Leaf love… March’s theme

February 23, 2023Leave a comment

Life. Growth. Fertility. Hope. Renewal. Revival. Beginnings.

Please see my Leaf collection at Unsplash for photo credits. https://unsplash.com/collections/sz5A91S_BTE/leaf%2C-leaves

What could herald Spring better than the first green shoots of leaves? The snowdrops and daffodils vibrant Kelly green emerging from the woodland floor of grays and browns… The apple green slivers visible as trees send forth buds, premonitions of the unfurling to come…

Green leaves resonate to me as Hope, Growth, Life, Fertility. The arrival of Spring. The newness and freshness, and rejuvenation of the land. Infinite beginnings.

Image credits: https://unsplash.com/collections/sz5A91S_BTE/leaf%2C-leaves

Houseplants are relatively new to me – a new undertaking since the Covid lockdowns that I have maintained, keeping my little ones green and healthy. I love the depth and freshness they bring to a space. And I love leaves. The myriad shapes, colors, textures. The serrates edges, the satin waxy glow, the fuzzy furriness… So this month my theme is leaves. I am not well versed in plants at all – and dont know the correct names for leaf structures, growth patterns… I look at the leaves with an artist’s eye and see shape, form, pattern, color, texture. SO that will be my approach this month. Not even really diving into folklore, can you believe it?

I think of William Morris designs when I think of leaves and foliage. The British artist and designer was at the fore of the Arts and Crafts Movement. A member of the Pre-Rapaelite Brotherhood, he began his career as a painter. In later years he abandoned that in favor of decorative arts. He worked in textiles, wallpapers, and the like; designing exquisite floral and foliage patterns. Shown here are Acanthus Leaves and Willow. He is truly one of my style icons!

On a different note, in a different style, but equally influential to me – Henri Matisse. I have always been drawn to his paintings; where realistic space is given up in favor of color and pattern. But his cut outs! In context: he was elderly, unwell and bed ridden. His assistants painted paper to his color specifications, and he commenced “drawing with scissors”. These cut outs are bold, lyrical, and so expressive!

There are SO MANY ideas swirling around in my head now – I look forward to these leaves budding in the outdoors as the ideas are sparking in my creative mind! Please stay tuned on my You Tube channel for these art journal pages as they unfold during the month of March!

Its all in your hands…

January 5, 2023January 5, 2023Leave a comment

As a creator, a working artist – it IS all in my hands. They are the tools of my sculpting, painting, crafting and creating. I am grateful to be able to work with my hands – in creative fields. From teaching art – and seeing the satisfaction and feelings of accomplishment that ripple over a student’s face… to creating art and feeling the pride in my work, the ability to express myself in clay, paper, metal, beads.

Its something that is deeply rooted in me. I have a hard time sitting with still hands. When I relax, I doodle. When I am on vacation – I have a travel sketchbook. There is an increased awareness and appreciation that I feel when I am making as I travel…

Hands are our primary tools. They create, work, construct, build. They control, rend, dismantle, destroy. They heal and comfort and console. They speak and emote, they pray and communicate. According to Aristotle, the hand is the “tool of tools.” In general it is strength, power and protection. However, it can just as easily mean generosity, hospitality and stability; “lend a hand”. It is used in gestures of greeting and friendship (shake hands).

Let me present a few illustrative hands, may they inspire you to take it to the page!

The Hamsa hand:

The hamsa (Arabic: خمسة, romanized: khamsa) is a palm-shaped amulet popular throughout North Africa and in the Middle East and commonly used in jewellery and wall hangings. Depicting the open right hand, an image recognized and used as a sign of protection in many times throughout history, the hamsa has been traditionally believed to provide defense against the evil eye.

Khamsah is an Arabic word that means “five”, but also refers to images of “the five fingers of the hand”. In Jewish culture, the hamsa is associated with the number five because of the five fingers depicted on the hand, and because the word khamsa is cognate to the Hebrew ḥamishah (חֲמִישָׁה), which also means “five.” ( Wiki)

The Palmistry hand:

Palmistry – practice of fortune-telling through the study of the palm. Also known as palm reading, chiromancy, chirology or cheirology, the practice is found all over the world, with numerous cultural variations. Those who practice palmistry are generally called palmists, hand readers, hand analysts, or chirologists. It is ancient and archetypal; with roots that tie it to Hindu astrology and Roma fortune telling.

