real or digital) and/or art project using the challenge word.

To my surprise when I went to post my image to the BIF gallery I discovered that BPC provides an opportunity for you to win cool prizes for entering your artwork to the gallery folder. Winners will not be announced until August 28th so you could still join in the fun!

Day 1: August 15, 2011
Featured Artist: Amy Tan
website/blog: http://amytangerine.blogspot.com/
Challenge word: SHARE

Day 1: SHARE (digital scrapbooking page using Photoshop CS3)

As always I welcome your comments and feedback.

Enjoy,
Sandra

Giveaway! Art By Manon

2011-08-14T18:14:00.002-04:00

http://manonpopjes-manonpopjes.blogspot.com/

Here is just one of the three little prints Manon is giving away in September, check out her blog to view the other two prints and directions for how to win one! Thanks to Diane for posting about the giveaway on her blog. You must also stop by Diane's blog to view her "Recycling My Roosters" artwork. Super amazing work!

This is what I love about blogging - so much to see, learn, and share...you have until Sept 11 to enter this giveaway so pass it on and bring a smile to someone you love. Thanks ladies for being such inspirations to me and happy art making.

My entries for ATC Creative Swaps - August Theme "I AM"

2011-08-14T01:50:00.006-04:00

For my second art challenge I registered for the Creative Swaps ATC - August theme "I AM". This is my first ATC swap and I am so excited!! I think I am finished with my entries (see image below). I figure I'll let it sit on my art table until Friday and if it calls to be altered or edited I will do so if not it will be mailed out as is so I can make the Sept. 3rd deadline.

Mixed-media ATCs for Creative Swaps (August - "I AM") 2.5 x 3.5 inches.

The August theme is "I AM". I started off exploring what I had to use in my stash and scraps bags/boxes where I found the cute chipboard letters, and text. For my background I used old library index cards (purchased at the Lancaster Creative Reuse) cut down to size, stamped different winged animal images (humming bird, owl, and butterfly) using archival black ink, then just started playing with my ink pads and finished off by adding pink chalked heart rubber stamps all over.

Exploring design ideas for my ATC cards for the August swap.

I allowed the ATCs to sit like that for a couple of days before I added the chipboard letters and corresponding small text underneath. I then added the "I AM" on the top using rub-on letters, allowed them to sit again for some days and then tonight I found some small images that helped me finish off the ATCs.

Each ATC color scheme was inspired by the small color image above it.

The small images above each ATC were there to help me with the color scheme and harmony so I had some direction. You can see what type of color mood I was aiming for within each ATC. What do you think - did I match the ATC to the small inspiration image? I finished off by adding the words "be yourself" on top of the "I AM" as a subtitle to the main theme. It fit for me since that's what I aim for - to be myself; whatever that happens to be;-)

I think they are finished but like I said I'll keep them on my work table and wait until Friday to mail them out for the swap - just in case I find something that MUST be ADDED to each ATC before mailing... although I like how they are I don't want to overload them with too much stuff. What do you think?

Enjoy,

Sandra

FYI: Starting tomorrow, August 15th, I will be starting a new art challenge - the Big Idea Festival (check it out) at Big Picture Classes website. It's FREE and self paced ;-) Of course I'll share and post my progress along the way. Let me know if you sign up and I'll follow your progress too;-) Can't wait!

PS
I can finally post the ATC card I made especially for Lenna. Thanks Lenna for your personal emails and comments on my blog site.

"I am on a journey"
ATC 2.5 x 3.5 inches mixed media

Discovery Wednesday - Watercolor & Typography

2011-08-11T00:51:00.006-04:00

Click on links below to see artist work on Flickr. Marica Beckett is #2. Five

1. The Serenity Prayer, 2. five, 3. kay atc, 4. Artbook typography

Another new discovery this week is the use of Mosaic Maker to create the image you see above. I was first introduced to this tool by Marcia Beckett (a Flickr friend) from her blog http://marciabeckett.blogspot.com/2011/08/mosaic-monday.html Marica was kind enough to add me to her Mosaic Monday group - I am #10 WORRYless. This is such a cool tool - I hope you enjoy using it as much as I am! And of course please visit Marcia's blog page and let her know I sent you. She is a K-6 art teacher and her work is amazing and inspiring with vibrant colors and fun handwritten text!! Way to go Marcia and thanks for sharing this tool.

Inspired by Marica I plan to make Discovery Wednesdays a weekly repeating feature of my blog where I will showcase Flickr artists who have inspired me that week to explore my personal art making process and style. I will provide links to their Flickr photostream and/or blog websites so you may also enjoy in the discovery of these incredible artists.

Enjoy,
Sandra

Taking mixed-media to a new level.

2011-08-10T23:11:00.004-04:00

If you've been following my blog since the first day (thanks for your interest) you will recognize these two images as the cover and pages 1-2 from my Teesha Moore inspired art journal. You will notice some changes since their first initial posting - I have finally taken the big step to add text to the images. Originally I wanted to add handwritten text to the pages but since I'm not yet comfortable with my skills I decided to try something different (adding digital text using Photoshop CS3).

Cover Page - "Process of Becoming" mixed-media art journal.

Pages 1 and 2 of "Process of Becoming" mixed-media art journal.

I have to admit that I am LOVING the digital text! I'm a computer nerd as it goes so it was a no brainer when I started to play in Photoshop CS3 that I was going to be hooked ;-) Yet another journey in the development of my personal style for creating art.

Enjoy,

Sandra

stars in the air

2011-08-09T23:14:00.002-04:00

I found myself with an unexpected burst of energy this evening to revisit a drawing in my moleskin journal done over a year ago. That's how it goes with me sometimes - I will draw some interesting images but for whatever reason I will not work on them for long periods of time. I think partly it's the fear of "messing up" the drawing with paint. But after exploring video after video of how to paint lovely ladies on YouTube I finally find myself more comfortable to take the next step with these drawings. This art project is still a work in progress but I am happy with where I am with it. I have numbered the images so you can follow along with the process.

