New art Dolls

I've been busy. These are my new loves. Each have their own personal story. They are selling quite fast, but I still have a few in my shop. I will be making more girlies next week. Happy weekend! xo

I've been working on many projects

Here's a peek at some of the art I've created lately. Right now I am passionate about my art dolls. They are called Snippets of Soul Stories. Each one has a story. And the stories are snippets from my past. I'll be teaching a class on how I make them soon. To see more, see my facebook page at tarasartcamp. Hugs! xoxo

Pages from another journal

I work in several journals at the same time. I really like this journal, the size, the format, the pages etc. I hand bound it, and created the journal myself. I'm on a roll with this one so I'll be working in it the next few days.

Has it been so long....

since I last posted?!    Time does get away from me!

I was fortunate enough to be invited to an art retreat in Port Townsend a couple of weekends ago. It was so fun to be with wonderful creative women and spend time creating art and laughing. Pure bliss. I'm back at rediscovering old journals and re-working them. I've had this one a long time, and I feel it needs an update. I love working over all my old stuff. They are ever evolving and ever changing. I'm feeling an urge thou, to create in a different medium,,,maybe fabric...we'll see.

A busy day in the studio

I have been busy working in my studio the last couple of days. I am really enjoying all my collage bits. I am using what I have on hand from past projects. The cnavas will be in my etsy shop soon. Thank you for stopping by.

A new hand made original journal

I recently started a new journal. This one is completely made by hand. I made the covers and also did the binding. The covers are canvas board and I use polyester linen thread for the binding. It measures 8 x 10 and has lots of different size pages in it. More to come,,,,stay tuned... :)

Journal pages, my best friend

This is a small journal I carry around in my purse. I used watercolor, graphite, and collaged an old photo. When I create the text, this will be about my best friend who has helped me through difficult times.

A new journal that I am working in

This is not really an old journal, but it is one that I am reworking. I take my old work in the journal and embellish it with my new style. Some pages I will keep just the way they are. This journal is one that I bought at Daniel Smith several years ago. It is from India and the pages are super thick. I like that. The pages can hold a lot of medium and collage. On my next post I will try to show some "before" and "after" shots of the same work as I re-invent the pages.

My work still carries the strong images of masks. I am not sure what that is all about, but most of my people are wearing masks. I kind of like that. Maybe I am hiding behind a mask too.

xo

Journal pages

I created this in the old ledger I have been working on. I love how it wrinkles when I use water colors on the pages. They always flatten out so if you are concerned about wrinkles when you make your pages don't be,,, you can always flatten them with a book too. I call this spread "What do you say after you say Hello"!

Owls

I added some background color to finish this piece. Now that I have finished I think I liked it better with the plain white background. I really do love the lines in this old journal ledger, they add interest. I love how it crinkles with wet watercolors too. It always flattens out later.

Art journal

I love how my journal is getting fuller. I changed my color palette for this one. I am still re-working over old pages. I am using acrylic and watercolor.  I hope you get to take time to work in your journal, you will be glad you did!

Mr Fox

My dear friend Mary sent me a little stuffed fox. This is my painted interpretation with a little hand written note attached to the page. So sweet, I love it.
This is the journal I am re-creating over old pages. I like how some of the old text and drawings show through.

Pages before Feb 2nd

(Click to make large)

More art journaling

I created this little owl in my small leather artist journal. I am using a few rubber stamps to add just the right touch. The words "take note" is a rubber stamped image. I used gesso to cover up the old design.

I am using a small face as part of the design on the right for this page,,, a small element that doesn't take over the whole drawing. I like that!  I added some journaling thoughts after I completed the drawing.

I incorporated my rubber stamped image in the design of this drawing, see how her hands are part of the rubber stamped image?

I am still working in my small leather journal. (see previous posts) Adding lots of new elements, gessoing over the old, and painting new images. My favorite art supply right now is gesso!  I am really loving the way my new/old journal is turning out!  More pages are coming soon.

A new print and an artist page from my journal

I have always loved this bird guy that I painted about a year or so ago, so I am making him available as a Giclee print,,,he will be in my shop later this week.

Here is another page in my journal. If I can paint a page a day I should be finished with this artist journal in a couple of months! Does he look like anyone you know? :)

More of my leather journal

I have been busy painting on canvases, and I am getting ready to fill my shop with lots of goodies. In the meantime, I have been working in this journal,,,that I LOVE. There is so much texture and see through words/images from my old journaling. I am covering up the old stuff and adding new. (click on image to make large)

Have a nice weekend.

My leather journal

I am re-working an old leather journal I have had for a number of years. I don't like my old art in it, so I am gessoing over everything and starting over. The journal is a piece of art in itself which I will share in a later post, I need to get some good lighting to do it justice.  The journal is small, about 3 x 5 inches,,,,and look at all the lovely pages in it!

Artist Journal

I keep several journals going at one time. I made this one by hand, including the covers which are made from canvas board. Each page is torn individually to fit into the journal. I add color to all the pages, then they are hand stitched and bound into the book. I am available for teaching this wonderful technique in 2011.

Some new pages (maybe an old one)

I may have posted one of the journal pages,,,, hmmm,,,but the one on the left is new. I am using a number 8 graphite pencil which I really like for the lines. It smears slightly and allows me to manipulate the line a little.  I used artist grade acrylics and Pan pastels.

Theater Prop

I have been stealing away time to work in my journal. This is the latest page. Now that the illustration is complete I can start the text and incorporate it within the image.