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