Stars In The Air - Mixed media in moleskin journal.

Enjoy,
Sandra

Change is good.

2011-08-08T02:55:00.004-04:00

So I finally finished the mixed media on wood art project I started back on day 21 of my 30 DAYS challenge.

Change - Mixed-Media on wood panel 8 x 8 inches.

This was a lot of fun adding paint with my fingers, practicing my handwriting skills, and just exploring all the different techniques I've acquired through the years. The butterfly is a cut-out I made using a template to which I added some personal journaling. I used my $1 mini stamp set to add the word "change" along with some decorative stickers from the AMERICAN CRAFTS remarks accent set (black).

Up close details of my personal journaling and stamped word "change".

You can also see the detail of the circle pattern I transferred onto the wood using Golden soft gel medium matte. I printed the pattern using my Kodak ink jet printer on cheap copy paper. I then tore the sheet by hand to create a soft organic feel before adhering it to the pre-painted background. When doing this transfer technique it is very important to apply gel medium on both the image and the canvas you are transferring on to. I also then apply gel medium on top of the image and allow for it to fully dry before I use my fingers (wet) to rub off the paper pulp to reveal the transferred image.

Circle pattern transferred onto wood canvas using gel medium.

I love how the background colors pop as they peek through the transfer image.
I had to experiment with different gel pens when adding my personal journaling. My Sakura gel pen (black) worked best; although I did have some problems writing on top of dried acrylic craft paint. The paint was too thick and it became super elastic in texture and the pen tore through the layer to reveal the white gesso background.

Art In The Mail! For those of you who follow my blog and emailed me your home address you will be receiving a letter that looks like these in the next couple of days depending where you live. Thanks again for your support and I hope you enjoy the gift ;-)

Thank you cards mailed out to friends enclosed with a magnet of my personal artwork.

Enjoy,
Sandra

Cool, Rainy Days!

2011-08-04T13:00:00.003-04:00

Hi all! Just a friendly reminder that tomorrow I will be mailing out the magnet requests I received thus far (a gift for my "30 Days" blogger friends - read the end of my post from Aug 1st for details after the PS) . Or just click on the link provided.

Below are two images I recently added to my flickr account. I hope you enjoy them; they have a fall/winter theme reflecting the months in which they were made.

Art Sentiment Card (mixed media)

"Quiet" ATC (mixed media)

In other news... I've been very busy on the farmacy and at the heART Gallery this week but enjoying every minute of if! Below is a picture of the 100 + watermelons we harvested on Tuesday at the farmacy. Yesterday I did a lot of weeding around the squash (very muddy business working in and around the rain; but so inviting after the heat wave from weeks past).

Watermelons from the Farmacy - harvest on August 2, 2011.

This is an info card I made using Photoshop CS3 of the completed painted glass vase a heART artist created this week. I'm now volunteering twice a week this allows me to get more familiar with the heART artists (adult artists who have developmental and intellectual disabilities) so I can better assist them with their studio needs during their class time. Lynn the full time art teacher has been a blessing to me. Her patience and mentoring during my first weeks as a volunteer has provided me a new zest for creativity that I have begun to put into my volunteer work and personal artwork. Lynn echoes what a lot of my online art mentors have shared with me "relax, play, and allow art to be healing".

As always I welcome your comments ;-)

Enjoy,
Sandra

ART SAVES!

2011-08-01T11:59:00.002-04:00

This post is being sent out to all my blogger friends. It first started as a reply to Maggie's comments from my Day 30 post but as I began to type my reply I thought it was appropriate to send it as a post so everyone can read what an impact this online art community has had on my life. For it was not just one person that made this new blog experience such a joy to me but my whole interactive blog community. Thanks ladies, God Bless!!

"ART SAVES" collage mixed-media with chipboard letters and embellishments

Here is a image of a collage mixed-media piece I created over three years ago when I first began to actively create art for healing. Please feel free to right click and download this image to save or print for your personal use. I made magnets out of the image and gave them to the women in my life who mean so much to me like my mom, sister, close friends and I also donated a print to one of my close friend's women's church retreat silent auction.

I cannot say this enough - ART SAVES! Thanks to Jenny Doh for starting CRESCENDOh and Suzi Blu for first bringing it to my attention (Suzi's videos launched my spirit to start my alchemist process back in 2007 and I've only become brave enough since 2010 to begin to share openly with the public - its scary to know people are judging you but then again the healing that sharing your art can bring to others out weighs the personal fear I have). Jenny says it best here:

"We at CRESCENDOh believe that art is all of that and more. Art is what comes out of each of us, as we use our diverse spectrum of talent to elevate and beautify our lives. Art can be a quilt ... a collage ... a rubber stamped card ... a poem ... a musical performance ... a well-loved garden ... a delicious meal ... a warm conversation. Art is what gets us through the moment, the hour, the day, the years, the lifetime. Yes indeed, ART SAVES."

Now this is the original start of the reply I was typing to Maggie which I have copied and pasted here:

You have been such an uplift throughout this blog process and believe me it has not been easy (especially when real life concerns outside of art making kicked in during the month of July; pushing my posts into late hours of the night). That's when art making became a saving grace to me along with working on the farm to release my stress and anxiety. Maggie {blog friends}, you have made me smile with every comment you have shared. I believe that God puts the right people in your path at the right times to uplift your spirit and remind you of all the goodness in this world.

Although I LOVE my family and close friends I felt I was missing a connection with my creative spirit and finding this art community and blogging has been a saving grace for me during my job layoff. It brings me great comfort and peace along with BIG SMILES when I can share my love for anything and all things art related with others who also get a jump start from mixing paints with their fingers, squealing when they learn about a new YouTube video on how to make recycled journals and just want to make markings on any surface to see what develops (and not think it was time to call the head doctor) LOL.

