Painting With Leaves

Welcome fall!  In the northeast here in the U.S., it's a time for picking up pretty leaves.

I'm over at Artists in Blogland today for "Techniques on Tuesday," to show you how I used leaves to make the hair for this lady!

I hope you'll pop over and take a look, and try this technique yourself.   Let me know what you think!

Your comments make me so happy and let me know you were here. I read and treasure every comment and will happily answer any questions as soon as I can.

 

Come Get Me 2013!

As the clock ticks down on 2012, the new Fall Fearless & Fly challenge at Artists in Blogland asks us to consider these three prompts:

Headline Prompt:  Future Imperfect: What is different about your life now than what you once expected it to be?  How is the way it turned out perfect or imperfect.  If your future turns out differently than you imagined in the first prompt, could it still be perfect?
Color Prompt: Yellow
Quote Prompt: "Existence really is an imperfect tense that never becomes a present."  Friedrich Nietsche

My picture of what I expected my life to be has changed in so many ways.  At one time, I imagined myself a famous actress (!), a peace corps volunteer, a teacher, and then an actress again.  I even did a cabaret act about it (!) -- you can see a clip here (I'm really putting it all out there today!).

Very little about my life turned out exactly the way I planned -- I never dreamed I would move from Manhattan to a suburb in New Jersey, or get divorced shortly after having my first child, or run a community theater group, or become a working artist.  But isn't that the fun of it?    Existence really is:

 

There was a time in my 20s that I was so worried about what would come next.  There was a part of me that just wished I was an old woman, having lived my life, and that I could just sit and reflect on my memories.  I'm so glad I got over the fear, and have been able to follow the twists and turns of the path that got me to this day.  Here's a great clip from the movie Parenthood, about the glorious messiness of life:

So 2013, come and get me.  I'm open to whatever you throw my way!

This is one of those journal pages that had many different lives before this one.  It once had a house on it and lots of other bits and pieces from a clean up day in my studio!  It's been painted and collaged over so many times, it could probably walk into the future on its own!  I used one of the girls from my rain stencil, a 7 Gypsies clock stamp, and Luminarte Ginger Peach paint to give some glimmer and yellow sheen. 

Check out Joanne Sharpe's amazing guest artist post at Artists in Blogland, and Carolyn Dube's awesome take on this challenge!  (Reminder -- Carolyn is running a Gelli plate blog party starting on 1/1! Read all about it here.)

And of course, I can't wait to see what you do!  We have a great giveaway from LuminArte this time so make sure to link up at Artists in Blogland!

My Giveaway!  Comment by January 13th for a chance to win one of my newest stencils - "Jump!"  Let me know you follow my blog and my Facebook page for extra chances to win!

Thank you for visiting! I read and treasure every comment and will answer any questions as quickly as I can.  Linking also to Make it Monday,  Mandarin Orange Monday and Create With Joy.

Security and Stability in Unlikely Places

Today's Fall Fearless & Fly challenge is all about feeling safe and secure.  Here are the prompts:

Headline Prompt:  Security:  What makes you feel safe and secure?  What rattles your sense of security?  Where do you go for comfort and refuge?
Color Prompt:  Cool colors (blues, greens, violets, etc.) 

Quote Prompt: You can't make a place for yourself in the sun if you keep taking refuge under the family tree.  Helen Keller 

I decided to go with the first two prompts, which were challenging to contemplate after seeing my states (New Jersey and New York) devastated by Hurricane Sandy.  My sense of security was badly rattled.  Normally, my home, or my cabin at the lake, are where I feel safe and secure, and where I go for refuge.  But I've been rethinking that. 

In the past two weeks, I found stability on my meditation cushion, where I connect to all that exists.   I found strength in the community of my yoga studio, where we dedicate our practices to freedom from suffering and its causes.  And I found refuge in my path - knowing that creating art, teaching yoga, and being a good friend, mother, daughter, wife, and citizen of the world, give me joy and peace.

All of these thoughts went into the creation of this 12 x 12 mixed media canvas.  

As I worked on it, I thought about how having electricity does not necessarily confer the feeling of power -- how often do we feel powerless despite all the comforts in life?  And yet, how many feel strong and stable, even without traditional sources of power?  Weathering an outside storm can be quite easy compared to the storms we weather within.  

