lara

Some of my favorite pieces from 2015.
This was a hard year of ups and downs, the 2nd half, mostly downs. While i was not prolific by any means i did create a couple of things i'm pretty proud of:

Combining the Gelli print with the found objects on this wood canvas was just about my most favoritist thing i've ever created.

This was this year's Bono's Birthday card. Handed to him in NYC :)

Another mixed media piece that brought me so much joy. Combining the layers of Gelli prints was the perfect wabi sabi combination.

This was an art journal page - finally found a visual interpretation of one of my favorite U2 lyrics.

I had always envisioned trying to use all the bits in my craft room and this pretty much did it!

This piece was made for my mother with Roses her aunt had sent for her and my dad's 50th anniversary. Again, i was able to create a wabi sabi environment using crackle paint, Gelli prints and bits of ribbon.

I had 6 days off around xmas and wanted to be crafty but felt uninspired. Then one morning i woke up with the idea of Gelli printing my own wrapping paper. That led into wrapping the presents and realizing i could also make my own ribbons. Pretty kinda genius :)

Not a color i use often - green. This background started out as a rag i had used to clean up some splatter or paint or something. Then i kept in the color palette and finished it up with one my favorite themes - Fear. Change brings growth and that is something that definately should not be feared!




This has been in progress for months now as far as it's a page i wipe off my brush or brayer when it has purples on it. I pulled it together with some stencilling, stamping and ink spray.
This quote is pretty special to me. I've met my hero twice now - Bono - the first time i met him he called me an artist when i handed him a card. This last time he said "I love your stuff" when i handed him another card. I have such a stubborn mental block regarding calling myself an artist and even admitting i have any kind of creative talent. It's hard to think through why - maybe its because i admire artists so much and i still have self accceptance issues, maybe its because artists should do things no one else has done before and i feel like all my stuff is completely derivative of something else. But obviously it's who i'm not thats holding me back from really exploring and accepting myself as an artist!




This last page is an ongoing experimentation with different mists at different times. I decided to keep some white space and make it a finished page. I go through periods of listening to certain artists or music genre's on repeat and lately it's been Pink Floyd (again). And i believe "Turning Away" is my absolutely favorite song by them. I thought the page was somewhat exuberant and this verse culminates the song into action from observation. Damn i love singing it at the top of my lungs! It makes my heart swell.

Not sure where to begin with this journal page because i love it so much. I can't believe it turned out better than i ever could have imagined when i started and i've already started "transferring" it to an 18" x 24" canvas.

OK, so this layout was inspired by the challenge over at Documented Life Project:

Art Challenge: Under Paper (paper on your work table that gets all inky while you work) Journal Prompt: What Lies Beneath?

There's a couple of different under paper type things happening on this one that i think resulted in the amazing layers. First, i used the open spread to roll excess paint off my brayer when i was making some Gelli Prints. Over that, however, is wax paper that i've been using between pages of the journal when i work. As you can see it's collected ALOT of excess paint on the sides, so after i glued it down it really formed a frame. I haven't used wax paper as a layer in a very long time and i'm not sure why. It adds depth as well as texture!

Serendipity played a roll in the direction this page took as i was listening to my Spotify U2 mix and the song Zooropa started. I have a very strong attachment to this song and have actually wanted to do an art homage to it at some point but could never quite figure out how to honor it. I listened to it on repeat riding the El Subway in Chicago for hours on end during a very dark time in my life. The darkness of the layout with the hint of light, and then adding the quote pulls it together perfectly.

     

Why, this is another layout i'm quite happy with!

Art Challenge: Repeating Elements
Journal Prompt: It's Worth Repeating

I started this spread out by using Black Gesso to get rid of the blank page. I then chose three stamps and used three color of paints and just stamped, or repeated, across the entire spread. Then i cut a couple of hearts out of some set aside Gelli Prints and voila.

When i thought about the concept "Its worth repeating" i thought about how i've been able to make it a habit to go to the gym 5 days a week for the last couple of months as well as eat better. It's probably the main focus of my life right now. So the quote came from that concept.

