Change Your Perspective, Change Your World

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In the Phantom Tollbooth (one of my favorite books), Milo meets Alec Bing -- a boy his age, who was born with his head at the height it will be when he's an adult.  He grows down, not up.

Because of the way he grows, Alec has a very specific point of view.  He thinks it must be very confusing to live in Milo's world; Since Milo is growing from the ground up, his point of view keeps changing. 

I'm so grateful for the ability to look at things from a fresh perspective.  In fact, when I am irritated by someone or troubled by a situation, the first thing I try to do is shift my point of view.  If you change your perspective, you can change your experience of the world.

As one of my teachers once said, "the best way to get rid of an irritating person in your life is to stop being irritated.  Be compassionate instead."

This mini-canvas was made using lots of techniques for texture -- molding and fiber paste, glass bead gel, embossing powder, gesso, gel medium ....  Here's a fast forward of how I created it.  I hope you enjoy it!

Linking to the wonderful blog hops at Paint Party Friday and Art Journal Everyday, as well as the challenges at City Crafter (color palette - peach and rose),  Eclectic Paperie (use gel medium), and  Our Creative Corner (anything goes)

I so appreciate you stopping by! Please leave a few words to let me know you were here.  I will answer any questions as quickly as I can.

Blooming True and Tutorial

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Today, Sunday, I visited Surtex - The Surface and Textile Design Show - at the Javits Center in NY.

There, I met up with these lovely ladies, Shannon Crandall on the left, and Pam Brewer Varacek, two amazing artists I met through Flora Bowley's Bloom True course.  We had a lot of fun walking around, checking out all the different booths and amazing art. 

Over the weekend, I prepped a canvas with bits and pieces of leftover gelli plate prints...

 

Using a white pencil, I sketched out a design...

Using a paint chip, I lightly scraped a mixture of phalo blue and titanium buff across the canvas, to quiet the background and eliminate some of the riot of color from my gelli prints.

using a mixture of glazing medium and fluid acrylic paints, I started painting in my design, leaving the gelli prints showing through the glaze:

(I hope you can see how the glaze adjusts the color and ties areas together without eliminating the underlying design.)

I painted in a face...

and some petals...

and when I came home tonight, I added some text in honor of my Bloom True friends:

I love how bits and pieces of the gelli prints show through the glaze.  It is so much richer than if I just painted this image on a white background.  Give this technique a try, and see how it informs you choices of color and mark making!

Linking to: Inspire Me Monday, Make it Monday, Artful Times (blooming),  Simon Says Stamp (flowers),  Inspiration Avenue (Girls with Flowers in their Hair) and Creative Everyday.

Congratulations to Glenda! You won a custom made pamphlet stitch journal by commenting on this post! Email me at jessicabethsporn (at) gmail (dot) com with your snail mail address. Also let me know if you would like the journal to have a special theme or title on the cover and I will be happy to make one just for you!

Thank you for visiting! I read and treasure every comment and will answer any questions as quickly as I can.

Stencil Test Drive: Apples & Pomegranates & Giveaway!

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It's time for another Stencil Test Drive, featuring the Apples & Pomegranates stencil from Stencil Girl Products,

and the artistry of


Carolyn Dube
Maria McGuire and
Revlie Schuit

I'm so excited to see what they did with this stencil!

Apples and pomegranates are very biblical fruits; I have used these motifs in many of my Judaica designs for Aviv Judaica.

My daughter Mariel graduated this weekend from William & Mary, and will be spending time in Israel this summer on Birthright.  So it seemed fitting to use this stencil to create a journal for her for this exciting trip!

I started with a collection of papers I had previously made with my gelli plate.  They were just waiting for the perfect journal idea...

One thing I love about this stencil is that you can isolate the top and bottom rows of fruits to create a border:

or isolate one of the branches to create a border:

I had fun using parts, and then all of the stencil, to create different looks for this journal.  Here are the front and back:

 and some of the inside pages:

Here's a fast forward video of some of my process.  I'm sorry about the number of times my left hand is in the way -- I'm working on finding a different camera set up!

I hope this inspires you to do some stenciling! Please visit:

Carolyn Dube

Maria McGuire and

Revlie Schuit

to see what they did with the Apples & Pomegranate stencil!

 

Linking to Paint Party Friday (so sorry not to get around last week -- I was at Mariel's graduation), and Art Journal Everyday, as well as to the challenge at Fashionable Stamping (Anything Goes)!

And now for a giveaway!   If you'd like a pamphlet stitch journal designed by me, please let me know in your comment before Sunday night, and one random winner will get one!

And finally, I just have to share a picture from Mariel's graduation.  I'm so proud of her!

(that's my mom on the left, my dad in the middle, Mariel, Samy, me and Freddie.)

Thank you for visiting! I read and treasure every comment and will answer any questions as quickly as I can.

Calling on Krishna for Inspiration and Wisdom

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As is usually the case, to paraphrase Charles Dickens, 

It [is] the best of times, it [is] the worst of times ... it [is] the season of Light, it [is] the season of Darkness, it [is] the spring of hope, it [is] the winter of despair...

On the one hand, my daughter Mariel is graduating from college.  This is such a time of hope and excitement -- her life lays before her, and it's looking full of promise.  She was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship, and will spend all of next year in the Czech Republic, teaching English and being an ambassador for the United States.  For her, it is the best of times, a season of light, and the spring of hope.

