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Grunge art my way

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Good morning everyone.    For a little while now I have been playing with different media, doing some of this and some of that.  This all started when I began doing handmade cards for our church (Church of Perfect Liberty) (institucion Religiosa perfecta libertad)

The first Precept (1 of 21)   #1  Life is Art    This is not about how you paint or draw, but rather how you use your creative expression to get through the day to day challenges of life.  How you see the opportunities that come your way and in accepting them, being able to grow and channel new found energy into your daily life.


 

. I love life, I love being alive, and the sense of wonder I get from even what most could consider a mundane moment.  Death is a by-product of life.  It happens.  When you lose someone who has been a part of your life, there is a sadness and a feeling of loss. However, if you have lived loving and cherishing the person, there are no regrets.  You live forming honest interactions – always – some people you connect with instantly  and with others..  it can take a long time, or… it just never happens.

Important here, is to be true to yourself, not someone else’s expectations, or how other’s want you to act or do something.  This is a concept not everyone understands, or appreciates.  Again, we all have  to live with our SELVES…  To do something we like means to follow one’s instincts and do and use whatever makes it happen.

The above picture is a card that I did for ME.  Not to put in the collection of cards at the church for sale, but for ME.  My wise little sister once said.. remember you are making cards to sell, that means you have to make cards that people will want and like.  Not her exact wording, but you get the drift.  She was right.  Handmade cards or any other craft, where you put your personal time and energy into creating or making something is a balancing act.

The “Artisan” “Craft” person can spend hours even months making something creating a piece they love, yet find that putting a “retail” value on it, is very difficult.  Many people simply do not want to pay for something that they feel they can get at a dollar store.. the fact that what they are getting in these places is manufactured and basically are made in the 1000s, doesn’t matter.  -” To each his/her own”

Because we are a throw away society, what is IN now , may not be in a couple of months or years..  I digress…oh dear… bottom line… we will skip the rest of this for now.. I’m sure it will crop up again =^_^=

Back to the picture.  I hadn’t picked up a paint brush in years. I mean yearS.  When I did, I found that I didn’t want to put it down.  I have been trying for a distressed look on the cards, using inks, pencils and markers… but never felt I got the results I really wanted. At times not even close.

I had my own idea, or image in my head, it just wasn’t happening with the tools I had.. BUT when I took brush in hand, and some inexpensive water colours I found on sale.. POP, SHZAMMMM, I loved what I was seeing.  Best of all the cartoon characters that I discovered in a shop in Montreal, Scrapbook Centrale, made me smile.. It was a new line for me, PaperArtsy.. you can find more about them at http://www.paperartsy.co.uk

I am letting go of what I think other’s may want, and maintaining my own sense of wacky, wild and wonderful.. I got up this morning and tweaked the card some more. It is fun fun fun.

PL Precept # 2    To Live Is to Express One’s Self

Oyashikiri

Artist Loft 4 n1 brush – Michaels ** multi functional great value

Cardstock – watercolour 130 lb. Strathmore

Artist Loft – basic 24 colour pallet – Michaels

Prang – oval 16           DeSerres

Yasuyomo – mettalics (16)     DeSerres

chop suey Tuesday

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Blue skies, dazzling sunshine, a fresh crispness in the air, it was time for a day trip. We are fortunate that we can just pick up and go, if the spirit moves us.  The landscapes look so different when they are blanketed with snow and the trees are bare of their leaves.

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Notice the happy shadows, at the time of my visit, they are free of critter tracks, but I’m sure had I ventured in further, I would have found evidence of the abundant life within the little woodland patch.

1-30-17-aI was content to simply peak silently into the little world I’d come across. Hoping that by standing very still, I’d catch a glimpse of another wandering nomad, or furry critter going about its day.

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The simplicity of the moment, the beauty of the shadow a silver-gray on the textured snow brings tranquility and beauty to my tired eyes. The natural sunlight, the fresh air, background noises of the woodland and the cars in the distance, all blend to harmonize into my moment of communion with Nature.

It takes but a second to connect, to allow God to colour our day with a joy of recognition, that it isn’t man-made news that is important, rather the essence of happiness lies within.  Life IS.

