Patina

Sometimes life gets cumbersome. The cares of this world crowd out what is important ... what is vital ... what gifts God provides to make the soul sing.

In order to overcome the the tyranny of the urgent, I decided to look for - with eyes and heart - moments of loveliness in my life. 

This is day one.

Patina

The glory of young men is their strength: and the beauty of old men is the gray head. Proverbs 20:29

The beauty of November

November in Michigan ...

•  the trees have flung most of their leaves in crunchy heaps on the ground.
• the days are cooler and the nights can be downright COLD!
• we know, oh how we know, that winter winds and snow and bitter cold are just around the corner.

But in spite of the raking and shivering and dread that curbs our enthusiasm for November, there are beautiful things that happen. And occasionally, they are captured in full color.

That sky! The last stubborn leaves that just won't let go. The promise of milkweed for years to come.

...Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Matthew 6:28-29

Splatters and flower frogs

Sometimes the conventional wisdom doesn't work.

A few of the conventional ways to get paint splatters on artwork are:

1. Use a toothbrush or stiff bristle brush and pull your finger across the bristles. Bristles up or down... your choice. 
2. Dip a small paintbrush in paint. Hold the brush a few inches above the surface to be splattered - parallel to that surface - and and tap the handle against a pencil or the finger of your other hand.
3. Dip a straw into your paint and then blow through the straw. 

The nice thing about splatters are that they are unpredictable. The bad thing about splatters is that they are unpredictable.

If you are trying to make them happen in close proximity to text ... yikes. Unpredictable is not good. So what's a person to do? Improvise...

Meet my perfect supposed-to-look-like-snowflakes-among-the-tree-branches tool.
 

An old, rusty, and obviously much used flower frog. No doubt this is the first time that it has been used for paint, but  now that I know what can be accomplished ... it won't be the last time! It produced everything I needed - controlled splatter, texture, speed!
 

I am looking at my collection with fresh eyes. I wonder... ?

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Psalm 46:1

Coils and punches, paper and glue!

I'm really enjoying this venture into book making. I like what has happened so far, but my goal at the moment is to have spiral bound blank pages in a hard cover.... preferably one of the old book covers that seem to accumulate around here.

So I pulled out my coil binding machine, ordered coils large enough to accommodate my desired number of pages, and went to work on a small trial version. I decided to make it a sketchbook - one that I could give as a gift - if it turned out. 

The covers are cut from a lightweight cardboard box that is covered with gel-plate printed, crumpled and flattened, kraft paper.

 

Plan A was to punch the cardboard covers with my Rubicoil. Plan B, I discovered, involved using my beloved hand punch and achieving a 4:1 punch pattern very very carefully.

The Rubicoil was perfect for punching the hand cut stack of watercolor paper and colored card stock (including a few collaged with old dictionary pages)..... as long as I didn't try to do too many at once. After that it was a matter of twisting the coil through the papers and covers, cutting the coil just right, finished!

collaged page

front cover - inside

I can't say this was easy. There were soooo many miscalculations and mistakes. But in the end, I just love this little book. It's beautiful. The spiral works just like it should. 

Will I be able to transfer all of this experience into the spiral-bound-hard-covered-book of my dreams? Hmm. Time will tell. Right now? I'm happy. 

Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. Philippians1:6

Another Journal

I finished another journal a couple of weeks ago. Yesterday was the day of delivery.

The cover was part of my Hollander's haul. Every square inch a beautiful piece of paper. This was just a corner.

 

The inside cover with a verse to inspire and encourage. 

 

I made an envelope (a learning experience from resizing the pattern to making sure stripes were straight) for holding, ummm, I don't know! She can decide!!!

 

Another decorative paper page in among the vintage ledger paper. A happy page.

 

The back cover -cut from the same piece of paper but so different. 

 

I do love to make these books. I already have more book boards are cut and ready to go ... but I also have cards that I need to finish. Too much fun for a single human to deal with!

Delight thyself also in the Lord; and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Psalm 37:4

Change

Notes to self:

1. Nothing stays the same.
2. Be genuinely interested in the people around you.
3. It's not about you.
4. Learn to do things ... and don't ever stop learning.
5. Love the Lord with all your heart and mind and soul.
6. Find a reason to be thankful ... no matter what is happening.
7. Growing old can be beautiful. 

Clematis vine in my yard late May -

The same vine this week -

Oh so different, but such a joy to discover.

The meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. Psalm 37:11

Mission accomplished

My big project for last week was to make a journal. I made a similar book for myself a couple of years ago, so this was a bit of a rerun, but different enough to require checking the instructions often.

Cover paper is handmade paper from Hollanders. 

Inside pages are vintage ledger paper cut to size. The pages are as different from each other as possible - accomplished by individually cutting each piece of paper in order to move the numbers, headers and footers around.

I even found a way to include one of my favorite prints from my gelatin plate. A fun way to end the book.

The best part of the project is that it was a request from my grandson. He needed a journal for notes from his Bible study. This made the effort pure joy.

Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word. Psalm 119:9

Duties and delights

There are times when the duties and responsibilities of life - even when it isn't your own life - seem to crush any creative thoughts.