I started with a canvas prepped with blue, green and turqouise sprayed paper towels that had been my placemats for lots of fun with spray inks at Joanne Sharpe's class at Art is You.  As I scraped paint and glazing medium around it, I began to see this woman appear, standing in a storm, saying "bring it on."  I created all the circles with layers of Maya Road kraft doilies and layerable flowers.  Among the many stencils I used were Balzer Designs' Leaf Frame Stencil, and Stencil Girl's Swirly Floral Stencil.  I made the winged heart embellishment in Laurie Mika's fabulous class at Art is You -- I knew I'd find a home for it!   

I hope you'll go to Artists in Blogland and see the wonderful piece that Maria McGuire, our guest designer for this challenge, created.  LuminArte has donated two $35 gift certificates so we'll have 2 winners over at AIB.  I also can't wait to visit my co-host, Carolyn Dube, whose art always inspires me.

AND...the winner of my giveaway for FF&F #3 is Joanna, who wrote: 

BEAUTIFUL!! I love these pages on the black background, they really stand out!  Would I like to win one of your paintings? Hell yeah!!

Joanna - send your address to me at jessicabethsporn (at) gmail (dot) com, and I will get "Joy" right out to you. 

MY GIVEAWAY FOR THIS CHALLENGE:  Leave a comment below, indicating that you would like to win this Butterfly watercolor/zentangle design, and I will pick a random winner in my post for the 5th FF&F challenge.   Indicate whether you follow my blog and/or my facebook page too for extra chances to win!

Linking up to Artists in Blogland, Inspire Me Monday, and Art Every Day Month.

Thank you for visiting! If you are so moved, please leave a comment. Hearing from you means the world to me.

PS - Please consider purchasing my 2013 calendar.  Called "Living With An Open Heart," it features 12 of my mixed media designs.   All proceeds go to Hurricane Sandy relief.  Thanks!

PPS - A few more of my stencil designs are live at Stencil Girl Products!   The Hebrew lettering is a beautiful ancient prayer:

May God bless you and keep you
May God cause the divine light to shine upon you and be gracious to you
May God turn toward you, and grant you peace
(Numbers 6: 24-26).

We can all use a little of that!

Don't Be a Debbie Downer

Remember Debbie Downer from Saturday Night Live?  No matter how happy the gathering, she had bad news or negative feelings to share and would bring down the mood of everyone around her.   I have come to realize that I'm a Debbie Downer when I come home from being away.  My husband and daughter are so happy to see me, but then I point out what wasn't done properly while I was away, and just kill the good feelings.

 

I'm really not sure what it's all about, psychologically, but I don't want to do it anymore!  True, my daughter might not have bathed while I was gone, or had any fresh fruits and vegetables, but in the grand scheme of things, so what?  True, she watched TV instead of doing her homework, and stayed up past her bedtime, but in the grand scheme of things, does it really matter?  My husband is supportive of my going on art retreats, or to hear the Dalai Lama speak.  He does his best, and even though it's not exactly how I would do things, in the end they are both safe and sound, and so excited to see me.  In my absence, my daughter made her lunch for school each day, got herself ready in the morning so she could get to school on time, and helped feed the animals.  So why not point out the positive?  I will try to improve this aspect of myself.  I hereby promise!

By this art journal page, may it be so!

Thank you for visiting! If you are so moved, please leave a comment. Hearing from you means the world to me.

If you have a quality that you would like to exorcise, share it here, and by your commenting, may it be so!

Get Ready to Fall Fearless and Fly!

In only 6 days, Carolyn Dube and I will launch an exciting challenge on Artists in Blogland.   know I've been talking about it a lot, but now that it's almost here, I am beyond excited.  Carolyn and I are getting the launch post ready, preparing our work for the first challenge, and touching base with all of the amazing artists who will be our guests during the challenge.  If this is your first time hearing about it, visit Artists in Blogland here to learn more.  Thinking about the first challenge has required me to delve deeply into my heart and mind.  Even though this has already brought up a lot of "stuff," I'm ready for the journey.   I know these challenges will help me enter 2013 with clarity and more trust in my intuition.

UPDATE! - Jane Davies, one of our FFF featured artists, still has room in the encaustic workshop she is teaching in CT the weekend of October 13-14.  If you're interested in learning about this medium from an absolutely amazing teacher, check it out here. 