To achieve peace and happiness, we must find it first within ourselves.  Peace is a by-product of LOVE.

PL Precept # 10   Love Yourself and Others

PL Precept # 11  Always be with God

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optical artistry

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voici le moment

au fond de moi, j’en suis certaine

at this moment

I am certain

from deep within

my spirits stirs

I feel the warmth

of recognition

the comfort of knowing

a new day has begun

somewhere near

the sun is bright

even tho’

I am here in the night

God is everywhere

day and night

we are ONE

Oyashikiri

-black garlic and..

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You kidding me right… nope… black garlic… it is AMAZING, says on the container YuHongYuan peeled black garlic head – ready to eat and cooking.  You have to know that I was not going to pass an opportunity to try it out.  Delicious.

Got it at the check out aisle of the local T & T Asian grocery store.  I do believe T & T has a website, you can likely find their other locations by checking the web.  You store it in a cool dry place. room temperature, avoid sunlight.  It is a product of China, imported by Uncle T foods, Richmond, BC.

Now.. please allow me to thank everyone who commented on the mixed media book cover, I’ve now finished with the one that I started the other day.  At least for now.

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It was a learning experience for me. I especially liked the texture and look of the Sludge that I got from DeSerres, you can’t see the reharvested copper cinder, because when it dried, it dried clear, but you can feel the texture when you are touching the various parts of the cover where it was used.  The particles are in a professional grade gel medium.  Product is TriArt’s reharvested series.

I used two different  batches of Sludge, #29211 ( deep forest greens)  Batch 27783 is deep purples. Sludge is made from 100% recycled pigments  harvested from TriArt’s washing process.  Remember if you want to be sure the colours are going to be similar .. use the same batch number, the shades can vary from batch to batch.  Again you will find this product at DeSerres.

Crackling acquired by using Distress crackle paint, this is a Rangers product.  I used clear rock candy in this project.  IMPORTANT,  allow the medium to dry on its own.  I believe you get better results by being patient.book-cover-another-view

I’m keen to start another one, but first, I need to catch up on the cards for the church. Hearts and Flowers month will soon be here, and I need to get some special cards done for our PL  Card table.

Happy dabbling and playing.  When you do something, do it with a happy and joyful intent.  Pl Precept # 2  To live is to Express One’s self.

Oyashikiri

La vie de l’homme est une suite d’expressions du soi.

“Art” books

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Good morning everyone. these are a few of the books I’m recycling. A few have been worked on more that others.  At this stage, they are really being prepped, or prepared for their days of adventure ahead

Some get collage, on half a page, some a full page, this is a start to revamping them into a collection of ideas, and possibilities.  Each page is a new canvas.  To work on the pages  they have to prepared.  By working this way, one gets to see how the media works on the different qualities of paper used by the book maker.

For example, glossy papers are not handled in the same way as pages from a dictionary or an older book that may have faded yellowed pages, that you want to keep, the page still needs to be prepped but you require a product that enhance and preserve the parts of the page you want to keep.

It took me awhile to begin working with recycled books, I was always taught to treasure a book.  When I saw so many that were simply discarded, slowly my thinking changed.  One of the books in the little grouping was an old library book with the little piece of paper in the back where it would have been stamped in and out by the library staff, and a small pocket for what used to hold the library card info.

The content pages of the book were all detached from the binding, some pages so faded and old they couldn’t be read or handled that much.  When asked what would be done with the book, I was told it would be junked (garbage)  It was a copy of Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Black Arrow.  It had been published in London,W1 by Bancroft Classics, original sale price $1.25

Sorry friends, I bought it and came home with my prize.  I’ve put aside the original text from the books, and reused the cover and spine, adding different card stocks and Kraft papers to build a new body for it.  Not sure yet what I will do with the text pages, but I can use them .. and eventually I will.

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When I am working on these books, I get to read the pages, and see where the book falls open to.. meaning the previous owner had looked at these pages often, and by the highlighting, they wanted to retain, and learn the lessons, this book provided them.

That quote by Thomas Paine is “Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must undergo the fatigue of supporting it.

The Sophocles quote  ” One word frees us of all the weight and pain of life: that word is Love”

Life is for living, sharing and enjoying. Where a discard book is recycled, it once more shares “itself” with the world.

