Seize the Day!

This month, the prompt at Color This Quote at Artists in Blogland is "Seize the Day."

But let's face it ... we all put off starting new things, because we think the moment isn't exactly right.

Sometimes, when faced with starting a something new or a project, I feel like I can't unless I'm completely organized.   What comes to mind is that phrase, get your ducks all in a row.  I think I mask my fear of failure by putting all of these organizational roadblocks in front of me to put off starting or trying.   But here's the thing.  The ducks are NEVER all in a row.   So it's time to stop putting things off while I'm waiting for the perfect organization, the perfect conditions, the perfect time.  It's time to SEIZE THE DAY!

I hope you'll play along at Artists in Blogland!  SEIZE THE DAY!

Linking also to Paint Party Friday and Art Journal Everyday.

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

Summer of Color 2013 Purple Lime

I'm just squeaking in with an entry into Kristin's wonderful Summer of Color challenge for week 3:  Lime and Purple!

I think it's very easy to get discouraged with all of the poverty and cruelty we see in the world.  After all, that's all we read about or see in the news.  But when I was in Guatemala with From Houses to Homes, I was struck by how many people are there to help.  There are so many opportunities to do service in the world - and so many people participating in those opportunities.  Seeing all that around me made me feel blessed to be a human being - to have free will - and to be able to choose to give back and help out.

We truly have magic inside of us, if we choose to tap into it.  Magic to transform ourselves and the world around us.  That is the subject of the quote this month at Color This Quote at Artists in Blogland:

Happy July!  Are you flying a flag of independence and freedom this week?  If so, what does it look like?  I decided to fly a flag of equality, and created this piece, which you can read about here.

Thank you for visiting! I hope you will leave me a comment to let me know you were here. I read and treasure every comment and will answer any questions as quickly as I can.

Color This Quote - Thinking of Jerusalem

The June quote is up at Artists in Blogland and it is:

"May there be peace and prosperity within your walls."  Psalms 122.7

This quote spoke to me because I've been thinking a lot about home lately; how we give so much meaning to walls and windows and doors...

Billy Joel said, "wherever we're together that's my home."  Maya Angelou said, "I long, as does every human being, to be at home where I find myself."

But wherever we consider home, may there be peace and prosperity there.  These words in Psalms were originally written about Jerusalem.  I'm going there this summer.

To use another and fuller translation of this quote:

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee.

Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces.

Psalms122:6-7.

I made this piece using prints created with my gelli plate, which I collaged in strips of rectangles and squares.

Then I outlined my buildings...

and then tinted and glazed them using a mixture of fluid acrylic paint and glazing medium.  I outlined the buildings and windows using my Viva Decor Pearl Pen.   I love the dimension it gives!  Here's the finished painting...

(This post describes the technique in more detail.  I used it to create this piece.)

I am submitting my Jerusalem design to the challenge at Frilly and Funkie (destinations) ,

and linking to the blog hops at Paint Party Friday, Art Journal Every Day, and June's Colorful Gelli Party.  Thanks to Eva, Kristen, Julie and Carolyn for providing such fun places to see beautiful art!

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

Create, Destroy, and Create

It's time for a new quote over at Artists in Blogland's Color This Quote challenge!

This month's quote is by Pablo Picasso:

"Every act of creation is first an act of destruction."

I think about this quote every time I alter a book.  The first time I cut into a book, I felt as though lightening might strike me for "destroying" it.  Here's a fast forward video of my most recent book project.

I am "destroying" the book as it previously existed, on my way to create something new.

But to make the paper for the book, trees had to be destroyed.

And for the trees to grow, their seeds had to be destroyed.  (Think of an acorn, which is destroyed as soon as the oak tree starts to grow.)

This quote speaks to me of the emptiness of the idea of creation.  It is not something that happens "out there" in a moment in time.  It is part of a continuous flow.

Just as a wave is not suddenly born out of the ocean, creation does not suddenly occur - there was something before and there will be something after. 

 

Linking to Artists in Blogland, Mandarin Orange Monday, Inspire Me Monday, Monday Mantras, Simon Says Stamp, Make It Monday, and Creative Every Day.

The winners for the giveaway in my last post are:  Maria Ontiveros (Watercolor with the Henry Miller Quote), Beverly Baird (Hamsa Stencil), Claudine C. (The Heart Can Do Anything Watercolor), Textile Recycler (Priestly Blessing Stencil), Boo (Garden of Your Heart Watercolor)!  Send your snail mail address to me at jessicabethsporn (at) gmail (dot) com!

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

Be TRUE to YOU

It's time for Color This Quote at Artists in Blogland.

This month's quote is:

"Be a first rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else."  Judy Garland.

I was inspired to use lots of color, my Borders and Jump for Joy stencils, and lots of stamps, to create this art journal page (I added the quote in Photoshop):

Hope you'll interpret this quote and share your creation with us at Artists in Blogland!

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

This I Believe

"Write it on your heart that every day is the best day of the year."  Ralph Waldo Emerson 

Emerson wrote these words about time.  He called it the great illusion -- that we live as though the best days are yet to come, and take the present moment for granted.   On the one hand, when we're having a bad day, it is comforting to think that our best days are yet to come.  But if we wake up with the attitude that today will be ordinary, chances are it will be. 

This quote inspired me to honor my parents.  They truly embrace each day to the fullest.  There's not a Broadway show, opera, museum exhibit or concert that they don't see.  They have traveled extensively.  When they're not at a performance or out of the country, they're dining out with their friends, walking on the Coney Island boardwalk, volunteering somewhere, or visiting their children and grandchildren.  They have joie-de-vivre to the max!

This is the quote of the month at Artists in Blogland's Color This Quote challenge, which starts tomorrow.  What does it make you think about?  Share your creation with other artists here!

Materials and process:  This is the back cover of a book I altered (I'll be showing the rest in my next post!).  I cut the niche to fit the photo, and then collaged book pages through and around the opening using matte medium.  I also used Tim Holtz Symphony tissue tape underneath the quote.  I stenciled the squares using my borders stencil, mixing mica powder and glass bead gel to create the glittery texture.  The heart and rose are polymer clay baked in my (accident proof) Amaco oven (thank you Judy Shea for your wonderful class!), and I made the leaves using fiber paste painted onto deli paper, then cut and stained with fluid acrylics (green gold, quinacridone magenta and nickel azo gold and carbon black).

Submitting to the challenges at Stampotique (SDC88-use text) and at City Crafter (all that glitters).

Linking to the blog hops at  Create With Joy,  Creative Everyday, Make It Monday, and Monday Mantras.

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

I Heart My Friends

I am moderating a new monthly challenge at Artists in Blogland called:

The quote for the February challenge is:  "good friends are like quilts - they age with you yet never lose their warmth."   For my art journal page, I collaged lots of red, orange and pink papers, many of which I had made with my gelli plate.

I cut a heart shape out of a folded piece of old book paper, smeared gesso on it, and randomly stamped it with a text stamp.

I then adhered it over my collage using matte medium (my favorite is Liquitex), anchored it with Portfolio pastels (one of my favorite art supplies because they are water soluble), and painted a bit with fluid acrylics to add some dots and dashes, as well as the golden border.  I  added the text and "stitching" digitally.

Dedicated to all my dear friends -- old and new -- may we keep sharing our warmth even as we grow older!

Thank you for visiting! I read and treasure every comment, even if I don't always get the chance to reply.  I will answer any questions as quickly as I can.   Linking up to Artists in Blogland (color this quote) and Try it on Tuesday (at least one heart).