The moments for paint, paper, fingers sticky with gel mediums ... beauty(!)... are crowded out by decisions regarding nursing homes, wheelchairs, and money. The serious nature of the latter pushes out the sheer joy of the former.

But I have discovered in recent months, that the creative spirit is a force that will not be squelched by overwhelming duties. How do I know?

The meals around this house have been as varied as the colors in my paint box. Creativity will seep through, like flood waters that will not be held back.

Life is beginning to return to normal here. There is time to look around, and be astonished, and enjoy the beauty of God's amazing creation. It was always there. I just forgot to pay attention.

Silly me.

Rejoice evermore. I Thessalonians 5:16

Thrifty homemade helpers

When my dearly beloved and I travel, we love to shop antique, thrift and junk stores. He has treasures that he hunts and I just hunt.

Most of my hunting consists of finding things to use in my art. One thing I love is the old wood handled message stamps once used by businesses. My growing collection has made me long for a rotating holder to keep them all in one location. It was hard to contain my reserved, cool exterior when I found this treasure. Best of all, it came with 4 stamps and cost $8.

 Happy ... that's what I am. Well... happy and organized.

A week later, another city, another store, I found this stamp with its ominous warning from a nameless insurance company. For $1 I could not resist adding it to my new holder.

I love the look of the small font text, but the message was too blatant. There had to be a way to push the message to the background without doing damage the stamp. So... I taped together - in random fashion - a few of the little scraps of paper ... 

used them as a mask and "yay!"... the fading of the You-are-hereby-cancelled message.

 

And, while I was finding uses for little scraps of paper, I discovered that punching squares makes quite an interesting, not quite so factory perfect, mini stencil. When I wear this out, I know just where to get a new one! Best of all, I can use this on anything without buying permission.

 

It's personally encouraging to make something that is completely original, your own brain-child. Makes me want to do it again.

A man's heart deviseth his way: but the Lord directeth his steps. Proverbs 16:9

A little paint here, a little ink there...

I have a pile of papers that have "art" on them, but not art that is good enough to stand alone. It just needs help. Like this pear...
 

The shape wasn't bad. It was the colors that just weren't right. I had nothing to lose, so I started painting out the background with white... and then blue, several different blues. It was getting better. I added a little stamping...

and then I went with some of the little tricks that add depth and interest to blah. The piece was getting better.
 

I used my white pen to line a few details. Love that pen.

And finally, it made me happy enough to use it for some guerrilla art.

 Yep... it's pretty good. I like it.

The value of viewfinders

It's hard to explain. More than sometimes, but less than often, I can spend a day covering paper with color. It's fun, but it's also frustrating, because I don't have any final products that are good. They're just kinda' ... colorful.

Like this group... I look at them and think, and the point would be?

 

At times like this, I pull out some of my favorite tools - my viewfinders.

 

These hand cut gems are worth their weight in gold. They can be tilted or moved vertically and horizontally around the questionable piece of art to block out distracting extras and allow the eye to focus on only what shows through the window. This allows me to find usable colors, shapes or objects in an otherwise throw-away piece of work. 

So I worked over this... 

and this...

 

and sent both pieces to the Photoshop chopping block. 

This is the final result... a blending of the two pieces. The pear was cropped and flipped. The "t" art yielded the colors on the right.

 

 I added a few more embellishments to each printed copy - stamped handmade paper strips, marks made with various paints and inks - just to make each card front unique. (A tip of the hat to
Seth Apter who taught me that enough is never enough. There are always more little marks to be added.) Each of the final two pictures were taken under different lighting. Hence the change in colors.

  

 

I'm happy. I love taking the not-so-great and making them usable. Practical does have its place in life after all.

Rejoice evermore.    I Thessalonians 5:16

Pantone, Peotone, and the world of color

No doubt you've seen the Pantone brand. The company has been around for many years and describes themselves as the world-renowned authority on color and provider of color systems and leading technology for the selection and accurate communication of color across a variety of industries. If you ever had any question about any color ... go here.
 
Pantone came to my mind last week as we traveled through northeastern Illinois. Most of our driving was through small and medium towns filled with homes typical of the Midwest... nothing out of the ordinary. Pantone experts obviously don't exert their influence in small town farm communities.  

But then we drove into Peotone, IL (pop. 4, 142). I instantly thought of Pantone, and looked around for color!

 

Alas, there was none to be found ... until we turned the corner and got closer to downtown. Suddenly brilliant colors broke loose!

 

 

I think I captured the most brilliant bursts of color in this small town. Each bright building made me wonder who took the first bold step? Who is the brave soul that chose that particular green to cover such a very large building? Did alarmed neighbors call the mayor to object? Is this just the beginning of a trend as little Peotone, in the shadow of Chicago, strives for attention? 

And then for the most pressing question ... how do the residents pronounce Peotone?

Blessed are they that dwell in Thy house: they will be still praising Thee. Selah. Psalm 84:4

Oh, and by the way... Happy 8th birthday to cHim Prints! Yay! Still here.

January 2016

I love this blog. I can log all of the things that make me who I am ... a record of little events that get buried by important things. If it were not for cHim Prints, would I remember this? Or this? 

So here I am again, determined.

Happy January to you!

... for He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear... Hebrews 13:5-6