Oyashikiri

PL Precept #1   Life is Art

 

 

journals -discovery

book-cover

After a meeting at the church, a friend and I went out to lunch, after all Chinese New Year is happening, and the Mandarin on Hunt Club was having a special Chinese New Year Buffet, offering dim sum, and other special dishes. for the celebration.  Having indulged ourselves in the many dishes, and the array of desserts offered, we headed back to the church so my friend could get her car.

A stop along the way, was for me a small bonanza of free books.  Now that I’m happily working on recycling books, into my own personal versions of “junk journals” I picked out books by size and age. I was not interested in the content but rather the size .. quality of paper was also important but I was going to be using gesso or acrylic paints to change them anyway.

I was particularly drawn to this little 4x 6 book, it was nicely bound and had enough pages for me to get “junk” look to go with my other projects.  I had no intention of doing any work on the books when I got home, I planned on just putting them aside for another day.

PL Precept #7     Everything exists in Relativity

PL Precept #15    All is a Mirror

When I got in, the little book fell to the floor, I bent down to retrieve it and saw handwriting in it.  I glanced at  the writing and realized that it was someone’s journal.  The pages were highlighted, small pencil notations were on almost every second page.  Someone had read and re read the book from cover to cover.  In the back I saw that this particular book was one obtained at a conference on the theme of the book.  There was a page with the 12 steps (12 step program) and a few other pages, with goals and objectives etc.

Needless to say, it was like looking into someone’s private, very private thoughts. The person had even identified the book, in case of loss, name and address labels were prominent on both back and front covers.  The book was not current.  I wondered how it had come to be in a pile of books being given away, left out as garbage at a thrift shop.

book-pages

Without further thought, I found myself searching for papers, cuttings and colours to depersonalize the book, I removed the labels and then began to paint and glue.

Pl Precept # 19   Begin Once you Perceive

The transformation will not happen overnight, these journals take sometimes years to complete.  IF EVER….. that is just the nature of the journals. Unless you are doing a particular theme for a give away, or to share .. They are ongoing projects, and become part of your “personal” inventory of treasures

When I told my friend about the find, she asked if the person had achieved their goal..  I didn’t have the answer, it would have meant that I would have  had to read her/his thoughts and try to know his/her mind.  Some artistic expressions are to share, others… are for one’s own pleasure.

There are printed pages of the book, that I will leave as is, there are thoughts in there that I can reflect on when I visit the journal from time to time.  Like sharing with a friend.

I love sharing with a friend, and today I made a new one.  how beautiful is that.

Oyashikiri

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fog

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A shroud of fog blanketed most of the day yesterday.  It was still a great day for drive out of the city.  My iPhone had to do for snaps, in my desire to get going to enjoy the day, the camera got left behind.

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See the heart, it was a happy day, not everyone finds it a joyful experience to drive along the river, when the fog is basically what you see in all areas.  It was mild, it was actually balmy, the dogs found it wet and slushy =^_^=.  Care had to be taken in the small towns that pedestrians braving the sidewalks, didn’t get showered with the huge puddles on the roadways.

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Here is where I wanted my camera,  but, it was snug in its case back home. We were in Hawksbury, this is a favourite park when out this way, only the road leading to the “tourist” building was plowed, we were limited in where we could go.  Life is not always full of colour and blue skies.  However, in my world …. it is always wonderful, when I’m sharing time with Nature.

PL Precept # 11    Always be with God..

Today in China people are on the move, heading home for the big Spring Festival (Chinese New Year)  Are you doing anything special today?  You having a good day?

2017 is a Fire Rooster Year.. you can easily google it, to find out your sign, and the predictions for you lunar year  I won’t spoil it for you.. There are so many sites, so much information, and since our birth year is very personal, we need to make our own discoveries

Fog is a beautiful element, for a while it can blow in like a mist and change the landscape with its ethereal beauty… be aware, its delicate beauty can be disastrous if you don’t pay attention to your surroundings … It is a balance.  In life, we need to learn to maneuver in all situations with confidence and faith, that we will be guided.