This message goes to everyone who has left comments on my blog or become a follower. Although the 30 Days challenge is over my blog is not at all ending and although we might all find new art challenges to participate in our futures, my hope is that we continue to revisit each other and share in our new art discoveries and how they are transforming our lives.

I call my blog ALCHEMY - Art Memories just for that reason. I am a believer that life is to be lived honoring the changes in ourselves, our environments, and our society. Along with living my life with a CURIOUS GIRL mentality I also work very hard to put into practice my self defined definition of living an alchemist lifestyle through the process of 1.discovering 2. exploring, and 3. enjoying. Art Memories is just one chapter in this on going process and I look forward to sharing with you my journey along the way.

Thanks again for all your caring and support and remember this change in art challenges is not an ending but a new beginning - let's continue to share for we are all interconnected in this thing we call life ;-)

Enjoy,
Sandra
PS
I would like to mail a gift (a magnet of an image of your choice from any of the images I have shared in the 30 Days challenge including today's ART SAVES post) to all the people who have left comments on my 30 Days challenge posts - you can look back on the comments posted to remind you if you are one of them and also to my 9 followers. If you would like to receive this gift please email me at: sgranthon88@yahoo.com with your address details. This is my thank you to you for helping to shape my future as an artist.

Adaptive - Day 30

2011-08-01T00:19:00.003-04:00

For my last blog post for the 30 Days of Get Your Art On challenge I am sharing a journal page spread I did in my mini watercolor art journal. Thanks to everyone who has shown an interest in me and my artwork. I have enjoyed this process and look forward to continued conversations with you all. I will be starting a new challenge as of August 1st as a registered member of Creative Swaps ATC see details here http://creativeswaps.blogspot.com/2011/07/new-creative-swap-august-atcs-i-am.html.

Enjoy,

Sandra

upcycled sketch book - Day 29

2011-07-30T01:29:00.003-04:00

Today I created a new sketch book for myself from recycled paper, mail brochures, and pattern scrapbook paper. After deciding on the size of the book I used my color staples to attach the white drawing paper and then ran the pages under my Elna sewing machine (great for handling thick, multiple pages). I capped things off with a little left over bling on the front cover from an old project.

Front cover of upcycled sketch book.

Enjoy,
Sandra

New web TV Craft show to start in August 2011.

2011-07-29T11:01:00.002-04:00

A must read for all creative souls! Check out this blog to learn more about the new web TV craft show starting in August to feature such great artists as Christy Tomlinson.

http://www.mycraftchannelblog.com/

Enjoy,
Sandra

Discovering the work - Day 28

2011-07-29T01:28:00.003-04:00

Before picture of ATC.

Today I am late in posting but wanted to post something before going to bed. Not much to say but that I revisited an ATC card I posted earlier. Check out the before and after pictures below.

I added some acrylic paint to fill in the vase and flowers and added the text using Photoshop CS3.

After picture of ATC.

That's it, I'm off to bed soon after checking out how everyone else is getting their art on. Three more days to go ;-)

Enjoy,

Sandra

See Something - Day 27

2011-07-27T13:43:00.002-04:00

This is my offering for Day 27. It is an abstract painting using acrylic paints on a piece of wood sized 8"x8". I had a lot of fun using a plastic painter's knife to add the various layers of acrylic paint. What made it fun was the rough texture of the wood grain that became more visible as I played with the layers of paint.
I then took a picture and added text to the image using Photoshop CS3.

You might be surprised that I choose a quote by John Ruskin because he is known to have argued that the principal role of the artist is "truth to nature".

Yet, this particular quote is quite fitting to me, a visionary artist, with this painting for it challenges the purest ideas of what is "seeing clearly" in society and in art form. I "see" my art and the visions it conjures up within me as sharing some ties with that of Ruskin's belief of:

"Good art is done with enjoyment. The artist must feel that, within certain reasonable limits, he is free, that he is wanted by society, and that the ideas he is asked to express are true and important."

Without overly analyzing the process and the materials I was using I became free to enjoy the creation of this painting and although it is not a "true" realistic painting of a forest it non the less is my vision of what an early morning walk in a forest would look like to me... call me unreasonable if you choose. LOL

8"x8" abstract painting on wood with computerized text overlay.

Blue skies and golden sun rays play hide and seek with each other within the mist of the thick, rough trunks of the trees shuffling by to reveal the next section of the path of my personal journey of a creative life. The purple shimmers extend them self deeper into the center of the painting holding perhaps the clarity that Ruskin speaks of - of poetry, of prophecy, and religion all in one.

Although Ruskin would argue with:

"Even the most superior mind and the most powerful imagination must found itself on facts, which must be recognized for what they are. The imagination will often reshape them in a way which the prosaic mind cannot understand; but this recreation will be based on facts, not on formulas or illusions.

Although my views will never be mistaken for being pure Ruskin in nature (no pun intended) I admire the man - for Ruskin's ideas and views lead to the rise of the Arts and Crafts Movement and the importance of man made and craftsmanship over machine made to create beauty in society so powerful that it crossed over into our moral beliefs and values for living life as good Christians.

Yet I argue that God is so good to society that he provides us many opportunities to see spiritual peace "happiness" in unlimited forms and practices. Even (should I say it) by merging "fact" with "illusions" which I interpret as faith or belief. For it is the things we don't see and yet hold strong beliefs in that matter the most during our earthly time. Instead of arguing one extreme or the other I find enjoyment in interweaving abstract play representation of the unknown with that of personal storytelling conveyed by personal association to said abstract art based on the historical facts of a life lived.

How sweet it is to have freedom of personal vision and thoughts and to share them in purpose to experience peace within art making. What do you see?

Enjoy,
Sandra

Courage to GROW - Day 26

2011-07-27T03:06:00.004-04:00

I've been away for the past three days at a conference in DC. Although I took my mini journal with me I was not able to add any new artwork to the journal - my days just came and went with very little time then to wake up, attend the conference, spend time with my hosts (sister and brother-in-law), sleep and do it again. I did get a chance to take in two museum exhibits and I used my journal to take notes of some of the artwork I viewed for future research (I'm hoping to post and share at a later time).

