art junk girl

Circus Muse~

Apparently, my muse likes the circus theme...here are a few of the many doodle pages that have ensued...

Will be back with more soon. xo lia

Help! I'm drawing and I can't stop!!!!

Dear Friends...where have I been lately...well, I've been drawing. Funny thing (well, cough, not so funny) is that I can't stop. I am totally obsessed. Ofcourse, those who know me will be like, "noooo, you? obsessed? haaaaa". Well, drawing has always been something that's been in the back of my mind, but not something I've done every day. Now I am losing my mind over it...it's like I have obsessive compulsive drawing disorder....I wrote a favorite artist of mine and asked for advice (not about the Praaa-blem, but about technique, etc.). She gave me a few tips, one of which was to use sharpie pens. Sharpies? I usually don't like using them, but I do like that they don't smear like my other markers. Sometimes we think that great artists must be using some special "tool" or magic pen, but most of the time they'll say, "uh, I used my kids crayon for that". Uh, ok. I can do crayon. I can do junk drawer supplies...Well, anyhoo, I went to the store to get a few more colors and I left like I won the lottery or something...thought to myself, "I cannot believe you are this excited about sharpie pens"...you CLEArly need some more excitement in your life.....well, that's life in the burbs I guess...a trip to the office store is a major coo.

So, hopefully, I will be able to share some of my doodles and such with y'all on youtube or something 'cause there are clearly tooo many to upload. If I don't come back soon, just assume I've been committed somewhere where people draw all day and can't stop.

Talk soon, (I hope). ~Lia

Why I love painting in my Wallpaper "journal"....

Dear Friends~

I've been working in my wallpaper journal recently so I thought I would post about it. A few days ago my hubby gave me that confused look and asked me "why" I like to work in it so much. He even went so far as to guess the answer, "the texture? the colors?...". I just looked at him and started to "splain"...then said, "never mind". I kinda/sorta have this little "policy", if you will, about not speakin' art junk talk to those who don't "do" art. I do this for a few reasons. For one, they will not 'get it'. Second, I get the "weird" look. Third, I get the "oh, can you teach me how to tyedye 500 tee-shirts for my church camp by this sunday?" LIke I'm supposed to know how to do everything artsy because I like to collage, etc. I remember splaining art journaling to a friend that asked a while back. I told her what I did, then she said to me the next time, "I can't wait for you to teach me to scrapbook!" I just nod my head and say, uh.. never mind. I'm a scrapbook drop out. Too much measuring (at least that's how I was taught) and I pretty much break every "archival" paper rule there is. So, I digress.... Back to the wallpaper book. Where do I get these wallpaper books, you may ask? Well, I get from the hardware store before they are going to throw them out. Normally, they put you on a list and will call you when they get the next batch ready for tossing. (you can ask them and they will let you know when they do it). They will want you to take a cart of them home, I usually take about 5. I haven't gotten any new one's in a long time because I have more than enough. Now, the reason I use them.

1. They are big and sturdy and fit on my lap like a lap desk.
2. I can paint in them, rip pages out, etc. I like to practice my painting inside ( I use the back of the pages since the printed side is coated). I do alot of experimenting at night, so having a big space like this is good for me because I go through alot of paper.

3. I rip pages out and make envelopes (sewn together) for trades, little mini journals, and sometimes I even use pages as a table protector underneath my work.
4. I've also used wallpaper from these books to line new desk drawers, label boxes and drawers in my studio, etc. The list is endless.
Now, the answer to my hubby's questions are yes and yes. I love the textures. I love the colors. I love that I can contain alot of my work inside and go back and look at it and add some more!

So, that's why I love the wallpaper books! Hope that answers your questions too. xoxo lia

New Year's ART-solutions.

Dear Friends,
It's Monday and I'm trying to get back in the swing of things. WE had a very nice and relaxing winter break. My favorite part was going away to our favorite lake and having time to think. Think about what is important. Think about what I want to focus on in the new year. I don't always have a specific plan on what I'm going to do art-wise, but I do have a list of things I want to do "one-day". The rest of the time I'm kind of floating along following my next creative obsession. Towards the end of the year I felt I had my hands (and mind) into too many interests. I felt a need to narrow down and focus on a few of my favorite things, (or at least try!) The one thing that keeps coming up for me is that I like books: working in books, writing in books, altered books, journal books, reading books, books.books.books.
So, I've decided to work mostly in books this year (at least that's what I am thinking for now). I will continue my moleskine journals, and I will work on altering some books I have waiting here. It's really my favorite thing to do. I want to focus on what I love doing the most this year.
I will share more on this soon. I made a handmade mini-book with my new years resolutions/dreams. I will load the pics later this week and share. I hope this year brings you closer to what you love to do best. It's a brand new year! I'm feeling great about the prospect of starting anew and following my heart.

xo lia

Home Work~

Dear Friends~
I'm back home again and completing lots of "projects"...here is the 'girl' I was workin' on in the previous post. I have lots more of my 'homework' to share with you. I'm thinking I will start an album of my day to day works-in-progress here on my blog. I don't care for flickr's new format, if for any other reason that I feel out of sorts when websites I use everyday decide to completely revamp what I've been used to for, oh, 3 years. You can't teach an old dog new tricks, especially this one... well, off I go to set up the new album where I'll post my in-the-studio work in progress (or is that mess-in-progress). Nevermind. You get the 'picture'. I hope so anyway...
xoxo lia

p.s. speaking of changes....where did my blog banner go? hello? tap.tap.tap. Mr. Typepad, what are you doing to me! Is it just my browser? How long have I been a blank banner blog? hmmm....oh, kay. Going to go check this out. Oy vey! Never a dull moment!!