Through the teachings of Perfect Liberty, receiving consultations, and working every day to live a creative life.  PL Precept #1 Life is Art     We will discover that  –PL Precept # 18  Each Moment is a turning Point.

Oyashikiri

2017-yr-rooster

c’est bizarre, c’est jeudi

What happens when suddenly you realize it is Thursday! Wow, like how did this happen, it came at me right out of the blue.

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Like the seasons, was it just yesterday I sat and watched the birds fly by on the horizon, couldn’t have been, when I look out side now, the world is white, we’ve had snow.  Lots of it, although, it was so mild yesterday, temperatures went up to 40 degrees F.  Today is going to be another mild day.

img_20151206_125944719I had thought of going to New York city for the Perfect Liberty Thanksgiving service this month.  The thought of seeing NY again, I’ve been away from some time, actually a LONG time, so close to the Chinese New Year, a side trip down to Chinatown would have been a real treat.

If you saw my blog the other day on Chinese New Year, and took the time to watch the video on the foods prepared for the special celebration, you would have seen a lot of colour, especially reds.

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It was not to be.  In the Japanese Church of Perfect Liberty, we use a word, Kamuwaza, it basically means, “God’s Act”  or through no other reason, but that “something” just doesn’t happen, due to many different circumstances.  In this case, all the signs were not pointing towards a good productive trip, my pushing the envelope to go anyway, would mean that, my desire, my wishes, were “mine” and not necessarily were they going to happen.

The TAO. also addresses this, there are times when we simply need to listen to the “signs” around us, and STOP pushing forward. It is time to STOP, reflect, and regroup.

Noooooo I’m not bummed about it, a tad disappointed maybe, but I have learned, that everything has a reason, (season) and by staying tuned in .. PL Precept # 11   Always be with God.  
PL Precept #17   Grasp what is essential   AND

PL Precept # 20 Live maintaining Equilibrium between Mind and Matter..  Things will progress and develop (PL Precept # 16)

Life is beautiful when you live the PL WAY … every day, in every way.

Oyashikiri

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wordless Wednesday 1.4.2017

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inside looking out

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YaBaDab -A-Do

q-wearing-chaffro

Awen this is not a wombat, it is Q wearing a Chaffro outfit, for the Chinese New Year, coming soon to place near you.

I learned lately that my sisters and I who are real siblings, do not speak the same language. message received, “Moana is too full. Decided to go to la la land”

What I understood, my sister for some reason had referred to herself as Moana, she ate too much of the dinner ( she had sent me pictures of the shrimp dish she had made) and now was taking herself off to bed.  I didn’t know why she was sharing this, she sends cryptic messages from time to time, so I really didn’t dwell on it too long.  However I was curious as to why she had decided to call herself Mona, so I sent back a text, asking her.

She replied to me so obviously my other sister, knew exactly what she was speaking of.. she wrote back 3 words,  Disney movie Moana (she isn’t long on texting or writing)

Ahhh older sister’s light bulb flashed, “so la la land didn’t mean you were going to bed” brilliant deduction Watson, La La Land has to be another movie.

These generation gaps, can be hard on the communication system.

So YaBaDab-a-do to you dear friends… we start another day!  Hur-Ray!  And what a day, freezing rain, on first back to work day for many of the Federal and Provincial government employees over the slippery roads we go.. hi ho hi ho hi ho

meerkat

Q was a Meerkat…The avatar above is a Wynx Tiny found in virtual worlds of Second Life and InworldZ.  For those of you who go into Virtual, Q is no longer a Meerkat but a Dinky, and still a cat, but a Dinky Siamese Cat.  The Dinky line is a product of Etheria Parrott a very talented builder/designer and artist in the Tiny community of RaglanShire. Below is picture of Q in her work studio working on her clothing line .pffft. She has a shop in Raglan and at Tiny Outpost (run by Sylkye Taffetta, who is still a meerkat)

q-working

Life is to be lived…. Live it your way… just be happy doing it.  If you are not happy, you need to revisit your decisions, and make changes.

In PL, (Perfect Liberty) we pray that each day, will enable us to find ways to enhance our time here, and that includes the happiness of others.  We strive for and want World Peace.

Oyashikiri

clearly, languages are not just words, but our understanding of them… and there-by a means of miscommunications…

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