But for today, my Day 26 I revisited a piece I blogged about earlier in this process. I actually finished this piece and you can see the results in the picture below. I would say more but I'm tired and need to head off to bed.

Hope you enjoy this one, I worked on for the better part of the evening/morning. It was a lot of fun. Check out the before pictures of this piece on blog Day 6.

"Courage to GROW" 8"x8" mixed-media collage on wood.

Enjoy,

Sandra

Thanks for all your kind words and for following along. Even though I have not been able to participate every day on this challenge it is still the most art I have ever created in one month's time and the month is not even over ;-) I'll be posting something new for the following last 5 days and I can't wait to visit your blogs to see what everyone's been up to. Happy blogging.

Vision - Day 22

2011-07-23T00:05:00.004-04:00

Today has been an extremely long, hot day - Lancaster, PA reached over 100 degrees today plus humidity, ouch! I put in 3 sweat filled hours at the Lancaster Farmacy this morning and YES I did jump in the creek ;-) See pictures below. I then quickly went home, showered and changed and did my rounds to pick up first my niece, Amelia, then my mom to take us to the Fulton Opera House for the annual Youtheatre production. This year the subject matter was 'immigration' the play was called "For We Were Strangers In The Land". As a naturalized American citizen who immigrated with my family from Peru in 1978 the story touched me in a profound way - at times almost bringing me to tears in rememerance of the emotional and financal hardship my family suffered in el Callo, Peru. I have a sense of loyalty and honor for my homeland of Peru but I love being an American citizen with all the freedoms this land offers. It is not a perfect land but opportunities are abudnant. When you think you have it bad in the USA just go visit a third world country and you'll be kissing the soil of this nation mighty quickly. The youth did a great job with all the proceeds going to a local nonprofit that supports refugee immigrants in the Lancaster County area. One of my students from four years back was part of the ensemble - great to see him use his acting skills for such a good cause. Then dinner with family and finally crashing at home in my AC bedroom. I think I might of gotten a little heat stroke (yikes) the sun was brutal!

Me sweating up a storm on the farm this morning it was only in the 90s not yet 105.

The creek near the farm - its a favorite spot as you can tell by the rock staircase for easy entry.

After some quality time with my cat, Diego, on the couch just relaxing and resting I picked up my mini art journal and began to do a little "pulled art" on a page that had previously been painted with watercolors and stamped. In my state of relaxation I began to draw a soothing closed eye. I added some circles for a zen feel and tried to image what calming visions might be at the source of this image. What calms me down outside of doing art is music. I love all genres but my favorite is folk music. You might ask 'but do you really see music' I say yes because when I hear the music the instruments fill my mind's eye with images of banjos, mandolins, acoustic guitars, steel guitars, pianos, harmonics and so on ... The images of the musicans playing their instruments with such vigor and delight fill my heart with joy as it resembles the joy I feel when I am creating art with my instruments in hand (a pencil, paint brush, or my fingers). It's strange but the movement of the musicians similar to that of a working artist calms my soul and without effort my whole body relaxes and smiles inwardly in gratitude to be alive. My favorite band, these days, is Carolina Chocolate Drops - . I can't wait until September when I get to see them in concert for the second time this year. Live music is a blessing.

"vision" graphite and watercolors in mini art journal

I call this image "vision" and welcome you to add your story of what brings you to a state of calmness and gratitude and as always feel free to leave a comment to share your thoughts.

Enjoy,
Sandra

To see what the other artists are up to in the 30 Days challenge click here.

Join the CURIOUS GIRLS Club - Day 21

2011-07-21T14:28:00.002-04:00

For Day 21 of GET YOUR ART ON I was inspired by the artwork of Roben-Marie Smith an artist I was first introduced to by Mystele from Little Glimpses Studio. I am a follower of Roben-Marie’s blog {Every Life Has A Story} that can be found at http://www.robenmarie.com. Roben-Marie is so generous in how she shares her art. In her blog posts she shares words of encouragement to new visionary artist like me through her storytelling of art making and also through her “Watch the Process” videos made just for us visual learners who have to see it to “get it” ;-) Her videos reveal a true love for play and spontaneous art making. I kept asking myself how she makes it look so EASY when I know it is NOT. I also wondered how she KNOWS that the outcome of the video recording will yield an aesthetically pleasing piece of artwork.

In a recent email exchange where I wrote to Roben-Marie to thank her for the inspiration she provides me to keep going with my art making (especially the dreaded adding of text to art) Roben-Marie shared with me “I keep in all the mess-ups and show how I just cover things up and keep going!”. Her words stayed with me for over a week and today I awoke inspired to become BRAVE and play – PLAY like great artists like Mystele and Roben-Marie. PLAY without fear of the outcome but just to enjoy the process. Thanks ladies!

8x8 inches on wood (white gesso and crayons)

To get myself in a BRAVE state of mind I first needed to relax so I got the old white gesso out and started to lay down some paint. I then hit it with my heat gun and then pulled out a set of crayons and started to just let loose with spontaneous zentangle design. Side note: I love the smell of crayons ;-) I still remember being in 1^st grade when my mom purchased a box set of 64 crayons for me and my siblings to share. Remember with the little sharpener in the back? I LOVED IT! I got a rush from seeing them all organized together in the hug box, all sharpened and ready to go. I spent many hours with those crayons coloring in over-sized coloring books and also making handmade board games and paper dolls. I was blessed with a mom who shared her love of creativity with me at a young age. Before heading off to work she would draw pretty little girls for me and say “now you can make the clothes”. This kept me quite busy on those long hot summer days.

Finger painting with craft acyrlic paints.

