Be Kind to Yourself

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Okay, here I go...I am not a Super Mom! Not only do I like to draw and create lovely works of art I am also an avid journaler. I love to journal. I have many, many, journals that I have written since I was 18 years old. When I found a site about art journaling I knew it was for me. Though this may not look like an art form, my page above, it is part of my art journal and yes, it is in black and white. I did this page out of a need to self-medicate.

 I was feeling a little upset and very depressed when someone said that I wasn't the type of person that appeared to be very helpful to others. I wrote out my feelings and also some of the ways that I do help others. One lesson that I learned was to not believe everything that I hear. Others do not really know what I have inside of me, and no one can "see" or "hear" of every thing that I do. Only one person can make a correct judgement of us as individuals and that is the Lord God Omnipotent.

He is the only one who knows our hearts and minds and "sees" every good thing we do. He can also help us to know ourselves by bringing to remembrance every good thing we have done to help another soul.

 It is a very hard thing to hear when a friend or acquaintance says critical things to us, even if they are true to that person.

 Sometimes we are not ready to hear the seemingly helpful comments and it can be devastating if we don't have on our

 "rubber suits."

 (My new and improved, rubber suit is put on everyday now. The improved part is that it makes all those "bad" and "hurtful" things bounce off with much gusto! This suit is going to save me from kicking myself to hard)

So, I wrote out in my art journal several of the things that I do to help others, and since you probably can't read the words

 I will share some of the kind things

 I do to help others.

I give people rides to places, I smile at people, I say hello, and compliment their choices in clothing, I offer kind words, I teach lessons in church after much preparation, I make meals for people when they are in need. I try to find others to help a person when I am not able to do it myself. I say a prayer and ask for God's help.

Above all, I do what I can and if I can't help then I just can't, and that is okay to, because there are others that can help too. I can't do any more than that. I do my best and that is sufficient.

 Please, be careful when you find yourself judging others. It is not ever the way you think it is. That is why it is not for us to judge others unless we can do it justly. And whom among us can do that?

Here is a picture of a saying that goes with this post:

from MyConcreteSky

Light and Shade

This is a portrait of my oldest son when he was around the age of two or three. He has his daddy's cap on. I snapped a picture years ago, then drew the image, this month, in pencil . (My son is much older now.) I love to draw in pencil. Not only can you erase- which an artist is told not to do, and I might tell you why later- but you can make the marks light or dark, broad or thin, and it is easy to smudge. Yes, smudging is good.

This picture is graphite on white, or black on white. It is what artists call Light and Shade. The way the light shines on an object tells us about its form and texture. What I did here is to draw dark marks on light paper. I drew the shade not the light. This is called "chiaroscuro," which is Italian for "bright-dark."

I also used a tonal scale to depict the darkest and not so dark areas to give my image a 3-D or three dimensional look.  Can't you just reach out and pinch those cute little cheeks? I am always so amazed when an image drawn on a flat piece of paper can look like it is three dimensional.

The Third ATC in the Series-Freedom

Isn't this one appropriate for July?

I know that the 4th has gone by but I am counting this as part of our country's celebration.

 I used some old stamps I had in my collection to embellish this card.

I used the same techniques that I used on the first two cards-already posted.  (see July 21, 22, 2011)

Coming soon! I have been working on my "Life's Lessons" project and can't wait to share what I have put on my scrapbook page. I just hope I can convey what I have learned about Being Aware this month.

I will be posting this before the first of August. I hope you will come back and take a look at what I have done.

In this ATC I have also used a symmetrical balance. Can you see how it is done? The stamps balance each other, the bottle cap and the spinner balance each other, and the word Freedom and the three buttons balance each other. For my first ATC I did not tell you what kind of balance I used. You may be able to discern that for yourself using these other descriptions as a guide. I also used another artists' tool when making these cards and I will discuss this other tool when I post the last ATC in this series. There are only four ATC's in this series, and this is the third.

Again, thanks for looking at my blog. I would appreciate more comments if you have a chance. Thanks!

The Second in the Series

Another ATC and this one is called HOPE.

I made this one similar to the first one with the Pokemon card being the base and then painting and adding texture paint.

 I also sprayed this with glitter paint and added the embellishments. I also made the flower by stamping, water coloring, then adding some teeny, tiny, metal balls in the center and on the edges as you can see.

These projects are so fun but they still take me a lot of time to make them.

 I guess that is because I have to think so much about every piece I make. I want them to "look right."

You know, in order for art to look right it has to balance. This can be different for each artist and it can be different depending on the effect the artist wants. Many people like symmetrical pictures where the left side and the right side have the same weights of objects or are evenly proportioned. There is also asymmetrical where the objects in the picture are unevenly proportioned. An artist can also have an unbalanced picture.  Whatever feeling the artist chooses it is always good to decide before the picture is drawn which objects are going to go where.
This is called Composition and Viewpoint.

The large flower in my ATC is balanced by the buttons, letter blocks, and butterfly. The flower takes up the upper half of the card and the other embellishments take up the lower half. This is a symmetrical balance.

An ATC-Artist Trading Card-Dream

I made some ATC's this month;

This is my first one. It is called DREAM.

This is how I made it: I used an old Pokemon card from my kids pile of extras and started painting. I also used some thick texture paint that I had on hand and sprayed it with some glitter paint. I then stamped the card with a word stamp and attached some embellishments.

 Let me know what you think. Thanks for visiting my blog.

Some artwork, finally!

Okay, this is the first drawing I am posting to show you all what I have been working on.

 This was mainly for practice and I drew this freehand using a picture for reference. It was a lot of detail and it was fun to try to make it look like the picture.

Of course, this is not exactly like the picture.

 It is from the book, "Once Upon a Time, a Treasury of Classic Fairy Tale Illustrations."

 I am assuming that because the woman has a shepard's hook that she is Bo Peep, so I am naming this picture

 Bo Peep.

Being Creative

I am being very creative lately so I have been busy. I am making my scrapbook page for the Life Lesson project of "Be Aware." It will be an on-going project for this month. I will be adding things, pictures, sayings, etc, as I think about what this means to me.

I am also working on some ATC's. These are little pieces of artwork. They are 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" big. There are places on-line that you can trade them. That is the only way you can get them from others is to trade. So, I am going to make some and then find someone to trade with. These ATC's are small and quick to make so it is a fun way to be creative when a person doesn't have much time, like me. If anyone who reads this is interested in participating, just let me know and I can instruct you, or help you find resources to this activity.

I will be posting pictures soon. Just wanted to let you know something was coming.