Friday, August 8, 2008

a week's worth...

inspired by jackie at art4moi, i made the leap and started soul journaling this week. miss independent, i-do-my-own-thing is harrumphing in the background, but i'm ignoring her.



before i started following sarah's prompts, i did this little piece on st. armand paper.



the back side... from now on i'm going to stick photographs on the back side of paintings instead of doing a painting on each side. i like the mixture of paintings and photos. although now that i'm doing the soul journaling, i don't know how that'll work out.



sarah's first prompt was to create our 'soul armour'. as you can see, peace and love are all i need for protection -- except for that little bit of flame coming out of the sword. i'm wearing flip flops because the thought of having my feet inside armour just gives me the shivers. my toes like to be out and breathing until they're forced inside a pair of uggs in late october.



my pajama bottoms and this year's pair of reefs. a nice, new pinkish color. okay, okay, sometimes i do wear those tennis shoes when i go out hiking.



the page where we were supposed to write our name a bunch of times. i was amazed at how many nicknames i've had over the years. they just kept popping into my head.



the next 'assignment' was to cut out a bunch of pictures following her prompts. since i'm putting this in the journal i'm working on, i had to figure out a way to get all of those pics on one sheet of paper. so i taped three pieces of fabriano artistico paper together with masking tape (of course), leaving enough room between the sheets for them to fold easily, which made an accordian page.



i still have to add a piece on one end for the eyelets... without that it won't fold back on itself entirely once it's bound.



a closer look, taken with the scanner. we were supposed to follow prompts for putting specific kinds of borders around the images, and writing words, but miss independent took over here. i think i just didn't have enough room for them either. what i did was sit in my chair in the creek while scribbling lines around each image with watersoluble pens. then i dipped my fingers in the creek and smudged them around. most of the 'smudgedness' is from a black, crayola wide tip marker. i love it!!! that smile... yes, that's ingrid bergman.



the images on this side are clearer because i didn't smear paint all over them in that step. i like it better this way... and of course she never said to smear paint all over the pictures. she said if we got some paint on the pics, that was okay. i just got carried away.



you're going to get tired of pics of 'the book' from this angle, but i can't seem to help myself! the part of me that grabs the camera when it sees something picture-worthy just takes over!



now we're in alturas two days ago (time traveling : ). this is the feed supply store, taken from the gas station.



we're closer now because jim's inside checking out their cat food. i love this building! no, the sky wasn't quite that intense... i PSed it. but it was pretty dang blue.



and while i was taking pics of the top of the building, this hawk appeared...



one last shot... avaloketishvara's foot, taken yesterday morning. i was thinking how nice her toenails would be in this photo if they were reddish.

22 comments:

  1. Reading this post and looking at all the photographs is like going on an artists date, ala Julia Cameron. Love the soul armour and especially the toe armour......not sure your precious tootsies are going to get much protection but they will certainly be able to breathe. Do you actually park in the creek and create art? Sighhhhh....sounds like bliss.

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  2. hi robyn, yeah, since the lounge chair is *in* the creek, i can sit out there and make art... of course i'm limited by what i can fit on the chair-- i haven't put any tables in the creek... but those markers fit on the chair just fine!

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  3. Dear Lynne, what a lovely discovery your blog is for me, especially that someone else wears Japanese army boots in the summer. Is that cow yours, she looks awfully familiar, I think we have half a dozed of her sisters in our herd.

    Sitting IN flowing water certainly stimulates creativity and is superior to carting jars of it around with you. they tend to tip over at crucial moments.

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  4. hi arija and welcome! no, that cow's not mine... she lives down at the end of our road. i call her IF, for impressive female. she's SO photogenic-- i have a LOT of pictures of her! in fact, i could do an IF post...

    yes, sitting in water is very convenient for watercolor painting-- no tipping over of containers for sure. ; )

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  5. Yet more photo/arty goodness!
    And I second that "my toes need to be free" mindset!

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  6. machinarex, we are kindred my-toes-need-to-be-free spirits. ; )

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  7. Lynne, is that you in the "leave the self behind" page?

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  8. I really love your "leave the self behind" piece. What significance does the crow have in this piece? And I love the thought of you sitting in a creek working on your pages. How about a photo of that :)Your pages are great. I'm glad miss independent stepped in at various points because the smudged borders are fantastic.