Once I was warmed up with the zentangles I then moved over to finger painting, paint dripping, paint smearing, and paint flicking… oh, it is so much FUN! All techniques shared by Roben-Marie through her videos. This is just a work in progress for I do not wish to stop by just repeating the skills Roben-Marie shares but I want to keep playing; introducing my own style of doing things and allow my curiosity to move me towards an artwork that is all my own. Thanks Roben-Marie for “Lifting Me Up, for I am a CURIOUS Girl”.

ATC with a twist - Day 20

2011-07-20T12:45:00.003-04:00

Okay so I'm on an ATC kick but that's why they are so much fun - small and full of possibilities. For this ATC I added a twist with a handmade designer embellishment using some of my studio tools. I used my Imaginisce i-top Tool to create my own designer brad. I used the medium size 22mm brad backing with decorative scrapbooking paper to cover it. I then distressed the paper with a black ink pad. I also used my Imaginisce i-top Paper Punch Medium size for 22 mm brads to cut two flower style shapes (also using scrapbooking paper). I distressed both the flower style shapes with various color ink pads and then cut one of the shapes using my design scissors to makes an organic shape to the petal edges. I layered them all on top of a die cut embellishment also in the shape of a flower. To top everything off I added a Y for YARN rub-on letter to the brad. I attached the designer brad to my chipboard ATC card with my hole puncher after I decorated the ATC card.

ATC "Yarn"

I love this brad making tool - it is a bit expensive but if you use a 50% off AC Moore coupon like I did it's worth it. You can use paper or fabric, although the fabric is a bit more tricky to manage if you want me to share with you youtube videos and website links that I have found helpful just leave a comment. Below is a website for more details on the tools mentioned in this blog posting.

http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=i+top+imaginisce&tag=mh0b-20&index=aps&hvadid=162711001&ref=pd_sl_2bc8bstvo4_b

Enjoy,
Sandra

ATC: Breath Well - Day 19

2011-07-20T12:19:00.001-04:00

My offering for day 19 :-) This is an ATC I created using just found images and text. My inspiration was the intense heat we have been experiencing in PA. I suffer from major allergies when the humidity kicks in and the intense heat makes my breathing less then comfortable at times. I am fortune enough that I have central air in my home and it doesn't really hit me until I venture out in my car to run errands and the such. Yet, when I am at the organic farm that I volunteer at my breathing seems to improve - must be something in the air. Just food for thought of how much our daily activities (good or bad) effect our air quality and our personal quality of life.

Collage ATC "Breath Well"

Enjoy,
Sandra

Sunflowers - Day 18

2011-07-19T00:02:00.001-04:00

Today I spent the afternoon with my niece, Amelia. She's a third grader with a love for creating art! We had a wonderful afternoon, making a healthy lunch from veggies from the farm, then we planted sunflower seeds in the backyard, and continued the theme by painting sunflowers on acrylic 110lb Canson artist paper. Below are the pictures I took of the process. It turned out super great! She decided to paint the red sunflower and I went for the orange toned sunflower. Amelia is amazing she has a true eye for color combinations - she selected the color palette for her painting including adding some bright Cobalt Blue for a punch of color... ahhh, a child after my own heart.

"Red Sunflower" by Amelia (3rd grader)

She was very patient and worked on layering color with varies applications of glazes to build up the tones and then using dry brush technique to add texture.
Her color choices inspired me and if you look closely I also added a little Cobalt Blue in my painting.

"sunflower" by ME ;-)

Enjoy,
Sandra

Tabs for Thought - Day 17

2011-07-17T22:25:00.001-04:00

I took some Chinese fortunes from past meals and glued them onto a tab I created for a future art project. I just love the colors and I used a new edge punch to create the corner cutouts. I also used a floral punch to cut out the middle circle on the blue paper. I played with some glitter stamp pads and glued everything together with an Elmer’s glue stick.

Front and back of a tab I created for a future art project.

Enjoy,
Sandra

Party Time! - Day 16

2011-07-16T17:22:00.001-04:00

This is page 14 with an inside flap (page 15) out of my art journal “Process of Becoming”. This is also the last entry page of my art journal – stage 1: collage elements. Thus, the birds on the ledge with party hats – for they are songbirds with music in their hearts sharing in fellowship for as a wise church lady told me yesterday during our weekly book discussion group “God did not make man to stand alone… everyone needs community”. Now that stage 1 is completed I will move onto stage 2 to be shared in the coming days.

As always please post your comments and enjoy,
Sandra

Head Above Water - Day 15

2011-07-16T17:11:00.001-04:00

This is page 13 from my art journal "Process of Becoming". I call it Head Above Water because that's how I feel some times. I love trying new things, experimenting with new art forms and overall meeting new people; but sometimes I just need time for myself to relax, meditate and create art so I don’t drown in my professional responsibilities and my creative endeavors. I am sure many of you can relate ;-)

Enjoy,
Sandra

What is love? Day 14

2011-07-16T16:58:00.001-04:00

Here is the next page spread in my "Process of Becoming" art journal. The topic for discussion on these pages is that of love. How do you define love, share your love, honor your love and can you ever truly protect yourself from the pitfall of being hurt by love?

Enjoy,
Sandra

heART of Friendship - Day 13

2011-07-16T16:36:00.001-04:00

On Day 13 I started my volunteer position with The heART of Friendship Art Gallery located in Ephrata, PA. Once a week, Wednesdays, from 9am-noon I will be working one-on-one with a heART artist (the same gal every week) in the creation and development of her personal art projects. This is a new and very challenging position for me for I have never worked with adults with developmental disabilities at this level; especially since I myself am not formally trained in the fine arts. I totally consider myself an Outsider Artist, my style is totally eclectic going from folk art whimsy to flashes of some fine art thrown here and there but never at the academically trained level – nor is that my goal for doing art.