In an effort to art journal even more in a way that is actually journalling - i.e. document my life's ups and downs, i've joined the Documented Life Project which is a weekly prompt blog. At first i was stumbling over what to use - to make my own journal, to use loose papers, or buy a journal, and i decided in the end to buy a journal and so far it's working quite well. It appears to be a Moleskine but it's actually made by a company called Stillman & Birn and after three spreads created with a plethora of multimedia items including sprays and lots of mod podge it apears to be holding up better than Moleskine. This first spread's Art Challenge is: The Color Wheel Journal Prompt: "I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way . . . “ - Georgia O’Keeffe I've actually been thinking of doing a page like this for years since i have a small collection of old Pantone books i've collected from various jobs. And since i'm in the graphic industry our language of color revolves around the Pantone Matching System (or PMS) so really it's like my color wheel. Awhile ago i was emailing with a friend, who is also a graphic designer, and i mentioned "today i'm just feeling really PMS 432" which is a dark grey color. We got a good laugh out of what nerds we are and it kind of became a thing to every so often call out what PMS spot color we were feeling that day. The day i made this spread i was feeling OMS 115 - a bright yellow. Good day :) This spreads Art Challenge: Book Paper Journal Prompt: Be Your Own Goal Keeper Wow, this spread really went ALL OVER THE PLACE until i finally called it done. You can't really tell, but it started out with a layer of book paper glued to the blank page. Though you can't see the printing on the paper anymore, you can still see some of the texture it left from where i tore it and glued it. There's a whole crapload of layers on this thing - i kept not liking outcomes and tried to cover it up. There's some light molding paste through a stencil, also some gesso slapped on there, so in real life there's actually a ton of texture. But then i kind of just went ballistic with Dylusion Sprays and stamps and when it looked i couldn't save it no more, i took a brayer with some black acrylic paint on it and rolled it over the top. Because of all the texture from the Gesso and paste it didn't go on evenly letting paint show through the vally's. To pull a little more color out i scraped some of the black off also, then stamped a little on top. To finish it off i took these two quotes i had cut out from magazines to dictate my current goal which is ALWAYS on my mind, and it sounds simple buy holy shit is it not - health. Physical health, mental health. This spreads Art Challenge: Gesso Journal Prompt: “The beginning is always today.” -Mary Shelley Another multi-layered one. And i learned something super duper valuable!!! I started the page out by putting Gesso through stencils. I've done that before, however what i had NOT done before, was then spray over it after it was dry with Dylusions Ink Sprays. it deflected the spray! Needless to say i will be using this technique mucho more times. After the first layer of spray i took another stencil and sprayed over that with some other colors. Then i took some acrylic paints and stamped on it and finally took some Gesso and spread it across the middle so i could write something without it being too obscured. The Gesso picked up some of the spray which is how it turned blue. Obviously the quote is from the prompt but really made it come alive was that morning i had decided to try a yoga class at the gym. It centered me nicely, actually, and just reminded me too live in the present, today.

A couple of recent art journal pages ... appears i've been doing alot of self reflection about my health the last couple of months!!

This is a rarity in my art journal - rarely do i write out words like this but i just needed to get it down like a diary cause images may not remind me in the years to come all the things i wanted to say!

Seems like such a "plain" page for me even though there are several layers of paint and stencils and ink!



This one is a particularly smelly one, and although the look of nail polish splattered on a page looks pretty darn awesome, the after smell is pretty rank and doesnt really seem to go away... note to self!!!



I had no idea what this was going to be as i was adding elements until somehow these certain word strips just kind of came to the top of the pile. I realized what a journey the last couple of years have been. pretty unpredictable, very educational... for some reason this page really makes me think of the Chemical Brothers song "The Golden Path"







Just some words of inspiration found on pinterest and taken to heart to get my ass moving!

This is one of my favorites now. I found this quote one day on facebook and already had the background done without the white splotches and start stamping. When i saw the quote i knew where it had to live. And it rings so true for me. The balance of life, experiences, emotions. I love the way the colors are dark with peaks of bright.

I finished it off with the white splotches with the Dylusions Spray Ink in White. Worked perfectly!



