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Posts tagged ‘life’

Grunge art my way

grunge-water-colour

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

Thursday Doors 2.2.17

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I’ve always enjoyed driving by this building, on this particular day, I was drawn to it, the sky behind, the sprinkle of snow…. it was eye-catching.  It has a practical use I’m sure, never-the-less it was “king for the day” in my day of photo possibilities.

A moment in time capture in a lens, without the surrounding buildings, or traffic on the roads, it could be on a desolate patch of land, in an abandoned airport..  Loved it.. Hope you find it stirs your imaginations too.

Happy Thursday everyone… PL Precept # 2  To Live is to Express One’s Self

Oyashikiri

Ottawa, Hwy 31 and Leitrim Rd.

 

 

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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making friends

As I pondered my life this morning, my Mother in the hospital, cherished friends in far distant lands, others busy with their lives I reflected on the current project I’m working on.

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This is another of the books I collected out of the throw away box.  It was published under the direction of the Baptist Union of Great Britain and Ireland, The church of England, The church of Scotland,  the  list goes on.  It has maps and plans inside, along with the text of course.  The cover was rather battered, especially I don’t know how long it had been exposed to the elements or where it had been prior to being thrown away.

I’ve used masking tape to protect the center of the cover and I’m working at giving the rest of the cover some strength and I hope character back.

Our lives are lived pretty much like this book.  We are conceived, given birth to, presented to the world, and then……………  who knows where we will go or end up.  Each one of us  has our own  path, destination/goal, and how we achieve or get there.. is our own personal journey.

Facing the possibilities of my Mother’s journey, gives me plenty of time to reflect on my own journey.  Which brings me back to friendships.  Some friends you have known, have carved a place in your heart that will last forever, yet you may never see them again, for their paths have gone in different directions.  Or… the value of the friendship was not balanced, that happens too.

The one person, that is the most important person of all, is yourself.    When I’m working doing art projects, or creating, I’m allowing my self-expression to be seen or heard.  I may be the only one who sees it, but the act of BEING is…. in fact.. making friends with mySELF.

PL Precept #11  Always be with God.

PL Precept # 15   All is a Mirror

GOD is the constant in our lives.  When we are quiet, silent, STILL, we feel and hear from within, not the external machines and noises around us.

PL Precept 20  Live Maintaining Equilibrium between mind and matter

(Vivez en harmonie materielle et spirituelle)    this is so important for us to work towards achieving.

PL Precept #1   Life is ART

Oyashikiri

Thanksgiving Service tonight at 7 pm.  See you then =^_^=

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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no words needed

Not one person walked by this car without whipping out their phones to take a picture. I did wait awhile to see if the owner would come out.  But no, so I captured a few myself and left the area.  There was a whole theme on the top too.  It would have been hard to get a picture without the other getting another person in the picture.  That is how much attention this car was getting.

The hours, the attention to detail, this was  a dedicated passion. That edging is coins, pennies, dimes and nickles.  There was something to see, everywhere you looked. Kudos to the owner of the car, that is what I call, personal expression!

=^_^=  What will you do today to make someone smile….

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smilePencil

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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lazy day

There is something to be said about a cold sunny day, when you can see the shimmering bling of the icicles as they hang from the roof edge.  I have been trying to listen to the good advice from friends, “stay in, stay out of the cold, REST”, I think I’m soon going to be able to say, its been 4 weeks now! cough, cough, splutter, sneeze, wheeze and darn I’m tired.

windows-iceThis is a much better shot of the beautiful sculptured ice.  The sky was the beckoning blue that makes me want to be outside.  I don’t care it is cold, I’m happy outside, I layer up and I’m toasty warm.. the air is so fresh, crisp and deliciously brisk.

Thanks for the great feedback on the Sludge project, thought I’d show you a sneak peek.

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This is a piece of a cover that I was very taken with.  I liked it so much I kept the magazine for ages.  Doing these “Art” journals has given me a new way to display and keep the pictures I like, without keeping a whole magazine.  Eventually some time in the future, I will add to the pages.. this is the fun of it all.. there is no rush, no deadlines, just a great way to have quality time with myself doing “stuff” I like.

PL Precept #1   Life is Art

PL Precept # 18  Each Moment is a Turning Point

Make each moment count, enjoy being alive, be grateful, and appreciate that God is in your life…

PL Precept #11   Always be with God

When we live with love in our hearts…it is so much easier to express ourselves.

PL Precept #2   To live is to Express One’s Self.

Oyashikiri

Sludge

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Take a discarded children’s book, or any other book you have or find, and turn it into a working surface to paint, or create a new image on.

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As an artist or crafts person, we are often looking for a place to try out different ideas, I first say pages being reconstructed when I saw a junk journal being made.  In the video the artist was taking old flyers and other junk mail and repurposing it into a journal, where she then proceeded to embellish it so that it could be used for  journaling, art ideas, thoughts, project possibilities… every scrap of paper, cardstock was recycled into a work of “personal” art.

The idea of recycling books no longer wanted or enjoyed as they were, struck me as a good one, especially I had books and magazines everywhere that I could use to jump start my imagination.

I found this product, Sludge by Tri Art on the shelves of the local DeSerres Art Supply shop.  Gesso was more expensive,  and the colour selections I had with the Sludge offered a challenge that I wanted to take.  Where at one time I had a brush or palette knife attached to the end of my arms at all time, it has not been the case for many many years.    Now when I enter an Art Supply place.. it is a brand new experience.

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In PL, Perfect Liberty, we believe that everyday is a brand new experience.  To an artist of life, it presents us with a brand new canvas.  It is up to us, to be as creative as we can be, to find happiness, and share that happiness with others.

On their label it says.. “be a sludge head” enjoy the satisfaction of helping the environment You can find out more by visiting their website.. http://www.tri-art.ca

Made in Canada…(Kingston, Ontario)

You might not paint, or be a paper crafter, but I bet you know someone who is. Check it out.

PL Precept # 1   Life is Art

PL Precept # 2   To live is to Express One’s Self

Oyashikiri

The black is intense!

The green -forest-  check the batches, different batches will give a slightly different colour.

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