I shared these concerns with Marsha Petery, Gallery Coordinator, and she reassured me that we were ALL here to learn and that’s what makes the process so inviting and exciting. Marsha explained to me that their volunteer staff is very diverse from accomplished professional artists to community people like me who practice art making outside of formal fine art training. I shared with Marsha that I had just started the 30 Days of Get Your Art On blog and how much support and learning I have been experiencing in just the first 12 days of posting. I asked Marsha if it would be okay if I blogged about my experience with The heART of Friendship and shared the heART artist work process to get ideas and feedback from my online art community. She loved the idea and gave me permission to blog away on the topic (to keep confidentiality I will not be sharing too much detail on the actual heART artist art process nor her personal information). My main goal is to open up the circle of creative dialogue - for my online art community to advise me on possible suggestions I can share with my heART artist as she is actively choosing for herself the development of her personal artwork. So it’s going to be me posting pictures of the work in progress and you providing comments.

HERE WE GO… Let’s create together:

So this Wednesday, July 13^th, as I began to discover what my volunteer role was I began to feel a lot of concern for how effective as a helper I was going to be, for all the reasons stated above. I am to assist my heART artist with her personal artwork creation (I forget the ratio) but in the end she will be doing the bulk of the art creation and I am there to verbally direct and/or manually assist with some of the process. The art project was assigned by the heART of Friendship fulltime paid Lead Teacher/Artist. So when I arrived the art project was what it was and there was no turning back or changing it. As it was communicated to me by the Lead Teacher, I had to help the heART artist work through the challenge of recreating the image which was assigned to her (I’m not sure if the heART artist choose the picture or the Lead Teacher) but there was no time to waste on that question my heART artist was eager to start creating art and she was looking to me to get her started.

The picture my heART artist was working off of was an image of Mexican architecture; she had already painted the background purple using acrylic paint on the watercolor paper and was beginning to trace a template in the shape of the main part of the building that she had decided to focus on recreating. After much dialogue and hands on trial and error (becoming familiar with her cognitive abilities and artist skills) this is what was created – see images below.

Next Wednesday we will be picking up where we left off and I would like input from my fellow online art community on any suggestions, critique, feedback you could provide me to share with my heART artist. One thing my heART artist decided to try for next week is to play with cutting up the painting (cut around the main building and add it to a new background) playing with the three dimensional forms already in place (the terracotta pots on the right side were glued on using pop up dots) we plan to play with cardboard next week to make the building a bit more 3D. The final artwork will be housed in a black shadowbox. My heART artist really liked this idea of playing with the three dimensional form; a new experience for her and a fun element I love to experiment with. My biggest dilemma is how do we play with 3D but still be true to showcasing some traditional fine art skills already present in the 2D format (window niche and pots). The main building needs a glaze wash to add more three dimension to it but how should we go about introducing this now that that the acrylic paint is dry and the pots are glue on? How about the background, should we introduce any other building elements or do a sky background? My heART artist relies on the Lead Teacher and volunteers like myself to assist her with these types of decision making. I would love to hear your ideas and include you in the process; so what’s on your mind, as always please leave a comment I am eager to hear your thoughts.

More about The heART of Friendship Art Gallery

“The heART of Friendship is an extension of Friendship Community located in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The vision of Friendship Community is to be a community which affirms the worth of all people. The heART of Friendship empowers adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities to pursue the creation of art as a way of developing skills, achieving self expression, finding a meaningful role in society and moving toward economic independence. In addition the gallery holds classes for the general public, thus facilitating an artistic experience in the setting of diversity.

THE DREAM!

Aggressive marketing of art projects serves to promote individual artists and their work and provide artists with financial resources. We exhibit and sell our work beyond our gallery, by marketing on the internet and other local retail establishments. Public and private commissions, open houses, shows, libraries and commercial offices are also opportunities for exhibition and revenue.
Ultimately, the heART of Friendship Art Gallery will develop into a self sustaining business offering people exposure to, and involvement with, the creative work of people with disabilities. By encouraging persons with disabilities to develop personal feelings of worth and value, the visual arts offer everyone an opportunity to communicate in a new language, while destroying the stigma often associated with persons having disabilities.

To learn more about the heART of Friendship Art Gallery click on the link below.

http://www.friendshipart.net/

Enjoy,

Sandra

WHY? - DAY 12

2011-07-12T12:25:00.002-04:00

So this is a watercolor piece in my 5x7 sketchbook. I did the women's side view using graphite 2H pencil. I drew in the lines and will be back to revisit it with text in the near future. Sorry the last postings have been rushed! I've been quite busy outside of my studio (thus why I've reverted to the small travel sketch book) but I promise to devote some more quality time to posting in the coming days. I have lots of art related things happening that I plan to share.
As always I welcome your comments and feedback- especially on working with text and zentangles (a new found love of mediation).

"why?" mixed-media collage on 5x7 watercolor paper.

Enjoy,
Sandra

Playing with Text - Day 11

2011-07-12T12:17:00.002-04:00

Okay so I could not put if off any longer... I decided to take the plung and start playing around with text. I did some cartoon sketches to make it more fun for me to work around. I tried to also play around with some zentangle features.
It's not the best, but hey it's a start.

Enjoy,
Sandra

Hillside View - Day 10

2011-07-12T12:10:00.001-04:00

This is a small collage I did in my watercolor sketch book. It measures 5x7 inches. I tore up text paper, adhered using Golden Soft Gel Medium (Satin), watercolors with graphite drawing layered on top of found images of rocks and grass.

"hillside view" mixed media collage 5x7 inches on water color paper.

This is not done yet, I'm looking forward to adding text to this in the coming days.

Enjoy,
Sandra

A Paradigm shift - Day 9

2011-07-09T22:19:00.001-04:00

Today has been a very busy Saturday and as you can tell I am posting later then my normal time. I normally like to get to my art in the morning and post no later then midday. But today I got up at 8am, did my yoga practice and then I was out the door by 10am to run errands, spend time with family, until 7pm when I just got home. So lucky for me the next page in my art journal was an inside flap - yeahhhh! A small layout page;-) So below is my offering for today.

