21 Secrets Special Announcement

I'm so thrilled to announce that 

21 SECRETS Spring 2016 Is Here! 

You know that there is no right or wrong way to art journal.  But art journaling in the company of other artists is an adventure all of its own and that’s what 21 SECRETS is about! It's an opportunity to art journal side-by-side with 21 talented, passionate, and incredibly generous artists without ever leaving home.

I am thrilled to be a part of this, and will be teaching a course about creating tissue paper transparencies that will be a beautiful versatile tool in your art journaling.  

You can read all about my class and the twenty other classes here!

Here's what you get: a 150+ page downloadable eBook filled with 25+ hours of videos, full colored photos, templates, and clear instruction that will inspire and deepen the way you approach art journaling.

Here's when you get it:  All the content - all at once - on March 28!  

Here's how long you have to use it:  FOREVER!  21 SECRETS is designed to fit into your busy life and schedule without having to rush through and worry about meeting another deadline.

Here's who's teaching you:  The other amazing teachers are Amy Maricle, Annie Hamman, Ardith Goodwin, Catherine Cote, Connie Solera, Cynthia Morris, Dina Wakley, France Papillon, Galia Alena, Ivy Newport, Jodi Ohl, Lisa Cheney, Marieke Blokland, marla Baguette, Meghan Genge, Robin Laws, Sandra Duran Wilson, Susie Lafond, Tori Weyers and Victoria Clark.  Wow - what a line up!

Here's how much it costs:  $98 - a great price for so much content.  BUT... if you sign up between today and February 19, you get $10 off!  So take advantage of the early bird special by using coupon code "spring secret" and receive 21 different art journaling classes for $88!

Click here to view more details

Please note: Each teacher is given an affiliate code for registration.  If you purchase the class through my page, I will get a percentage of the enrollment fee as part of my compensation.  So of course I would appreciate it if you use this link to register for the class.  Thank you in advance xo.

I hope to see you in the classroom!

If you haven't already - please connect with me here:

InLinkz.com

How I Was Shaken Up by Anselm Kiefer

This is my final Creative Jumpstart Post, and I can't thank Nathalie Kalbach enough for the inspirational ride.  For the month of January, she and the other "Jumpstarters" had me inspired, stimulated and making non-stop art.  What more could I ask from an online class?




The final Master Artist was Anselm Kiefer.  His work deeply moved and troubled me in its unblinking look at trauma, struggle and the Holocaust.   Here is how I translated all of the lessons into my own work.













Inspired by Natalya Aikens stitching project, I layered ripped book, atlas, music and gelli print pages.  I scraped crackle paste by Deco Art through a stencil designed by MaryBeth Shaw to represent a landscape and forest.

Inspired by MaryBeth, I used my fingers to rub in paint.  Inspired by Joe Rotella's lesson involving the fragility of everyday things and new beginnings, I began to doodle buds and other flora with black paint and a thin brush, using my non-dominant hand.  

As I painted those shapes, they began to look like eyes to me.  

I rotated my canvas and began to work on it vertically.  I used a mask of a girl's dress to echo Joe Rotella's gorgeous project. 

Nathalie Kalbach's lesson involved explorations in texture.  In it, she completely painted over a prior canvas and scraped layers away.  I decided to be bold and painted over and scraped away parts of my canvas, and stenciled a window and a door. 

Inspired by Wilna Furstenberg's beautiful layout, I added brush strokes meant to look like stacks of books or twigs.  Inspired by the idea of ephemera like books and pieces of cloth, I scraped fiber medium on deli paper and stained it with orange and gold colors, and used strips of that paper to build a path and stairs through my canvas.  I also stamped a Hamsa to represent hope and blessings. 

Again, I rotated the canvas, added more marks and more white for hope and light.  I used a handmade paper cast embellishment to represent the homes we leave, and the homes we find.  To anchor the peace spiritually, I added a Star of David.  

Again - THANK YOU to Nathalie Kalbach and all the wonderful artists who made Creative Jumpstart 2016 so wonderful.

What do you think of all the twists and turns this canvas took on the way to completion?  I'd love to know!

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.

If you haven't already - please connect with me here:

InLinkz.com

If you are entering a GIVEAWAY, please add your email address in the event I need to contact you.

To avoid SPAM, please write it like this: jessicasporndesigns (at) gmail (dot) com

Thank You!