Another UPDATE: Nathalie Kalbach, another of our FFF featured artists, has just launched an online workshop about Acrylic Ink that sounds fantastic - here's the link.

I have been taking Flora Bowley's online workshop called "Bloom True."  It is the beginning of week 3, and we are just moving beyond creating layers of paint to adding recognizable elements.  Here are some looks at the transformations one of my canvases has gone through as I've added 5 layers, alternating between warms, cools, black and whites, and translucent layers, letting each one dry before moving to the next:


Flora encourages us to keep turning the canvas around, so that there's never a clear top or bottom, left or right.  I feel like I've only just begun to relax into the process of adding layers, while staying unattached to the layer underneath.   Does this sound like yoga?  You betcha!  Today's assignment is to start to paint in some elements from a sketchbook we started keeping over the weekend.  Stay tuned!

In the meantime, here's a peek inside my art journal:

I had paint leftover from doing the warm and cool colors exercises in Bloom True, so I smeared them on a spread in my journal -- randomly.  Who knows what it will be, but it's a nice, colorful background for the future:

Sometimes I have a lot to write -- so I write.  I write over what I've painted, or I paint over what I've written.  Sometimes I write my schedule for the day, or my list of things to do.  Notice how horrified that girl on the left side of the double spread looks about the size of the to-do list...

When I'm done working on something, I glue in whatever small pieces of paper or other stuff (like leaves!) that I have on my desk.  If they're too small to save, I glue them in.  This will form a basis for something...

This is a lady I painted years ago.  I glued her onto a spread of color and stencils from The Crafter's Workshop by Balzer Designs.  Not sure yet what she is contemplating...

Inspiration Avenue had a challenge to design something around the word "Friends."  I can't think of a better friend than my husband (collective "AWWW"), who I can tell everything to without fear of judgment, who is my biggest source of emotional support and encouragement, and who I just love spending time with.  So that page up there with the nasturtium leaf became this:  

And last but not least, you still have two whole days to link up to Scrapping the Music's current challenge.  Again, you don't have to be a scrapbooker - although you CAN be!  Anything goes.  The song lyrics to the current song, Rain Red Roses, are very cool, as is the other prompt - to design around a song your parent/s liked.  Check out the DT's amazing work.  Only one person has linked up work so far... what are you waiting for!!

And... drumroll please, the winner of my Fairy Tale water color is Diane, who wrote:

Diane ~September 23, 2012 2:24 PM

Hi Jessica, how sweet of you to invite me to your party. Your art work created a lovely party brimming over with delightful whimsy!

Please enter me in your give away and i am your newest follower.
And thank you for stopping by my party, it was wonderful meeting you there! :D 

I have already emailed Diane to get her snail mail address to send her her prize!

Linking up at Paint Party Friday, Creative Every Day and Art Journal Every Day (links on the sidebar.)
Thank you for visiting! If you are so moved, please leave a comment. Hearing from you means the world to me.

Play!

So much to do and so few hours in the day!  That's how I feel.  Before talking about today, here's what I did yesterday.

I spent the start of yesterday listening to a great podcast between Julie Fei-Fan Balzer and Ronda Palazzari.   Julie has started a series called "Adventures in Arting," and Ronda was her first guest.  Ronda will be Carolyn Dube's and my first guest on Fall Fearless & Fly, the "art cleanse" starting 10/1 on Artists in Blogland.  It was so interesting to hear Ronda's and Julie's perspectives on fear of failure, and what exactly is success, as this is so much what the fall challenge is all about.  As I listened, I stenciled the cover of my new stencil storage book.  Ronda had a great tutorial on her blog about this, and I was so excited to try it.  I love how it turned out, and it's so nice to have all my stencils stored in one place!  I used regular craft and fluid acrylics, and am loving all the colors.

 

When I was done with the stencil journal, I had paint left over on my palette.  I HATE to waste paint!  So I smeared it into my art journal:

and layered over the background with Julie's Leaf Frame and Dyan Reavely's Distressed Harlequin stencils:

Smeared more leftover red and green paint on copy paper and then cut the papers up to make hearts, stems and leaves, to create this page.  Yesterday, I only had 3 students in my 4:30 yoga class because it was back to school night in our area.  Because it was such a small group, we were able to really take time and delve deeply into the poses.  I was able to give each of them a lot of individual attention and hands-on adjustments.  I felt like I was of great service to them -- I helped them get a better understanding of their bodies and breath through very detailed work.  They were so grateful, and I was so grateful.  And this made me happy.  Love truly grows by giving.