This inside flap will house my views inspired by the idea of a self paradigm shift in how I view my life. How I measure worth and values in the people I engage with and the work I do: purpose of self and discussion on who the real me is and the people in my life who support me (including my online community).

"Your spirit is the real you. The bible teaches us to live by the things of the spiritual realm, things we don't see. The only way to have a truly satisfying, happy life is to be led by the Holy Spirit."

The image of a one-eyed brain as the face of "man" sparked excitement in me when thinking of possible associations and metaphors for when I add my future text. Upon looking at the collage I created I began to associate a story of a struggle to balance my personal beliefs/morals that keep me well (my cerebral self which is not derived by vision alone) and my disappointment with humanity (self included) based on aesthetic potential to make something discarded and rejected by society into a restored object of peace to inspire joy and healing without judgement. In other words do I create art to live well or do I live well to create art? By well I mean wellness of mind, body and soul.

Broken down into a basic question - can art be enjoyed without judgement?

So many times I feel guilty after spending money to buy prefabricated embellishments, buttons, rub-ons, and so on to add to my artwork's aesthetics's.

I think to myself that was money better spent on buying healthy groceries (not cheap) or putting into my savings for future house emergencies or employment layoffs. I also think there are so many yard sales, flea markets, and second hand stores I could find similar items for less money and in the process stop adding to the consumer obsession of more stuff to buy and support recycling and re-using discarded treasures for art making. I then think what does this say about the art I create is it better because it has "brand new" details and features or am I missing out by doing the work of discovering what's out there for me to explore, to enjoy in my artwork?

Have you ever gone down this path of questioning what your artwork reflects upon the people who view it? Have you ever felt robotic to create art that will sell verses art that is pure peace and joy without judgement of aesthetics or $$ value?

For now I will enjoy the process of questioning and know that the art of "becoming" anything takes time and if I'm lucky I will never stop its development of asking and reflecting on questions of a life lived and a life shared with art. As always I welcome your comments and feedback.

Enjoy,

Sandra

The devil is in the details - Day 8

2011-07-08T15:44:00.002-04:00

“The slang term “the devil is in the details” has a number of different senses. All of the meanings for the term boil down to the fact that it is often the small details of something which make it difficult or challenging. These details can prolong a task, or foil an otherwise straightforward dealing. Like many proverbs which involve the devil, it is meant to sound a note of caution. It may also be used to excuse or explain the obfuscation of an otherwise very simple project or task." source: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-does-the-devils-in-the-details-mean.htm

As you can see in my latest spread in my art journal "Process of Becoming" pages 7-9 at first glance looks quite simple and yet it is perhaps to become one of the most challenging pages I tackle to complete.

I started the page by laying down some beautiful bright warm Golden fluid acrylic paint "Hansa Yellow Medium". While the paint was drying I went exploring in my stash for some collage papers and images that would complement the background. Sounds simple, right?

Well - as you can see the images that caught my attention that made their home on this sun filled page spread are that of the Devil in all his glory pitch fork in hand (I cut the fork off to make the picture more inviting and less scary, providing a sense of vulnerability to the figure since the image size was so big in comparison to the small angel in the right hand corner playing her horn). I perched the Devil figure image over a row of nameless people's pictures (yearbook style photos) so he can do what he does best (pass judgment). Below the row of photos I decided to add a row of bright healthy green colored trees (a little play on the garden of good and evil and the tree of wisdom). Remember I am setting up these pages to later add my personal thoughts and views (journal text) based on readings and verbal discussion with my church book group.

Art Journal "Process of Becoming" spread - pages 7, 8, and 9. Collage, Golden fluid acrylic paint and black 3M Vinyl Electrical Tape.

So, what do you think am I setting myself up for a MIGHTY Journal Entry … details (text to follow in the coming days) thus, the title of this post “The devil is in the details. What appears as an overly simple layout with abundant room to journal is going to become a process of major reflection for me in my thoughts, beliefs and ideas of what I interpret as sinful and God like – good.

There’s a lot of open spaces (yellow background areas) for me to journal on – maybe too much… they say “give a man enough rope and he will hang himself” maybe I’ve given myself too much free space to journal. Only time will tell what will become of this page and my thoughts as my church group moves forward in our reading of the book “Discovering God’s Will For Your Life” foreword by Sheila Walsh. For now let’s just enjoy the pretty yellow color;-)

Enjoy,
Sandra

ATC cards keep me cool in hot weather - Day 7

2011-07-07T12:35:00.008-04:00

In PA the weather is HOOOTTT and humid! As I woke up this morning praying that my Internet connection was working (My Sprint 4G connection has not been working properly since July 4th - I called to ask why and they could not answer me just told me that it would improve in the following days)... got to love technology LOL.

At times the Internet connect works great - just like earlier this morning when I was commenting on fellow artist’s blogs then it goes down without warning, just like a minute ago when I decided to blog my new art and then I play the waiting game. OK enough venting... did you know art is also a great way to vent?

Not knowing how much time I had to work with this morning before Internet would work I started playing with new ATC cards. The backgrounds were already collaged - these were ATC leftovers from a larger collage project down earlier in the year... what I like to call Artist Surprise Extras!

A) ATC - girl, B) ATC- mushroom, C) ATC - Flowers in vase, and D) ATC - lemonade jar.

So I quickly started sketching simple images in each of the four ATC cards. After the graphite sketch I then sprayed them with a thin layer of Krylon Workable Fixatif (you can purchase at your local hobby or art store for about $9) this protects pencil, pastel, and chalk drawings preventing smudging, and wrinkling, in the end allows for easy rework and layering with other mediums.

After allowing the Fixatif to dry I then added a watery (1:1 ratio of gesso to water) layer of gesso to fuse the background and drawn image together to prepare for future addition of paint and text. That is where I am right now… check out the images below and as always leave a comment with any feedback or suggestions.

