Print this and use it in shadowboxes, for collage, mixed media art projects, scrapbooking, paper chain… lots of fun stuff! I think I may paint this pattern over my mantle, personally ;)

Print this and use it in shadowboxes, for collage, mixed media art projects, scrapbooking, paper chain… lots of fun stuff!

Pink and yellow chintz…

I’ve been inspired, the chintz flood gates have opened! ;)

I have tons of little fun sketches and doodles on shopping lists, notes, to-do lists… they are everywhere. So, I decided to cut them out and keep them in a drawer to collage with later. I even have stacks of fun receipts, scratched lottery tickets and other “slice of life” slips of paper… all telling a story. (Sort of like Babs’ 10 foot long Ralph’s register receipt of 30+ animal cookie boxes when I was 5? hmmm?)

Here are two of the collages…

I water colored a quick background on the first one… then glued down my house sketches from our Oak Island trip, some of them I punched holes in, then added some texture with colored pencil on top. Voila… an art journal entry!

The second one was from a month of doodling. I wish I would have put down a background color first, but… it’s a start. This page sort of tells a story of that month. I remember each little sketch and my level of boredom during each. Splendid!

On that note…It’s sort of strange how you can look at a piece of art you created and recall the emotion you were feeling as you made it, or at least what you were doing when you put it together. I used to be able to pick up a necklace and remember which sitcom or movie I was watching when I wrapped that wire… sometimes, I would name the necklace after the TV show’s theme, plot line or character. I went through a Sundance Channel phase where everything was named after artsy documentaries, an odd subtitle or things you’d find on Robert Redford’s ranch or in his catalog. I love theming, don’t you? ;)

Here’s the latest art journal. I think he’ll be put on the front of a card and above him in scrolly writing… “Who is having a Birthday” or “Who needs cheering up” or “Who needs to get out the house more”. The possibilities are endless :)

I’m thinking I’ll paint an entire series of cottages now :)

And here’s a piece I started back in 2003-2004… just finished it tonight (not sure I like it, though)… but it was a cute idea…

I found inspiration in the art of Mary Blair for the top painting, and the barn painting came from an old album cover, but I can’t remember which? I seem to recall the artist was Shag‘s inspiration. If you want to explore new ways of doing art (music etc), you could read about your favorite artist and find out who inspired them, and work all the way back… and it’s fun to do the research, too :)