Confession...I flinched

Inside Front Cover

Explore Colors in Flesh

My confession: Do you remember the verb form of funk in earlier post about being in funkified mood? Well, it is flinch. And I did. I was having so much fun exploring all the colors in flesh with my new paints. Then there was that whole big corner of the page. I flinched.

I had a vague notion of what I was going to do from the beginning but that critic fairy hiding in my head sometimes made me flinch and I withdrew. I figured out that I was trying to give too much thought to what I would do. I mean, does it really matter? If I don't like it I can just throw the page away and start over or gesso right on top of all of it, or cut it up and use bits and pieces on another page. So last night, having all this worked out with my critic fairy, I just went in an started playing ART like I know how. Just do it. And don't you know, I gotta have some tissue paper on my page.

More later,

Sharon

More FLESH

You know, for close up detail, just click on the picture. About Miss Piggy, you'll know which one she is...well she came to the party uninvited. I decided she could stay.
So now what, you ask. I probably won't work much more this weekend and I can tell you I'm getting FLESH out of my system. I was challenged to try a different FLESH tone for each of these color fairies. Working this small is also a challenge.
I hope you are enjoying watching my page in progress. Are you?
More later,
Sharon

FLESH

More later,
Sharon

I Choose FLESH

The end results may not be spectacular but you can watch as I go. Start at the bottom of this post and scroll up. This will be the inside front cover page of my True Colors Journal.

Controlling Luck

True Color Princess

She sits inside of the back cover of my True Colors Journal. Remember my focus color is flesh and I really enjoyed the challenge of this princess on acrylic paper.

My doodles earlier this week have inspired me. I can't wait for the weekend so I can start on the inside front cover with this inspiration. Actually, I might get a little Art-At-The-Desk Time for a 'head' start. (pun intended)

More later,

Sharon

True Colors Back Cover

I haven't done much more to the front cover. Just a little tweaking. I guess I will finish it when I know what the title is. You know, it's one of those things that you wake up one morning and know. In the meantime, I'm am loving the challenge of Flesh, my color.
Have you ever done a piece of art and been pleased with it enough to show and tell and then many years later you come across the piece and wonder why you thought it was good or at least OK? I'm wondering if someday I will feel that way about the things that I am doing these days.
More later,
Sharon

True Colors Cover

I choose Flesh

I may or may not be finished with this front cover for my True Colors Journal. Probably not, because I have such a hard time with collage. I have to study it for a while. It doesn't come easy for me. But oh how I do love this lady and this is my first real effort with my new heavy body acrylics. You may remember I told about this new project back in early September. Can't believe it has taken me over a month to get started.

For my cover, I'm using an old gutted peel and stick album. It is actually the one on top shown on the left. I recovered it with a duck or canvas cloth and gessoed it. I plan to work on my pages unbound so I can have the freedom of working flat. I still have some work to do with my chosen color, flesh, before starting with the color inspiration of each artist featured in the True Colors book.

I have some thoughts about the direction I will go with this; however, since I never get where I'm going with my planned direction, I will just keep those thought to myself for now.
More later,
Sharon
PS I had a great ART weekend. How bout U?

Reflections and Layers

I am absolutely frayed. Whatever that is. My head and stomach is swirling in the best awful way. I am in some kind of overload. Nothing is going well today. Everything I try fails. I shall get a grip and Chill.

I won't even try to tell or show the things I have tried. I will just tell why there is swirling in the pit of my stomach. This type of anxiety is new to me this year and I have noticed it comes on when bouncing from blog to blog and finding the most incredible inspiration and it feels like it is going to burst me wide open like a water balloon that is filled and stretched until the color is faded and then ... bang!

That's it, True Colors A palette of Collaborative Art Journals, a Somerset Studio Publication. Thursday my friend, Susan invited me to borrow her copy of True Colors and Transparent Art for weekend reading. I started looking at True Colors Thursday evening and knew immediately that I couldn't just look at the pictures as I usually do most magazines. I had to read every word and then I tried to devour the photographs of each artist work as fast as I could because I felt compelled to hurry to the next page. I knew there was more and more and more. But I didn't even dare thumb the pages for a little glimpse. I didn't want to ruin the surprise as I turned each page and I couldn't let it get out of context. As I have just discovered art journaling this year I kept thinking who has been hiding this from me. Why am I just now seeing this wonderful book. And why am I just now discovering this wonderful art form. These artist started this project five years ago! Five years of my life have been wasted without seeing this and doing this. Yes I have seen it mentioned in blogs and I knew it had to be a wonderful publication but I never fathomed anything could make such an impression on me. I thought about how each of them open the treasure every couple of weeks to find a bit of art growing with time. And how they must have wondered how their treasure would be when it returned to them finished.

I haven't even dared peek inside Transparent Art. Oh yes I want to and I'm going to but this swirling has got to stop before I do. And to calm me I will try again some of the earlier failures of the day.