Traditional Mehndi designs:

Mehndi is a form of body art and temporary skin decoration from the Indian subcontinent usually drawn on hands or legs. They are decorative designs that are created on a person’s body, using a paste, created from the powdered dry leaves of the henna plant (Lawsonia inermis). Traditional usage would see elaborate designs on a woman’s hands and feet n preparation for her wedding. Pop culture assimilation has Henna designs available at the beach every summer….

Image credit: https://people.howstuffworks.com/culture-traditions/body-art/henna-tattoo.htm

Famous hands in art:

1. Cava de los Manos 2. Leonardo da Vinci, M. C. Escher 4. Michelangelo Image Credits and article.

Further inspiration: Pinterest

So this month – on my Weekly Spark videos – let me work with my hands – and create work of hands! Tune in here.

And stay tuned – more posts coming. I’d love to hear what you think – here or on You Tube!

Art journaling into the new year, and beyond

January 3, 20231 Comment

Happy New Year to you all!

As the year opens, I find myself feeling pretty energized, and wanting to dive in to myriad projects. One of these is a new series for my You Tube channel! ( Did you know I had a channel? Check it out here! ) I have been sharing my art journals and my process for the last year. But I will confess, as I became gradually accustomed to this new medium – I was very teacher-y. My default setting, my comfort place after years in the classroom was to interact and explain. I am proud of my Weekly Spark videos – and my commitment to successfully post one each week all year! But this year I wanted a change…

This year I have decided to teach less and return to MY personal practice in my art journal. But I want to share – and hope the videos are still inspirational and informative. So more music and less voice overs! I will be working with a theme each month – a motif to guide my pages… and I invite you all to art journal along with me!

Here is the schedule of themes – some of my very favorite symbols and motifs:

January – the hand
February – spiral
March – leaf
April – key
May – eyes
June – the moon
July – labyrinth
August – triquetra
September – florals
October – vessels
November – butterflies
December – goddess

Each month there will be an introductory blog post for inspiration, and discussion. The myth, the meanings, the symbolism is a major component of my work – and I want to share that with you. Look for the first post this week – on the symbolism of the hand! Each of these themes – I could work with each one for a year – it will be hard to streamline these posts. Oh! And I will have a Pinterest page as well. Stay tuned! Its all in the works!

Image: https://unsplash.com/@thejungalista

One step at a time….

September 1, 2022September 1, 20221 Comment

Hello! tap tap tap… is this thing on?

September 1st. I just never know what year it is anymore. Time is meaningless – yet it slips through my fingers. I just wanted to stop by – and say that I do have plans to rejuvenate this blog. With Social media becoming more and more advertised and polarized – I want to post on a place that is mine, and free from issues. I hope you will join me here.

I recently advertised my art journal classes on a friends podcast – Dawn Hunt/Cucina Aurora ” Conversational Witchcraft. If you are here because you followed her link thread – thank you and Welcome ! There will be a new limited edition art journaling video for you! Coming soon – it will be emailed to any new newsletter subscribers from now til Samhain!

I work in many materials and mediums – from clay to beads to gems to paper, and I invite you to stroll through my galleries of images. I exhibit at arts festivals and faerie festivals in the Mid Atlantic region. But its my art journaling classes that have really taken flight since 2020.

The special free sample lesson will be a video demonstration/tutorial and a resource packet – all themed with the goddess of the lesson. Stay tuned – and I thank you in advance for your patience!

Kwan Yin – from “Goddess Guides – a yearlong journey” art journaling class.

*Oak themed spread from my intro class – “Sparking Creativity”*

Art Journaling with Jenny: sparking creativity.

December 4, 2020March 27, 20224 Comments

It started out as just me and the page in my art journal. It was an escape – a place to go play, express myself, collage, splash paint around… and be both distracted and soothed in the midst of a global pandemic. My art journal became a place where I could vent, but also a place I could go to elevate my mood, or take simple joy in art materials, color, image, text…

And then I decided to share it…

Well, my friend Patti (who became my co-facilitator for class) encouraged me to create an online class. We would meet via Zoom. I could film video tutorials – but we wanted an element of camaraderie too – a social interaction we were missing during “Safer at home” times. And thus “Art journaling with Jenny: sparking creativity” was born.