Frida Kahlo Inspiration at Creative Jumpstart

Read to the end for a giveaway!  Week three at Creative Jumpstart was devoted to Frida Kahlo.   While I'm a fan of her work, I have never tried to paint in her style.  It was fun to spend a week not only studying Kahlo's work and inspiration, but watching how five amazing artists translated her themes into their own work.  (You can see the influences of Matisse and Basquiat here.)  Do you see Frida Kahlo's influence in the work I created last week?

One of the most transformative techniques I learned was painting with acrylic inks and using them like watercolors.  Here's a video of that process, using my Layered Peonies stencil from Stencil Girl Products:

You can also watch "Achieving Watercolor Effects with Acrylic Paints on YouTube here.  


I've been posting all my #cjs16 pictures on Instagram @jessica_sporn.  I've just started using Insta and I'm liking the immediacy of it.  I'd love it if you would follow me there too.

As an incentive - I'm offering the Layered Peonies stencil as a giveaway to someone who comments on this post and, for an extra chance to win, comments on Instagram too!  Here are the rules!

1. Leave a comment on this post that includes your email address in case I need to contact you.
2. For an extra chance to win, visit me on Instagram @jessica_sporn and follow me if you like what you see.
3. For a third "extra" - leave a comment on this Instagram post mentioning the Peony Stencil.
4. Time for commenting ends on Thursday, January 28, 11:59PM EST.

I'll post the winner in this blog post by Friday morning, January 29, by 10AM EST.

If you haven't already - please connect with me here:

InLinkz.com

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.

If you are entering a GIVEAWAY, please add your email address in the event I need to contact you.

To avoid SPAM, please write it like this: jessicasporndesigns (at) gmail (dot) com

Thank You!

Stencil Test Drive Redux (#3) and Giveaway

Welcome to the second Stencil Test Drive Redux!  (See all the test drives here.) 

GIVEAWAY ALERT!  Each month, I will give away one of the featured stencils to one lucky commenter.  Comments for the giveaway will close on Sunday at 9AM EST, and the winner will be posted in this post by Monday morning at 9AM EST, so make sure to check back! 

This week - a look back at the Rain Stencil Test Drive.  Here's a peek at my project from that Test Drive and the Rain stencil itself. 

     

Here are the posts from the artists on that original test drive.  Click the names below the images to go to the original blog posts.

Carolyn Dube

Marjie Kemper

Michelle Rydell

Natasha May

Maria McGuire

I created a video for my project.  Enjoy!

You can also watch Make Your Own Journal with the Rain Stencil on YouTube here. 

I hope you'll check out these posts and the great tutorials some of them have!  

For a chance to win the Rain Stencil, make sure to leave a comment below that includes your email address.  

And if you've used one of my stencils, make sure to send me a picture/link and let me know! 

Comments for the giveaway will close on Sunday at 9AM EST, and the winner will be posted in this post by Monday morning at 9AM EST, so make sure to check back!

And the winner is,

Congratulations Sue!

If you haven't already - please connect with me here:

InLinkz.com

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.

If you are entering a GIVEAWAY, please add your email address in the event I need to contact you.

To avoid SPAM, please write it like this: jessicasporndesigns (at) gmail (dot) com

Thank You!

Stencil Test Drive Redux (#2) and Giveaway

Welcome to the second Stencil Test Drive Redux!  (See the first one here.) 

GIVEAWAY ALERT!  Each month, I will give away one of the featured stencils to one lucky commenter.  Comments for the giveaway will close on Sunday at 9AM EST, and the winner will be posted in this post by Monday morning at 9AM EST, so make sure to check back! 

This week - a look back at the Starry Night Stencil Test Drive.  Here's my project and the Cascading Leaves stencil itself. 

Here are the posts from the artists on that original test drive.  Click the names below the images to go to the original blog posts.

Maggie Nemetz

Revlie Shuit

Natasha May

Judy Shea

Jessica Sporn

I hope you'll check out these posts and the great tutorials some of them have!  

For a chance to win the Starry Night Stencil, make sure to leave a comment below that includes your email address.  

And if you've used one of my stencils, make sure to send me a picture/link and let me know! 

Giveaway is now closed.  Congratulations to: 

Comments for the giveaway will close on Sunday at 9AM EST, and the winner will be posted in this post by Monday morning at 9AM EST, so make sure to check back!

If you don't already, please sign-up for my newsletter HERE, and follow me on Facebook, Pinterest, Bloglovin and YouTube, so that you never miss a giveaway, and always get the latest Jessica Sporn Designs News!