Italian Mural

A good friend of mine who is a fitness instructor was kind enough to let me attend one of her "boot camp" sessions for free last spring. I really felt a need to give back to her in some way, so when she mentioned she was wanting to have a mural of some sort painted on her bathroom wall, I said casually, "I could probably do that for you", even though I had never painted a mural of the kind she wanted before! I had a blast doing this for her and learned a lot in the process. Nice to be able to add it to my portfolio :o)

PEACE

So far, my least favorite art journal pages. Oh, well. Guess you can't love 'em all. A sweet friend the other day (who has no idea I art journal) said to me in an email "I am praying peace in the waiting for you...". Little did she know that my last two art journal prompts were "WAIT" and "PEACE". I thought about tying the two pages together somehow, but nothing came to me.

WAIT

Oh, the irony of the prompt. I wish this didn't hit so close to home right now, but it does. I am growing weary in the waiting.

INDULGENCE

Here's the latest art journal prompt. I thought I wasn't going to be able to anything with this word initially. I just simply wasn't inspired. I looked up the word on wikipedia and learned for the first time the Catholic meaning of the word. Quite intriguing and interesting. It really had me thinking and I was ultimately in utter disbelief that such a thing ever even existed. However, I knew this wasn't the traditional, common meaning that Lee Ann had intended the word to evoke in us. I began to make a list in my head ( I know, it's supposed to be a journal so I should've made the list on paper ) of all the things I indulge in from time to time. A cherry vanilla Dr. Pepper with extra ice from Sonic. Ice. Lots and lots of ice. Yes, I have an addiction to crushed ice, particularly Sonic ice, I eat it by the cupfuls daily. A massage. A pedicure. A new haircut/color/style. Having my eyebrows waxed. Having coffee with a friend - not just any coffee, but a pumpkin spice latte with whip. Chocolate Cake. Brownies with whipped cream on top or homemade vanilla ice cream. Devouring every single page of a decorating or art magazine. Playing trio pro for an hour on my son's itouch. A long, hot, bubble bath with candles and a glass of wine. Ahhhhhh - indulgence. What I kept coming back around to was an image of a beautifully decorated spa. I rummaged through my art/craft/fabric closet and was instantly inspired. I used acrylic paints, glitter, fabric, an old postcard ( I have a little collection of fashion postcards from college - I was a fashion design major - so glad to finally have used this in a manner worthy of its beauty ), a gold paint pen, glue, a tassel waiting to be used, and some old tulle leftover from my wedding 14 years ago. Actually, almost all of the fabric are scraps from my wedding. So....if I was ever hired to decorate a spa, I think I'd start here.

A collaborative

This painting has a great story. It originally was another ptg I did in my ptg class in college. It was birthed out of a very difficult time I was going through emotionally and was dealing with a lot of confusion. The original was very dark, chaotic, and messy. Central to its' theme was a question mark. Again, it sat in storage for many years, hated and un-liked. The great thing about paintings is that you can always paint over them. I gave my son, Aidan, who was really wanting to try his hand at painting, permission to paint over it and use it at will. He did a great ptg of a sword but was ultimately unhappy with it and did not want to display it in his room. I asked him if I could use it because I had a great idea to cover it with an awesome piece of fabric I forgot I had in my sewing/craft/art closet. However, as I was finishing up my "Amor" ptg, pictured below, Olivia really wanted to "help me paint". I told her that she couldn't paint on my painting, but that she could have fun with the old canvas that Aidan and I had "collaborated" on. She thoroughly impressed me with the outcome of her painting!! So much so, that I hung it in my bathroom. What do you think? A future Picasso?

More of Amor

Amor

I recently finished the first painting I've done in about 2 years. I was inspired a long time ago to paint a painting for mine and my husband's bedroom, believe it or not, by some cheesecloth that my MIL had bought for me in Bolivia. I love cheesecloth and had originally intended to use it on the walls of my guest bathroom. When we decided to move forward with plans to go to the mission field full time, however, I began readying the house for the market. Cheesecloth on the walls is probably not very "buyer friendly" so I painting them a boring beige (which has obviously still not proved to be "buyer friendly"). I then had the thought of using it on a painting - that was over a year ago. Like I told you in my initial post, I have very little time and space to paint so whenever I complete any kind of artwork I am so pleased, happy, and fulfilled! I used an old canvas from my painting class I took in college that's been sitting in my garage, gathering dirt and spiderwebs and staring out at me with an ugly Paraguayan masked face. It was actually a painting that I did for an assignment and I absolutely hated it, yet it my art teacher's favorite piece of mine!! I've always had every intention of painting over it and now I am so glad that I did! For the sake of nostalgia, I took a photo of the old ptg. and I am posting it here, along with the new and improved use of the canvas! Please, I'd love to hear any feedback or critique of the work. (Both old and new ;o) )

CHOCOLATE

I can't really say too much about this page. Simply that "Te quiero mucho, el chocolate!!!" Mmmmmm.....I had a blast with the collage elements of this page. Always has been one of my favorite things to do - go through magazines, cutting out images that I love and that inspire me.