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  9. robyn, no,that's not me... she's a model in the 'free spirit' catalog. there must be something i like about her because this is the second time i've used her in a collage. and hey, i was thinking, a *real* artists date would be nice, huh? maybe someday... : )

    kate, well miss independent can only take so much...

    as for the crow, i'm not sure what its significance is. it's a stamp that was very pale, and once i glued her (the 'free spirit' model) on there, i decided to paint the crow and bring it out more. and the window? these are the kinds of things i ponder. they evolve and i wonder at their appearance. it seems that she's the self/ego walking away, and the crow represents, hmmmm... , what's the word i'm looking for? i think spiritual is good. the crow represents the spiritual Self... observing, waiting...

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  10. WOW!!!
    look at all this gorgeousness!!

    i have just found your secret hiding place!!

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  11. You have such skills. I started my soul journal last week after finding it. It is really interesting to see everyone's work based on the same prompts. Can't wait to see the rest!

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  12. Beautiful, beautiful photos! I love the idea of a soul journal...thanks for the link, I'm gonna go check this out! As for being able to sit in the creek and create art...wow. What a thought. I cannot imagine being more relaxed that that!

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  13. bobbi! of course i've got a great big smile on my face seeing you here. i'm thinking about you... love the photo you posted last night... and well, as for all of *this*, i'm all over the place these days. can't seem to settle on any one thing.

    hi samantha, thank you... as i wrote to bobbi, i'm all over the place right now. i know it's leading *somewhere*, but at this point i have no idea where!

    i agree, it's amazing how everyone's interpretation of the prompts are so different. i really like that part-- seeing what people do with the exact same information.

    thank you, amy! it's not so hard to take cool photos in a place like alturas on a blue sky summer day! almost everywhere i turned i saw something photo-worthy!

    and the creek, yeah... doing *anything* while sitting in it is really something.

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  14. hi lynne
    it's great to see the things you are doing...lisa just called me over to see your latest blog...it is beauty-full and your art is beauty-filled...it remined lisa & me of all our trips up to the bluff at fort worden with paints...paper...and pens...seems like ages ago now...we realy do love your blog...

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  15. Such a full and interesting post! And I will never tire of seeing photos from any angle of your ever growing journal!

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  16. Great post Lynne,
    What an amazing quantity of work here!!!
    Colourful heartfelt pages...blissfull to look at.
    I like your "reefs" we call them "thongs" here is Aus!!!

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  17. Lynne I LOVE your Soul Journal (with your very own special twist...he hee!).
    Your flip-flops give that armour a real individuality...imagine wearing them into battle??? Beautiful, colourful page. And those inchies ... love them too. So pleased you decided to join in the experience.
    I will never get tired of seeing your nature journal, no matter what angle.
    I love the page you created before your Soul Journal began... did you paint that gorgeous crow/raven?

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  18. Nice blog and loved the journaling pages. I've been so hooked on journaling lately. Sad to say it's all sad news lately in mine. Joy

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  19. This new soul journal looks like fun, I especially love your first page! Also your photographs remind me again of living in Alturas. I love the last page of the stone feet and dried plants. (I just couldn't say weeds! )See you Thursday...Roxanne

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  20. hey tony! looks like you guys have been having some serious fun! yeah, it does seem like ages ago when we painted on the bluff... great days those were...

    thanks seth... and heh, it's good you never tire of them 'cuz you haven't seen the last of them yet. ; )

    jo, thank you! people usually call them flip flops here... 'reef' is the brand name. i'm a dedicated reef wearer-- they hold up way better than your average thongs/flip flops.

    hi jackie, no, that crow is a stamp... he was on the background, but i decided to make him part of the foreground. he was the color of 'antique linen' distress ink before i painted him. and those 'inchies' are more like two or three inchies!

    hi joy, your art is wonderful... it made me feel better looking at it, even though for you it comes from a sad place. i've been addicted to journaling for a couple of years now...

    roxanne, all these pages are going in 'the book'. i'm not starting a new one for the soul journaling. i'm having ideas of my own that are screaming to get painted, so i may put the soul journaling prompts on hold soon. yeah! see you thursday!

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  21. hey - love your soul journal work and you take beautiful photographs. very inspiring.

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  22. love the humor about sitting in the creek and watercolor work. its perfect.

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