Behind the Art with Jen

Hi artsy friends!  Jen here to share a favorite page of mine from this kit!  When I found out the focus of this kit was the word "Perspective", I immediately thought of looking up.  I had taken this photo of me in front of Dale Chihuly's permanent art exhibit at the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas.  There is a ceiling of glass Macchia forms that is breathtaking!  As an art teacher and artist who admires and loves Chihuly's work, I was in awe!

 

So the photos were the inspiration for this page and I knew that I wanted color but didn't want to compete with the colors of the photos.  I picked some of the papers that had bright fun colors and used them in small doses.  The watercolor circle paper from Crate Paper was perfect!  I only used small strips of it so as to not compete.  Then I used the vellum paper  as a background.  

 But I started by using the stencil in a unique way. I loved the shapes in the camera stencil but didn't want to use the whole stencil. I just used a Faber-Castell Design Memory Craft PITT Artist pen to trace some of the shapes in a random way around the paper. I kept it sketchy and created a modern looking pattern.  The vellum pieces really soften the lines but still allow them to show through.

 I love that vellum balloon embellishment!  So awesome!  Perfect for this page!  I loved the cork look of these Thickers too! 

 Could it be that the glass ceiling is representative of looking up at an symbolic glass ceiling?   Hmmm...  But the dots of Distress paint are another fun pop of color.

 Enjoy the little things for sure!  I loved this little tag and used it here.  I also added the paper to the metal embellishment.  So fun!

 This page was just super fun to make!  I was inspired by the photos but all the elements from this kit made it fun to create!

Behind the Art with Jen

Hi artsy friends!  I have another of my layouts to share with you! This one was one of the easiest and fastest that I've made!  I 'm usually a slow scrapper so this was a surprise.  The pieces that took the longest were cutting out the butterflies from one of the papers.  Otherwise all the other papers and embellishments made it really easy to put this page together fast!

 Hello... 

This layout started with my wondering what other people's perspective is when they see me. What do they see?  Sometimes I get wrapped up in worrying about how I'm coming across to others.  What other people think is beyond my control or is it?  Is how I speak, look and act within my control?  Should it be a real concern for me or just relax and let it go?  Can I do that?  All of these questions go through my mind at random times in the day.  I wonder if I should worry about it or just be what I am and hope others can accept that.  Getting wrapped up in these worries can sometimes make me freeze  when meeting new people.  Most of the time, I am confident and friendly but there are times when these thoughts override my confidence.

 

 The words around the photo of me is symbolic as in words that I wish others would be saying about me when I'm not listening.  Things that I sometimes tell myself and sometimes withhold from myself.  I get down on myself and how I look but also how I act.  I hope that I'm coming across as friendly or caring but there are times that I'm sure I'm perceived as stand-offish and bitchy.  I shouldn't care what others think but there are times I worry about it.

I need to just love myself and as I get older, I do worry less about other's opinions but I still do care about how I'm perceived.  It's hard to not get wrapped up in impressions.

I used the butterflies to symbolize how I feel when I first meet someone or am nervous about this... I get butterflies in my stomach!  I loved this background paper too!  It's so perfect for the colors and all the paint splatters.

Do you care what others say about you?  Does it worry you or do you have enough confidence to overcome judgment by others? 

Behind the Art with Jen

 Hi creative people!

Where do you get your ideas for Art?

Well, sometimes I get ideas for art but the act of creation is the hard part.  I think I know what I want and then when faced with the page, I freeze up... doubt myself and my choices.  I get on Pinterest or other artist's blogs and start comparing myself.  It's a no-win situation!  It wastes time and cause procrastination (something I don't need more of btw).  I start doubting my abilities, my creativity, and my ability to come up with something new. That's no good!

 Intuition is there lurking in the background under all that doubt.  I just have to shut down the comparisons and let it come through.  Silence the doubts and close the windows of "inspiration" so that I can just create!

 

For this page, I started with the journaling!  I knew what I wanted to say and typed it out on vellum to be layered over my art.  I just didn't know what my final product would look like.   Once I saw the  lightbulb mask, I KNEW it would light up my page!  I started by tracing the outside shape with pencil.

  

 I then filled in that shape with Faber-Castell Design Memory Craft Textural Accents Gesso. 

 

 I also dripped a bit so I went with it and splattered a bit more!  ;)

 The rest came out of opening myself up to creative ideas... I just went with it.  I needed something more so I added some watered down Gelatos® color in Banana to the lightbulb.  Once dry, I used a PITT Artist Pen to outline the mask.  I grabbed the mask from one of our previous kits and  added the arrows with the pen.

The vellum journaling block was added over it all and tacked down with stitching.  I used the Distress paint below it with papers and the photo layered over it. Scribbling over the paint with colored pencils was also added. I just had fun!

I was very happy with this page. It's actually an illustration of what happens when you let go of the comparisons and just have fun with the creative process.