My Favorite Element

I was unable to add this pic with the others, but it really should stand alone. It's my all time favorite element so far in all my art journaling pages. I love my little swirly compass rose!

MOVE

This was the first prompt for the art journaling group I'm a part of. I loved this prompt, as it's a subject which I've devoted a lot of thought to over the past two years or so. God has been moving in our hearts to go - to move - to be displaced. We have been in preparation to move to Bolivia to do mission work and the last major step is selling our home here. It has been a long wait (6 months) but we are trying to be patient and wait for God to bring a buyer or leaser. It is a rough time to be selling a home, but we also know that God is bigger than the bad real estate market. He knows what he's doing. His timing is perfect. He's never late! If you'd like to learn more about our journey to the mission field, please visit www.theballews.org.

TRUST

The prompt, obviously, for this page was Trust. This was easy for me. I immediately
thought of trusting in God for everything in my life. The story of Peter in the boat, calling out to Jesus is a beautiful example of trust. Jesus walked out to the disciples who were fishing in the boat - yes, on the water if you don't know the story! Peter said, "Lord, if it's you, tell me to come to you!" He was completely trusting that the Lord was going to empower him to walk on the water, too! However, as he was walking towards Jesus, he looked down and began to fear. He lost focus, lost trust, and began to sink. I am so like Peter, waivering between trust and fear constantly.

SPACE

The prompt for this page was SPACE. Initially, I was completely uninspired at what to do. All I could think of was outer space - you know, stars, planets, galaxies, the atmosphere, astronauts, blackness...This didn't really help in figuring out what to do. Then I had the realization that space is something I love! Not space, the final frontier, but space, as in EMPTY space. A void, a blank page, a white wall. I love empty spaces! One of my favorite things to do in life is decorate empty spaces - paint a wall, decorate a room, fill a page with beautiful pictures or writing. My internal self is not happy if the space I am living in is not aesthetically pleasing to my senses. So, I simply filled these pages with things that I love, colors that fill my life, images that make me smile. I hope you like it!

Artworks Created

I've had several people tell me over the years that I should start a website/blog showcasing my artwork. I have hesitated mainly because I do not have a plethera of work to show. Art is simply not something I've had a lot of time to do over the past 14 years. My priorities have been my husband, my home, and my children. They have been my art, my blank canvases, my empty spaces. I have created several paintings, however, some for my family and some for others. I have actually had the pleasure of doing a few commissioned works for friends at church which has given me much satisfaction! For many years I led the stage design team at my church and helped design and create aesthetically pleasing stage backdrops and props. If I can find any photos of these, I will post them here. My goal is to have photos of all the art I have created over the years in one place - somewhat like a portfolio of sorts. Again, I have met many people that say, when they find out that I am an artist, "Oh! I'd love to see your work, where can I take a look?" Here is where I can finally point them to, instead of inviting them over to my house to look at my little personal gallery :o) For a short while, I was creating "surrender boxes" which were inspired by an art therapist I was seeing at the time. These are cigar boxes laden with paint, decoupage, and collage - used to hold prayers and things in our lives which we are surrendering to God. They are also little beautiful pieces of artwork to set on your shelves. Again, I will post photos, and possibly be inspired to make some more! Another thing I absolutely adore doing, but have had very little time or opportunity to do, is make jewelry. I took a metal-smith/jewelry making class in college and had a ton of fun. Most of the jewelry I've made since then, however, is not the kind you make with torch and flux as I did then, but with beads and wire. These techniques I learned several years ago through a dear friend from a bible study I was in. We would have "jewelry making parties" and I'm pretty proud of the pieces I created. Most recently, besides finishing a painting, I have been newly inspired to create an art journal. A cousin of mine began an art journaling group on facebook and invited me to join. She gives us a prompt each week and we are to create a page inspired by the prompt. I'll also be posting the photos of my pages here. They are ultimately little glimpses of my life on paper and I really hope to develop my talents and techniques of journaling, lettering, and collage as a result of this experience.
Lastly, my hope for this blog is to possibly inspire others to create art. Creating and making things with your hands that are beautiful is so fulfilling and freeing. It is a wonderful way to express yourself and release tension and stress in your life. So, go create something today. Make art. Paint. Draw. Build. Color.