All the paint layers added some really interesting texture!
Obviously, Im still loving these painted layer backgrounds i've been exploring.
90% are made from cleaning my brayer between Gelli plate layers :)




A topic i keep revisiting is fear, and on this day it occurred to me one of biggest fears on a day to day basis (besides snakes and a loved one dying) is failure. I feel like i am constantly working towards something successful but quit at the last minute. Am i afraid to succeed or fail is the question. Seth Apter's stencils pulled this one all together.




The background on this page truly is a catch all for cleaning my shit off. Whether is be cleaning a stencil of extra paint, using excess paint through some punchinella or another stencil so not to waste it. its been a couple of months in the making and was so dark and chaotic i didnt know how i could ever use it.

For the last two months i've been sidelined by some internal health issues which has basically put me back at step zero at the gym. And i was doing really well for about six months, going to bootcamps 3-4 times a week. But now that i am starting back i find i have lost so much of my strength and conditioning. Like an insane amount of conditioning and it feels horrible and some days even impedes me from wanting to get up and work out.

I took some photos of myself boxing to see just how crappy i look and whether it looks like a joke that i am even attempting to box, but after i saw a couple of the photos (not all mind you), i thought to myself "this fatty can kick some ass!" I got on pinterest as i have been doing to look for motivational fitness quotes and found the perfect one for where i am at "everything is hard before it's easy" because thats exactly how it feels every time i step foot into the gym. I made my own meme with one of the boxing photos. And so it wouldnt just live on my computer or on facebook, i printed it and incorporated it into this page. That target in the center works perfectly.




Lastly a vertical page, which i rarely rarely do! This was mostly to test out the Dylusions sprays through different stencils. Again, the words jumped out at me one day and i wrote them down to remember them. I was able to mask the area off and stencil around them. Again, with the fear... but more importantly ... again with the hopes and dreams!

I am continuing to explore layers of acrylic paints and gelli prints in my art journal. Each of these pages started out as a place to clean my brayer off of between Gelli Prints. When i thought it was good and layered i added some additional highlighting of areas and a quote that inspires me.
 

This guy used some Dylusions ink over the top. After i was done, the only word i could think of was Gratitude. The colors and the movement made me feel pretty elated and right now in my life i feel so much gratitude to so many people.
 

Exploring texture and dylusions inks some more. Can you believe i just started using these brilliant things?! Scraps of paper were glued to the background, some braile scraps too and then stencils were used with light molding paste. After it was all dry i kinda went spray crazy! I only used three colors - yellow, pink and blue, and i love the way they all combined to create other colors of the color wheel!
 

Finally, a more subdued page expressing emotions i've recently discovered i had. Lots of painty layers with stamps and ink over it!

Gauche Alchemy is now having monthly challenges which I am taking part of! This month, our inspiration is Frida Kahlo.

I've got to admit, I've never actually really looked at her stuff with an artistic eye. For me it's just always been "ok portraits moving on..." (as i usually am attracted more to abstract).

However after looking at her paintings and reading quotes from her and about her life, well, i really love how strong and bold and unique and passionate she is. My art journal page just had to reflect that!




I decided to do some experimentation which worked out so incredibly well i cant wait to do more. I chose a page in my art journal that was started but completely undone and well just kinda crappy. I stenciled over it with glass bead gel from Golden. As you can see, the gel holds the stencil lines incredibly well! I then sprayed over it with three Dylusions sprays to make the beautiful mess it turned out to be: turquoise, yellow and pink. I also gave it a very very light sprtizing of bronze glimmer mist to make it shimmer a bit more.

It's so 3D and tactile, its such a joy to touch and reflect on.




I already knew what words i wanted to put on there. Words that not only described Ms Kahlo but incorporated a word i've been doing alot of thinking and art around - fear. And in this case fearless.

I bought my first moleskine journal to try art journalling in. For years I've seen others use these and wondered what the hoopla was about. I have always made my own art journals and had no problem but i still wanted to see what a hard binded journal would hold up to.



I've been using this primarily, so far, as a receptacle for the acrylic paint i roll of my brayer after using my current obsession, the Gelli Plate. I've also been cleaning off stencils and stamps, and adhering stencils i cut out of paper - all used with the gelli plate on these pages.



This last page is not in the moleskine journal, and it's a Gelli Print

This page came about after i started to lose my way, my confidence, my self worth... i just kept repeating the word "refocus" over and over in my head, without really thinking about it...



