Thursday, March 21, 2013

Under the Sea

Are you ever buffeted by thoughts and emotions?  Who isn't!  No matter how hard we try, we can't stop thinking about something, or our minds jump from thought to thought.  Sometimes this is called a "monkey mind" - like having a little monkey swinging from branch to branch.

 
  
I like the metaphor of  the ocean.  On the surface, the ocean is buffeted by the wind and other elements, causing sometimes gentle, and sometimes turbulent waves.  And no matter what, they keep coming.  But if you dive deep underneath the waves, the water is quiet and still -- it is a haven of peace.  


Under the waves of our thoughts and feelings, it is good to remember that the deep ocean of stillness is there.  We find it when we get deeply into our artwork or anything that consumes us.  We find it when when we train ourselves to sit quietly and tune into the breath.   


This spread is from an old encyclopedia I've been altering.  I created it by boxing off words that spoke to me, and then painting out the remainder in a wash of greens to dark blues.  The words say:

some of the finest
were the strongest
and the whole country 
became peaceful 
things will always 
reach up 
and
like the leaves
though you may not notice it
change
what happens
cannot be seen
the image 
varies


The shell and starfish are Recollections stamps from Michaels that I embossed, and the border stencil is Dylusions.  Here's the cover of the book.  I look forward to sharing more of it soon.


Thank you to everyone who visited and bid on my piece for the Sandy Hook auction, and congratulations to Lynn Cohen who won it!  It's on its way to you!

And congratulations to Eleni Gratsia, who found me through the gelli arts page on FB, because a subscriber and blog follower and has won the Jump for Joy stencil from the Retro Stencil test drive post!  I've emailed Eleni and for her address.

Stay tuned for a test drive post on 3/28, with another stencil giveaway!

Linking to the challenges at Simon Says Stamp and Show (water),  and the blog hops at Paint Party Friday, and Show and Tell Saturday at Artists in Blogland (where there are still a few days left for our quote challenge!).

Thank you for visiting! I read and treasure every comment and will answer any questions as quickly as I can.

44 comments:

  1. Brilliant, Jessica!

    A page not only my son loves (he loves deep sea animals and adventures)! :)

    Greetings from Vienna,
    die amelie x

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  2. Love your page and your words! Those colours are so vibrant and your words thought provoking, couldn't move on for a while! Chrisx

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  3. I love this all.. have to do some sea cards or pages too... longing for summer here in the winterly Austria!

    xxx Susi
    ART-JOURNAL-JOURNEY

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  4. Monkey mind, oh yes, the three o'clock blues of buzzing thoughts. I like your peaceful page and will gladly dive in for a swim! xox

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  5. I like the sound of Monkey Minds...I know several people like that. lol.

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  6. Lovely underwater pages, so perfectly suited to the theme. I love your use of vibrant greens and aquas. Thanks for joining us for this week's Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge!

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  7. Jessica...I always enjoy your art. These art journal pages are perfect for our challenge...bright, fun and all about water and what's under it! :) Love your design and the fact that you're altering an old encyclopedia. I also really love your sentiment that you've spread across both pages. Thanks for sharing your work for us at Simon Says Stamp and Show. <3 Candy

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  8. Wow, very inspiring ... and I am tickled pink at winning your stencil ... I have twin 10 year old nieces and I have dozens of photos of them jumping in the air, and your stencil reminds me so much of them!!! Thank you once again!

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  9. This is wonderful and I love the words that you chose to box off on this particular page. What a great idea to repurpose a encylopedia, I'm loving it!!!

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  10. LOVE this spread and how you painted those fish! We call it "busy brain" around this house. . .

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  11. Wonderful idea to box off those words! Sounds like a poem!

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  12. Great post Jessica. I love the way you describe the sense of peace and stillness you get from focusing in on your art or breathing. What a beautiful painting fabulous way to create poetry

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  13. This is a gorgeous spread, Jessica. I love the feeling of depth you achieved and all your exotic looking fish. I got my stencil this week, and can't wait to try it out this weekend, so thank you. I've been envisioning lots of possibilities for it. Blessings!

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  14. What a beautiful book cover and a great piece for under the sea. I loved your post as the analogy of the calmness under the turbulence of the sea is a great one. What you call monkey mind, I've always called buterfly mind - the way a butterfly flits from flower to flower never settling for more than a few seconds on any one thing!