Two days ago I received a monthly package from Scarlet Lime studios, which contained a set of Maya Road chip board doorways.  I haven't used chip board in my work, and was a little mystified as to what to do.  So I did a little online research and found this great tutorial by Natalie Kalbach for this beautiful canvas:   

 

I took a canvas I had previously painted but didn't like, and added some stencils, sponging, splattering, etc.  I was pretty random with this.  I knew this layer was going to be behind, and peek through the openings in the doors.

 

Then I used a sponge to texture paint onto 12 doors:

I typed this saying:  "be an opener of doors...every exit is an entrance to somewhere else" using the American typewriter font and printed it out on white card-stock.

 

I added black and white detail on all the doors and windows, as well as some stenciling with TCW's mini-heringbone and mini-hexagon stencils (designed by Balzer Designs),  to add more texture.   

The numbers across the top are plaquettes by Tim Holtz.  I used "82" in honor of my dad - who is a young and vibrant 82 and still plays a mean game of tennis!  (I didn't use one for my mom's age because she likes to keep that a secret.)    UPDATE  - I want to make clear that this is my dad and MY MOM - not me!  I know it's confusing - I am lucky to look a lot like her!

I am busy setting my table and polishing my best silver for the Fairy's Tea Party on Sunday. I hope you'll visit me and all the other artists participating.  One of the commentators to my tea party blogpost will win an original watercolor - you can see and read about it here.

As always, Happy Paint Party Friday, Creative Every Day and Inspire Me Monday! 

Thank you for visiting! If you are so moved, please leave a comment. Hearing from you means the world to me.

Eye & Art Candy

Last time I posted I was in a total funk.  I got lots of great advice in the comments - so thank you!  (One piece of advice I haven't tried yet is to paint a portrait of the inner monster that narrates the negative soundtrack.  Here's the link - I will definitely do this one day soon!)  After getting outside, I was able to shift.  When I came back in, I worked on this page, which I'd started yesterday, thinking I would paint something with another jar.  But as I started doodling, something else happened completely.  And in the end, I was happy.  Art DOES make everything better!

Sunday night was the start of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.  Usually we have a big dinner in Pine Lake, and last night was no exception.  Forty families doing a potluck together is a wonderful thing.  However, my dad was under the weather and he and my mom weren't able to get up to Pine Lake -- they were home in Brooklyn.  I could feel the tug of war in my heart.  My sister and brother, Aunt, Uncle, cousins and friends were all up at the lake, expecting us.  But I decided it was more important to be with my folks.  Luckily, my husband and Samy agreed; so I cooked and brought dinner to Brooklyn.  Here's a mandala I drew while talking with mom in the kitchen (of course, she greatly improved the food I made!).   Mom and Dad - may the coming year be sweet and bring you health and happiness.  Shanah Tovah.

Today, Freddie took Samy to play tennis and then she had a friend over. I was able to spend the whole afternoon in my studio!  Here's the progression of what I created.  It went through a lot of variations.

 and some string.  Now I'm happy!

The Diva's challenge this week is to create a Pinwheel for Peace.   Here's my attempt.  I used a template of an origami pinwheel, however my design ended up looking more like a kite because I added extra triangles...  I did use the tangle called "pinwheel," though (and escalator & clothesline)!

Finally, I received two envelopes with lovely Artist Trading Cards -- from Linda Phinney (who's Imagine card is hand stitched and who also sent me a tag too!) and Andrea at Falling Ladies - who paints the most magical, wonderful watercolors.  Aren't they gorgeous!

There's a new challenge up at Scrapping the Music - check it out.  These songs are so much fun and inspiring.  And your submissions don't have to be scrapbook pages.  Heck - have you ever seen a scrapbook layout from me?  So go take your art journal or zentangle tile over to STM and play along!  In my next post, I'll tell you about what I did for the challenge. 

Remember -- we're less than two weeks away from Fall Fearless and Fly.  I can't believe the amazing artists who have agreed to do guest posts during this challenge.  Carolyn Dube and and I are so excited.

Thank you for visiting! If you are so moved, please leave a comment. Hearing from you means the world to me.