To tag onto that earlier thought ... the photo i took after a particularly rewarding and liberating boxing session at the gym. I wanted to capture the sweat and the attitude. The Gelli Print behind it was one that had actually gone pretty south - i just did too many layers, yet i didn't want to throw it away. The chaos of it works well with the sentiment!



Well, if these pages don't tell a story of how a week in my life went ... this background is actually a piece of paper i used to clean my brayer, stamps and stencils off between prints. These papers are almost more interesting to me than the Gelli Prints!



And, yes, to end on the optimistic note... i love this sentiment. We are a sum of our experiences, postive and negative - both are needed to feel the other.

As i had known, i've ended up with stacks of Gelli prints! And what better way to use them is to make some art journal pages!

I'm trying something new with the art journal - making the pages and then binding them together at a later date. This is so i can more easily use the Gelli Prints. Question is, how to bind them... but i'm sure i'll figure that out at some point!

So... i got me a Gelli plate a couple of weeks ago and I'm finally starting to figure out how to get results that make me go all squishy inside! And it's true ... now i have like a couple of dozen sheets of prints just waiting for me to do something with them ... but what? It's almost worse than blank white page syndrome...

But this "Believe" print is the first i've done where i'm just completely enamoured with the results and i have no idea how i even got them other than lots of layers, addition and subtraction.



This is one of the very first ones i did. It's pretty cool too - i used too much paint but that made for cool texture (if you see it in person). I put some washi tape on it, mostly to have somewhere to put the quote. This has been my greatest challenge so far - the gelli prints are all so detailed and covered, i can't figure out how to bring them to the next stage of art journalling or canvas art. But, no fear, i will!

And now for something completely different...



This was inspired by the LifeBook2014 workshop I'm taking - using white space. Laughing my ass off here, cause anyone who knows me knows i'm not really adept at using white space. It's not that i fear it, it's just that i tend to cover the hell out of everything i do with paint and texture. So this was done with some sprays, very simple, and the U2 quote from "Love is Blindness" fits the sentiment perfectly! But when can't i find the perfect U2 quote? Hahahaha.

 This is for a prompt from A Year in the Life of an Art Journal blog using a U2 lyric. The prompt was to draw lips, however, i'm a horrible horrible drawer and at first that was blocking me from doing anything so i decided to just do what i know and use collage so as to not to stress out over it. The background had been created at some point as i was testing some new spray colors i had made. Never let anything go to waste is my motto!

 

 Some vertical layouts that are all over the place when put together as a collection! WOW. And look at all the found objects thanks to Gauche Alchemy i was able to work in!  hahaha

I love this magazine illustration, i've been coveting it for awhile now and finally just slapped it on down. The background was made with vaseline and acrylic paint and i discovered something so cool it gave me the giggles - put the stencil over the vaseline then when the paint dries you can move the little bits around!!!!!! OEMGEEEE.

 

 I've also been experimenting with my neeeeeew sewing machine which i'm obviously still trying to get the hang of. But isnt that what an art journal is for?

This art journal page was a prompt from LifeBook 2014 that i am participating in. The prompt was to choose 3 materials i like and use my word for the year. This page turned out pretty awesome but it was a long time coming! Truth be told i almost threw it away 4 times because of that damn background. I went way overboard adding things to make it better and my final attempt involved a technique i don't do often at all - taking some baby wipes and just rubbing the shit outta it to see what disappears. And apparently that really did the trick because it turned out very visually stimulating.



My three things are the sheet music, punchinella and burlap. Also on there for visual strength is paper towel i soaked in pink paint, washi tape holding some tears together i made by mistake trying to distress the edges and, of course, letter beads with grommets and floss.



Apparently i was attracted to green this last week after my stretch of orange love. This background was made by a couple of different layers of greens and golds and stencil used with molding paste. It's very very 3D and fun to touch.




After my first successful fail with the baby wipes i attempted the same type of background again, and again it looks AWESOMEness. I've been exploring the concept of fear ALOT in this art journal and this quote really seemed to work with the chaos of the background and what it represents in my head. i added the flower on there to break it up with some peace and stillness.