But then, as my heart is filled with joy, it is also filled with sadness.  A dear, dear friend -- a person who has dedicated his life to charity and service -- is loosing his third bout with cancer, and now his time is running out. 

How do I hold the joy and the sorrow, at the same time?  How do I feel the exhilaration of a life picking up speed and taking off, while holding the grief of a life cut too short?  Why must it be this way?

I turned to my journal, my place of refuge, where I can work out my feelings without judgment.   First I covered a spread with lots of leftover book pages, and then started sketching with white paint.  And who should emerge, but Lord Krishna.   In the Baghavad Gita, Krishna, a reincarnation of Vishnu or God in a human form, reminds Arjuna (who, faced with a fratricidal war, turns to his charioteer Krishna for counsel on the battlefield) of his duty - his dharma - and shares the wisdom of yoga, the path to devotion, and the doctrine of selfless action.  Krishna reminds Arjuna that everything -- the good and the bad -- is a manifestation of the divine:

I am the beginning, middle and ending of everything created.  Of all knowledge, I am the knowledge of Atman [the Higher Self].  And in controversy, I am reason itself... I am time eternal... I sustain everyone as I dispense the fruits of all actions [karma].  I am also death who devours everyone and everything.  Yet in the same moment, I am the source of all yet to be born...   (Chapter Ten)

 He also reminds Arjuna to do his duty (which in this case is going into battle) with devotion, remembering that:

Whatever is born will undoubtedly die; whatever is dead certainly will be born... Beings are all unmanifested.  At midstate they're manifested; and unmanifested again at the end ... The Self, which exists in everyone, the indweller, is invulnerable.  Therefore, you do not have to grieve.  (Chapter Two)

These words inspired me, and gave me great comfort and permission to hold both the happy and the sad in my heart, remembering that they are both part of our sacred universe.  In the end, my wish for my daughter and my friend is the same:
 

 
As the song goes, love is all there is.

I find painting faces quite a challenge - but thanks to all the amazing tutorials out there, and the most recent lesson on Lifebook, I am starting to get more comfortable.  And the flowers and little orange bird on Lord Krishna's shoulder? Collaged from gelli prints and headed over to Carolyn Dube's gelli party.

Linking to the blog hops at Mandarin Orange Mondays,  Inspire Me Mondays, Monday Mantras, Make it on Monday,  Art Journal Journey (challenge yourself) and to the challenges at Simon Says Stamp (things with wings),  Simon Says Stamp and Show (Inspired By).

Thank you for visiting! I read and treasure every comment and will answer any questions as quickly as I can.

Art Journaling From the Heart

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Hi there to all of you amazing people who follow and/or read my blog.  Welcome and thank you to all the new followers!

I thought I'd share a look inside my art journal.  There's been a lot going on in my life, and my journal is where I process it.

(And stick with me because there's a quick video of my process at the end of this post.)

I almost always clean my workspace by collaging leftover papers into my journal.  Sometimes I spill my feelings out on these randomly collaged pages. 

If the words are expressing angry or frustrated feelings, it is easy to pour them out, knowing that eventually I will cover them over with art, as I call on my muse to bring me peace of mind.

Sometimes my journal pages are reminders to myself of quotes I love, words of wisdom and comfort:

Sometimes, I have so much to say that I scribble over what I've already written....but who cares?  It's just my journal!

Sometimes I use my journal to honor someone or an event that I want to remember.   

Lillian Gallashaw, the woman who helped my parents raise my brother, sister and me, and who raised three children on her own as a single mom, passed on at the age of 87.  She played such a big part in my life. She had strong opinions about everything - politics, race relations, work, my friends and especially my boyfriends!  She was with my family for over 35 years, after which she retired.  My parents had always insisted on paying into social security for her, so she was able to retire comfortably.  I am so grateful to have had her in my life.   The day of her wake, I came home and created this in my journal to pay tribute to her:

Here is a fast forward video of my process.



Linking to Art Journal Everyday, Paint Party Friday, Pin and Tack,  Our Creative Corner (Anything Goes), Artsyville, Glue if Tuesday, Inspiration Journal (favorite quotes) and Illustration Friday (tribute).

Thank you for visiting!  I truly love to hear from you.  I read and treasure every comment and will answer any questions as quickly as I can.

I Love to Teach

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I love to make art, but I love to share my love of art with others even more.  I got to do so Sunday at The Ink Pad in New York where I taught two classes.  In the morning, 18 students learned all different stenciling techniques:

We used sprays, dabbers, portfolio pastels,

acrylics dabbed on with cosmetic sponges and brushes...

We all had lots of fun getting colorful and messy.

The morning culminated in making an hombre style collage:

Which we then painted into a citiscape, using glazing techniques in the process!

In the afternoon, several new students came, and many of the morning students stayed.  The fun continued as we explored molding paste, fiber paste, glass bead gel, embossing powder and more to make a mixed media canvas.

Unfortunately, Sandy and Stephanie had to leave before we got to our group picture...

It was such a happy day!   One of the things I liked best was how differently everyone's projects turned out, even though they all followed the same steps with most of the same materials.  And thankfully, I had my ace assistant, Samy, with me - and she took all these great photos (and I'm holding her project!).  I can never remember to do this when I'm teaching.  So thank you Samy! 

Thank you to The Ink Pad for having me.  It was so much fun!

Thank you for visiting! I read and treasure every comment and will answer any questions as quickly as I can.