EnjoyJ
Sandra

PS
Not sure how to get images to post side by side as you can see the last ATC pic is a bit lower then its neighbor. Any suggestions? I'm new to using this blogger layout, post editor. The only other thing is to lay it out in Photoshop and save as one image (but that's more work and makes for larger image size). Thanks for any suggestions you can give me.

PSS
I edited this post with a new image (I used PhotoShop to layout the ATC cards side by side and up and down). Thanks for the feedback!

Out of frustration comes art - Day 6

2011-07-07T12:00:00.004-04:00

So as you might notice I am posting day 6 on July 7th. The reason behind this is because on July 5th my cell phone short circuited and stopped working. Note to self do not use phone as ipod player when working on the farm in 90 degree weather (heat and sweat combined is not a good thing for a cell phone). So it took all of yesterday to get my phone working - I use my phone to connect my lap top to the Internet for posting and stuff makes it easier on my eyes and loading images.

The good thing that came out of it is that I had so much energy I started a new project (8x8 wood collage) see images below. The theme is celebrating the flowers at the farm. I plan to take a quality photo of the final project to make into magnets to give to my friends at the farm with the following quote added "It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are" e. e. cummings.

enjoy;-)
Sandra

Collage on wood 8x8 mixed media titled "Courage to Grow" not yet done.

You can see the thickness of the wood from this angle. I still have to add text and flower details. I plan to post the final results when ready. Enjoy;-)

Gone crazy with color! - Day 5

2011-07-05T13:31:00.002-04:00

Did I mention that I love bold strong COLORS!! A favorite is the color -tomato orange. This time around I decided to go dark with my images instead of ghost tones as in my last page on Day 4. I've already started to break up the darkness with some fun 3D glitter embellishments that I glued on around the eyes on the image on the left side and to balance the layout I glued some "sweaty" pink glitter embellishments around the upside down figure on the right side.

The page lends itself to speak about how Opposites Attract or the Yin and Yang philosophy. I won't know really what the outcome will be until I start to add the text... so you'll have to wait and see as the "Process of Becoming" continues.

Enjoy:-)

Sandra

Thanks for the comments ladies - I love the interaction online! Now I'm off to volunteer at the farm.

PSS

In case you were wondering I work at a public school and am off for the summer - that's how I manage the time to do art each day and post etc... It's a great way to spend my summer days!

Three Page Spread (pages 4, 5, 6) - Used GOLDEN fluid acrylics, 3D glitter embellishments, magazine images, various scrap paper designs and recycled junk mail.

Welcome Little Glimpses Studio Artist!

2011-07-04T23:51:00.001-04:00

Just invited my friends from one of my art communities to join in on "30 Days of Get Your Art On" with Traci Brunkers (click on badge on the right for more details or read my Day 1 blog below to join).

For readers new to the Little Glimpses Studio click on this link below to view my page or click on the badge on the right to go to the main home page to join the group. http://littleglimpsesstudio.ning.com/profile/SandraGranthon

Mystele is the host and she is fantastic! Check out this link to one of her many inspiring youtube videos. http://www.youtube.com/user/littleglimpses

As always enjoy;-)
Sandra

Happy 4th of July with Art - Day 4

2011-07-04T14:24:00.002-04:00

Happy 4th of July! This morning I decided to tackle an inside flap which opens to page 3 of my art journal "Process of Becoming". While exploring my image stash (I precut images and store them in color related baggies - this makes the collage layout process much quicker) I found this great picture of a female body... I'm working on losing some weight this summer and this picture just called out FREEDOM from body image... with her full curves and arms up in the air. Enjoy;-)

Now for something different - Day 3

2011-07-03T19:29:00.002-04:00

Okay, so today is Sunday the day before the 4th of July and I've been busy with family gatherings and taking advantage of the lovely summer weather with a bike ride at a nearby bike trail.

Ahhh, what a wonderful summer evening. So instead of working on my art journal in my small attic studio I've gone mobile with my sketch book and lap top to practice my drawing skills.

Below is my offering for day 3. Although I love spending hours creating in the attic I have to admit it is nice to get out and get moving. Happy 4th of July!

Enjoy;-)

Making new friends! - Day 2

2011-07-02T13:55:00.005-04:00

ArtiphyTheHeart - Barbara Hagerty!

WOW!! I <3 your art journal pages. Thanks for your interest in my blog.

I also follow and love Mary Ann Moss (looking to save money to take her Remains of the Day workshop) and Teesha Moore - how much fun it is to play and be inspired by these women and many, many more on such diverse online artist communities.

Thanks Traci, again for creating an opportunity for me to be fearless and become active in the storytelling art community - not just a viewer.

I look forward to sharing and learning from all my new blogger friends;-)

As Barbara put it "here is my offering for the day" the next spread in my "Process of Becoming" art journal.

This art journal is inspired by the many youtube videos posting by Teesha Moore http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07Aadcfmpwc.

Enjoy,
Sandra

30 Days of Get Your Art On! starts today

2011-07-01T17:53:00.005-04:00

Okay, so I love the design style of Traci Bunkers and follow her blog to keep myself pumped to do art as much as possible. Just recently she put out the challenge of committing herself and her followers to blog "30 Days of Get Your Art On!" starting July 1st - TODAY!!

Click on her button on the right for more details - this is my first attempt at blogging and I don't want to start off long winded;-)

I am following Traci's rules see details below:

I’ll make art every day for 30 days and post what I have done.
I don’t have to finish what ever I’m working on that day, I just have to work on something.
I have to work for 30 minutes, but can work longer if time permits.
It doesn’t matter what I do for the art making, as long as I work on art.
I won’t feel guilty for taking the time to work on art and I won’t have to justify why I’m doing it.
I don’t have to go into detail in my post about how I did anything or what tools, materials I used (unless I want to).

July 1, 2011 - DAY 1
This is the cover for a new art journal I am starting titled "Process of Becoming". Collage mix media on watercolor paper 120lb cold press.
Enjoy;-)