Icad's First Week

Here are my index cards for the first week of Icad 2016

Prompt #1 - Mix Tape.  I began by putting on the wide, black and white, tape on because I discovered that it can be pleated quite easily.  I then added the gold tapes and the blingy purple.

Prompt #2 - Pyramid.  I live outside of Edmonton and one of the attractions of the city is the Muttart Conservatory which is 4 glass pyramids 3 of which are filled with a different biome and the fourth is used for seasonal displays.

Prompt #3 - Snoopy.  Snoopy is pretty much the only dog I know how to draw so I just seethed  him snooping inside a box

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Prompt #4 - Typewriter - I had a Tim  Holtz sticker of a typewriter and and old StampinUp! alphabet block for the background.  I made a little slit in the typewriter to thread the paper through and then wrote the details of the day.

Day #5 - I didn't go with the prompt of the day - just drew a mandala on a repainted card.

Prompt #6 - Top Ten List - I have a very difficult time coming up with list of things; favourite foods, music, movies, things to do.  I just come up blank.  So it took me awhile to figure out what to do with this card.  Even after I stacked the numbers, I had to decide what I was going to make a list of.  And I don't really think that this is a very accurate list of what I enjoy doing from 10 - 1…….I left out my grandson for pete's sake.

Prompt #7 - Pinball or bowling.  I drew the ball and pin and some lightening "strikes" and zentangled inside the ball and pin.

Mandalas and zentangles are my go-tos when I'm not sure what to do.  Keeping to the prompts is not the most important thing- it's creating something everyday.  So……

Create something everyday.

Joan

Art distills sensations and embodies it with enhanced meaning. 

Miguel de Unamuno

Warmups for Icad 2016

Good Grief - almost a month has passed since I posted anything.  I'm realizing I can't always get to posting everyday - but I thought I could make it once a week - and then a month flies by.  With the beginning of June came the beginning of this year's Index Card a Day 2016 Challenge.  This is a personal challenge, no deadlines, no prizes - just the satisfaction of having created a small piece of art once a day for 61 days (June and July).  If you are interested in participating, you can get all of the details at Tammy Garcia's blog - DaisyYellowArt.com

Tammy had 10 warmup exercises…I didn't complete them all (although I will eventually):

First off we were to do some sort of puzzle - crossword, jigsaw, sudoku, etc  just to get the brain exercised.

The next warm up was to write three Haiku poems.  I usually end up doing these  on previously done journal pages just to add some interest to them.

This is the second Haiku, but I still have to write the third one.

Warm-up #3 was to create a small travel case for doing index cards on the go - when you're waiting for an appointment etc.  This is a really mini one for me - sharpies in black and white, markers, gelatos, aqua painter and some index cards - some blank, some with backgrounds already added.  When I'm traveling the case includes a bit more because I'm away from home for longer - scissors, glue, pencil etc.

This warmup had to do with making a collage with junk mail.  Mine ended up being a one piece collage because I thought this little stopwatch was too cute as a way to count down to Icad beginning.

Warm up #8 was all about irregular circles - so I got out my scraps and started cutting.  Tons of fun!

Warmup #10 was to make a title card for Icad 2016 - Woo Hoo.

I'll share some of my first cards tomorrow.

Create something - no matter how big or small - everyday

Joan

Some painters transform the sun into a yellow spot, others transform a yellow spot into the sun. 

Pablo Picasso

Two Inspiration Wednesdays

Here are two spreads for the past two Inspiration Wednesdays which I completed this week…..I got behind.  I love doing art with other artists because then I get ideas that I have a record of so I can look back and repeat them.  I love these circles with the glaze and shading; it makes them pop off the page.  Donna Downey's left hand page didn't have a butterfly or anything on it except the paint and paste, but I wanted to add something and found this butterfly that I had stamped onto  a clear window sheet.  I coloured it with the glazes/paint I used on the pages, but I put the paint on the underside of the window sheet so that the ink wouldn't be disturbed, or I didn't have to worry quite so much about painting inside the lines.

I'm trying to keep my word of the year "Release" on every page.  My "Find Release" was done with a bronze sharpie.

Donna Downey covered her pages, for this week with two kinds of patterned wrapping paper.  I used a new roll of paper that I got just for arting, so I was happy to open it up.  Then I found so fun funky coloured letters for form my "Release" and an arrow pointing the way.  The stamps were a random addition, but I like the ones from Spain because they're so bright and go with the paper.

The paper I used on my second page was from Stampin'Up! last year - it was cotton paper  and is nice to use in arting although I never used it for cards.  I found three white feathers in my stash from my walks and I coloured them with both "Stained" or "Brush Tipped" Sharpies to go along with the feathers on the wrapping paper.

These were both fun pages to do.

Create something everyday…..even if I don't get things posted everyday.

Joan

"The artist is a receptacle for emotions that come from all over the place: from the sky, from the earth, from a scrap of paper, from a passing shape, from a spider's web. "

Pablo Picasso

Ode to Orange

Here is my completed orange piece.  After I outlined all the pieces, I went in a wrote how I felt about orange.  It is not a colour that I use very often in art, but I do like it in nature.  And, to be honest, most of the pieces I have done with orange have been ones that I don't mind.

The writing is in sentences, but the words jump around from piece to piece  so it takes a bit to make some sense of it.

Create something everyday.

Joan

No great artist ever sees things as they really are. If he did, he would cease to be an artist. 

Oscar Wilde

One Finished, Three works in progress

I created another set of houses on a mint background.  I made my own mint paint so that the trees didn't clash.  I like these wonky little villages.

I came in close to take a picture of this mandala; which is  on a canvas.  I have a bit more to do on it before I add a quote or word of some sort.

I always take an altered book to a doctor's office so I can pas the time creating.  I'm bling to outline all the dark pieces and then write words inside of them…..I think.

Finally  here s another neighbourhood underway - this time a neutral background and I will be keeping the houses sort of neutral too.

Create something everyday.

Joan

"An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple way."

 Charles Bukowski

Zentangle on Canvas

I created this background with leftover paint from another project last week and have been working on this zentangle.  I find it very relaxing to sit and do the tangles, and I'm getting better now at embellishing them a wee bit too.  Practice, Practice, Practice.

Create something everyday - even if it's continuing to work on something over a number of days.

Joan

"Art is not a handicraft, it is the transmission of feeling the artist has experienced.

Leo Tolstoy

Patchwork and Texture

Last week I created a random patchwork pattern on a canvas thinking I paint another set of houses on it.  I decided that the background was too busy and too many colours so I decided to just create the mixed media canvas you see below.

First I put a light wash of creamy coloured paint over the patches to push them into the background.  Next I added some stencilling in two different colours.  I had some corrugated cardboard for IKEA, along with some other specialty papers which I layered and this cool straw like "paper" which I tore apart to add.  I've been debating whether to add words or not - but I think I'll just leave it the way it is.

Create something everyday - remember there's no mistakes - only creative opportunities.

Joan