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  15. Love this spread. Just looking at it gives me a calm feeling. I've never heard it called Monkey Mind.. but that describes it perfectly. My art totally takes Monkey mind away for me.

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  16. Thoughts never stop, especially women. I love these colors and the call out of your words. Another beautiful page; so serene. LOVE.

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  17. Wonderfully creative alteration ~ love the ocean and color themes ~ enjoy ^_^

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  18. There is such an amazing world that lies below the surface of the water. You have captured it beautifully. I love all those sea inspired creatures, especially those starfish. Beautiful piece, Jessica.

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  19. Hi Jessica: I love these two pieces. Water is my elixer as I am a fire sign so that really spoke to me and you did an amazing job with it. It is just gorgeous! The blues are sensational. I love how you integrated lots and lots of different medium. The words are great and really stand out. I like that! The other piece. WOW. I feel like I am walking into the cupboard (oy I know it is a closet but I have always called them cupboards) of magic. You did a real 3D job of that. The colors are brilliant. So right into the chest and passionate. I really feel the little one and the mystical nature of the piece. Really well done Jessica. Thanks for sharing.

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  20. Awesome art as always, Jessica! :)
    Love your blog!!
    ♥♥♥
    Happy PPF!!
    Mary
    Mixed-Media Map Art

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  21. Love your Sea Jessica- dreamy looking!

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  22. Loving your beautiful pages with all its fab layers Jessica. Terrific book cover as well. I have a butterfly mind, which flits about all over the place and am trying to train to settle, but its not easy...........
    Happy PPF, Annette x

    http://nettysartadventures.blogspot.co.uk/

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  23. Lovely pages, my fave is under the sea, which was also my theme this week. Valerie

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  24. oh what yummy pages Jessica! Now you'll have me thinking about need to see the ocean again...:)

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  25. Your pages and all of their wonderful layers are beautiful and insightful. Nice post!

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  26. Jessica, your work always gives me a reason to stop and reflect. Thank you.

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  27. Really enjoyed looking through your work - beautiful pages, I love the ocean theme images.

    Happy PPF! <3

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  28. Yes to everything you said... thankfully art is my calgon take me away moment...I do still mill things over but there is a stillness while doing it! Great pages!

    Hugs Giggles

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  29. I do love those ocean images and pages.... and that ever time I come and visit I end up taking time to stop and think about something that you have written...x

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  30. Awesome as always Jessica. Beautiful wornice weekend and lovely greet
    Marja

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  31. Love your ocean themed pieces , so beautifully symbolic! The blues and greens are so soothing and refreshing! And that starfish! <3

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  32. Gosh your book is lovely Jessica!

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  33. I like the encyclopedia idea, Jessica! Thank you for bidding on my painting- You're sweet! Patsy from
    HeARTworks

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  34. Very nice pages. I love fish and blue on them. Very inspiring as well. Thank you for sharing.

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  35. Your pages are stunning and that book cover made my heart skip a beat :) I do agree we need to sit still...quiet...dive within...explore !!
    This weekend I listened to my heart and did explore quite a bit ! How and where ... visit me and see :)

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  36. Gorgeous..what a fabulous post..thanks for sharing your insights and beautiful art..the many powerful blues you use are magnificent and striking..magical art...love them all!
    Shine on
    Victoria

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  37. Wonderful art and a great post. Happy PPF
    Nicole/Beadwright

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  38. Gorgeous and fun are your watery pages! I totally love the words chosen that are swimming around...very profound! Fab color on those fish! Thanks for playing along with us in our watered down challenge this week at Simon Says Stamp & Show!!!

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  39. Your art has such a story to tell, simply wonderful pages and words to go with them, such a pleasure for the eye and soul! xx

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  40. Really awesome journal spread. adding the border makes it even more brilliant. :)

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  41. Wonderful work Jessica and thank you now I know that I have a 'monkey mind!'

    Karen x

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  42. Such awesome colors... love the boldness and how they play together. Gorgeous pages!

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  43. Such a beautiful post. Your spread is so pretty with all it's lovely blues and I'm so enamored by the cover! LOVE the little boy walking in . . . xo!

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