Happy New Year

2008 was a fast moving year, full of joys and sorrows, gifts and loss. I am not sorry to see it go.

I have great hope for 2009. Hope for this country, for my family and loved ones, for us all.

A good friend and I shared lunch today and talked of how as we are aging, we are not as willing to accept people or situations that are unpleasant to us anymore. We hold our tongues more and let others make their own choices. We are learning to just be still and find some inner peace.

Here's hoping that 2009 brings to all of us more creativity, love, and peace.

Blessings

Well, Christmas is almost here and I have been busy shopping and in my spare moments, making more journals. My plan for the new year is not only to make more journals but to actually keep a journal as well. I do have a journal that I write in sporadically, but I plan on keeping an art journal to store my ideas and sketches.

This year has brought me many blessing, and one is my friend Lynda. She not only shared a lot of her art with me, but shared techniques, ideas, day trips, and laughter. Her ideas spurred me on in many directions and for that I am grateful.
I think we have all been blessed this year with so many wonderful publications from artists like Kelly Rae Roberts and Susan Tuttle, among others, who have shared so much of themselves and their processes. And most of all, I am so grateful that there are so many artists who share their insights, art and so much of themselves in their blogs.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Artist Board

In my last post, I asked if you like artist board or canvas. I shared that I have fallen hard for artisit board. Here is the most recent piece that I have done with artisit board. Since taking this photo, the piece has changed a bit, but that's another great thing about this product, it is very forgiving. I have a lot of cloth canvases around my studio, and I have decided to use it as a mounting board for quilt pieces, instead of the base for my art.

With the artist board, it was easier to add embellishments and to stamp. The photo doesn't show very well, but the skirt is gathered in tulle, and the dress is partially painted and part magazine pieces. So much easier to be creative with the board.