Fall Color and a drive to the Oregon Coast.

It's been a slow week here in the art studio.  The crazy weather has had me down a bit but I finally broke out of it's grasp saturday and went on a quick little afternoon trip to the coast.

The drive through the canyons was beautiful with full fall color taking my breath away.  Gorgeous.  I brought my camera along but was soooo disappointed to find the battery drained!  This new camera doesn't readily display the battery level and gives me a verbal warning only when the camera is shutting down.  So frustrating! 

So, I continued to Bandon (by the Sea).  A huge storm was brewing and I only had a little time to go the the darling gifty book store, Winter River Books, to pick up some mermaid tattoos I had ordered - so fun! 

Then I went across the street to a tiny gift mall that included a booth store "Gypsy Wagon" where I found these fabulous little book bags made from vintage silk Indian saris.  They were only $3 a piece!  Yay!  

I picked up 7 of these little silk "book" bags in my favorite colors and a couple of scarves on sale for $4! I will most likely hang them around the studio.

Then the rain came.  The storm was going to be a bad one with very high winds and rain so I opted to leave for the return trip right away.  It took a couple of hours to get home but the drive was still fun for me.  I really needed that break from the studio to recharge my creative batteries.  Since I feel I was short changed by the lack of pictures and only an hour in Bandon, I will try to return there later this week or next.

The high winds and rain continued for a couple of days and has taken a lot of the fall color with them. Bummer!  And I hear there is a lot more to come...

Earlier last week I went to Kruse Farms here locally in the Melrose area to get my pumpkin for the porch.

Fabulous Pumpkins!

 Beautiful Turban Squash

Giant Hubbard Squash - some over 3 feet long!

Halloween is a big deal in our little community and I usually get quiet a lot of little and not so little goblins at my door!  Trick or treat!   We'll see if the weather holds for our little ghouls.

I will be back in the studio this week to start working on a new art journal.  I want to make this one out of my favorite Fabriano Artistico hot press watercolor paper.  I haven't decided whether to use the usual 140 lb. or try the lighterweight 90 lb. that will be much easier to bind into a journal.  Working with the thicker paper will be harder on my hands but it's nicer than the thinner stuff so I'll just have to weigh out the advantages and disadvantages.

My biggest goal for this week will be to stay warm and dry and keep the creative fires burning!

Forever in art,  Jessica

Might as well face it I'm additicted to doodling

I sure have been bitten by the doodling bug!  I can't seem to stop doing my mermaid and flower fairy faces.  They brighten my mood and make me happy.  A simple pleasure.

I thought I would share one with you and show it morphing from a painted graffiti background to a colored mermaid's face doodle. 

Laying down the doodle

Adding her peepers and lipstick along with a few more details and tresses

Giving her more hair and her pearls of wisdom

Coloring her hair and adding a little more detail

I will most likely add a few more trinkets to her hair, it seems a bit thin (like mine, ha!).  It was after 1:00 in the morning when I did this so I will revisit her again.  

It has come to my attention that I need a cushion on that studio chair.  When I am doodling I get transported to another world and I find it a great pain reliever when I am dealing with my chronic pain.  I love getting lost in creating the doodle but little did I know that chair was creating such a pain in my rear!  OMG!  I will definitely be on the lookout for a nice coordinating soft cushion for my butt!

I think I am facing a doodle addiction but I really don't care for I am under it's opuim-like spell.  I say, "drift on the dream, follow your bliss..." 

Music in the studio this week was more Sheryl Crow...I want to soak up the sun...while there still is some!

Forever in art,  Jessica



Mermaids, Goddesses and Journals oh my!

Welcome back to my studio.  It's been a week already and I've been thinking I should share some of my art with you.  I am currently creating Mermaid Art Journals!  This is a project I started for myself and a couple of close friends and I'm loving the mix media format!

I started by making the journal cover out of collaged pieces of painted graffiti canvases stitched together by machine.  I collaged some shapes, a mermaid doodle and a few cool words I wrote and printed on to transparencies.  A lot of the techniques I am using in this journal I have picked up from reading the book "Collage unleashed " by Traci Bautista and doing graffiti canvases in a style like Alisa Burke's messy painting.  Let me tell you, that messy painting is a boatload of fun!

Journal cover and 3 mermaid doodles

This Spring I took Traci's online class, Creative Doodles.  What a fun creative outlet doodling has become for me!  It was around that time that I got my idea for a mermaid journal and began creating my own mermaid doodles as inspiration pages for the art journal.  The mermaids I have pictured here were then printed out onto white cotton and sewed to a painted background page.  I love the texture this creates!

Close ups of 2 mermaid doodles

A new addition to the studio this week is my refurbished bargin basement Goddess.  When I found her she was a dark brown color and the detail was hard to see.  So I painted her with 4 coats of white paint and then antiqued her with a metallic charcoal craft paint to show off her details.  I was planning to add a bit of silver leaf in a distressed look but I have not decided yet whether I will go forward with that idea.  I kind of just like her plain and soft.  What do you think?

Studio Goddess

I will end for now.  Be sure to feed your artful soul and let your creative spirit flourish!  Don't stop creating!

Music in the studio this week was Sheryl Crow's Wild Flowers and Lennon Legend, The Best of John Lennon.

Forever in art,  Jessica

Welcome to my new blog and art studio!

Welcome to my little studio of artful dreams.  This blog and my studio represent my passion for creativity, the pursuit of beauty and the chance to live the artful life.  I hope to share my philosophy that anyone who so desires can overcome physical limitations and emotional stress through art and live the creative life regardless of their circumstances.  I know this because I have done it! 

As I start a brand new chapter in my life I invite you to join me in my creative adventures. I love to play and have fun and am happiest when surrounded by colorful medium - it's all good!  My favorite art to do is journaling, painting, doodling and mixed media.

I just finished my humble studio this morning!

I now have a sewing table too!

And a great view...

It was a lot of work for me and took a very long time.  Now it's finished and I am going make my first piece of art in the studio tonight.  No more dining room table for me!

So I will put on some up beat music and do a little art dreamin' and dancin' and let art save my life once again...

Forever in art,  Jessica