More Journal Pages for :Lynn & Mim

I had two journals in front of me this week so I tackled both of them yesterday.

This is Lynn's page. As you all know she sews, quilts, paints, does fabric assemblage and many other things. I can't keep up with her! My first thought was to paint her under a "Dream Quilt" and to have her wonderful cat Henry V napping with her. The poem came later.

I used watercolors (mistake!) to paint on loose canvas. The paint kept beading up but I worked it in with a lot of patience! It needed some pizazz so I added glitter here and there. It didn't scan well but it sure shines in person.

For the back page I used my greeting card program and chose a quilt background. Then I chose a shape to place the poem in. Just a quick little diddy I wrote in a few minutes.

I'm no Emily Dickinson! Anyway, there you go. A tribute to Lynn and her sewing talents!

Now for Mim's pages...

Mim asked us to make her journal about women. Strong women, magical women, etc.

I went through my archives and found my Wallflowers and Bagladies that some of you may remember. The Wallflowers were named so because of the patterned paper I painted them on which resembled wallpaper. The Bagladies were all drawn and painted on brown paper bags.

I love that there are nine of them and nine of us sharing this journal. Kismet!

It took me a while to scan them and print them the right sizes for the collage but it was fun putting them all together.

The poem on the back is what I came up with after looking at all of 'my girls' together.

Wallflowers and Bagladies,

Strong.

Independent.

Thinkers, dreamers, doers.

Conquering fears,

persuing dreams,

rising to the top

like the sweetest cream.

So there you have it! I hope you ladies like your pages ;)

IF : Leap in a pile

I just finished this illustration to go with a poem a friend wrote to submit to Highlights magazine. How could I not post it this week? I'm actually going to get to the studio at some point today or tomorrow to paint something else for this word. Still, I wanted to share this one...especially for my good pal Ms. Froggie!

Here's the poem by my friend, Richard Robins.

Some frogs are green.

Some frogs are brown.

Some are skinny,

Some are round.

Some are big with

bulging eyes,

While others are a

miniature size.

For Illustration Friday's prompt : Leap

acrylic and colored pencil on Canson pastel paper

See other Leap post here!

IF : Poem...Drink Your Tea

Drink your tea slowly and reverently,

as if it is the axis

on which the world earth revolves-

slowly, evenly, without

rushing toward the future.

Live the actual moment.

Only this moment is life.

~Thich Nhat Hahn~

I searched a million (or so it seemed) poems on the internet to come up with something that sparked a painting. Here it is, a painting I did today just for Illustration Friday. I've titled it "Tea and Ginkos." The cup and saucer are very Wabi-Sabi. Who needs a perfect elipse?

inspiration and acrylic on canvas