The first session was a learning process – for me – and also hugely satisfying. It surpassed my wildest dreams. Here are some student testimonials:

Jenny’s Art Journal class was amazing! The presentation of techniques and pace of the class gave me time to absorb, learn, play and ultimately complete gorgeous journal pages – something I wasn’t sure I could do. The safe space created by Jenny, as well as the camaraderie and community with my classmates grew as we journeyed together allowed me to open up, experiment and go places I hadn’t even imagined. And finally, as a frontline healthcare worker, “taking it to the page” gave me a healthy release that kept, and continues to keep, me balanced, focused and feeling hopeful. No kidding. Ten thousand thumbs up! Amy T

Jenny Davies-Reazor took me on an adventure into art play and art journaling in her “Art Journaling: Sparking Creativity” online workshop! It was eye opening for me as I had never done anything like this in my own artistic journey. It was also very cathartic. She is very organized and willing to share everything she knows and truly gives a lot of herself and her time. Not only did I enjoy learning new ways to play with art materials, I would get so engrossed in the process of creating that time would slip away unnoticed. Jenny is fun, knowledgeable, and is also willing to experiment in front of her students. It lead to some happy accidents, which was encouraging for me.I am looking forward to her next class! Patti P.

Are you looking for community, camaraderie, inspiration and fun? Look no further, you’ve found all that and more. Jenny’s class is informative: you learn different techniques, she walks you through her creative process and you’re introduced to new materials to play with and create. You become part of a very supportive group of people: you can choose to share what you’re working on or just soak in the process that your fellow participants are working through. This class was amazing. I can’t say enough about it. I would give it all the “stars”. Nikki T

Here’s a firsthand look at MY pages – and the “Hows” and “Whys” behind the class:

As I mentioned – the lessons are NOT drawing heavy, but instead utilize collage, and image transfer techniques. The materials list is provided after enrollment and includes links for online ordering… Each lesson is themed around a symbol or motif and its relevant meaning/folklore/mythology. My style of teaching encourages you to explore. I teach you the technique and show you possible applications. This isn’t the type of class where everyone ends up with a copy of the teacher’s piece… Its you, in your journal… with your preferences and experiences, and choices!

Interested? Here are the details…

Cost: $70 includes a packet of images ready to use in image transfers. ( send via USPS)

Duration: 6 weeks of class. Access to videos – no expiration.

Access to private class Facebook group: intended for sharing images of pages, discussion of techniques, etc.

Each lesson includes:

Monday – weekly email with inspirational PDF, links to private video tutorials.

Wednesday – FB live demo (recorded for any who miss it live)

And the “Spark” Zoom calls – introduction, mid point check in, finale call. 3 calls spaced over the 6 weeks. (Optional and recorded!)

Sparking Creativity will be available late Spring 2022 as an on demand class! Sign up for my newsletter to stay in touch!

To enroll:

Send an email to me at Jen.davies.reazor@gmail.com with the subject line “Spark sign ups”. Let me know you are interested.
I will invoice you via PayPal. Then you will receive your supply list – via email – and can order anything you might need.
Join the FB group!

You can also email me to ask any questions! Feel free to check out some other art journal videos on my You Tube channel~ Until then, stay safe, and thanks for reading to the end. 😉

On keeping a plague journal…

April 13, 2020April 13, 2020Leave a comment

It seemed like the thing to do… when I went into self imposed lock down, and then when the statewide order came, I was looking at the hours in my day. On one hand, working from home was the norm. But I was frozen, stalled by the uncertainty and grieving what my life had looked like in the near past and immediate future.

I thought establishing routines would be helpful to me. Getting up, coffee, shower, head to the studio as I normally would… and the idea of a daily art journal practice came back into play.

The #100dayproject is in April – should I combine my idea of a plague journal with that daily practice? Establishing habits now? The #100day project/ art journal was pivotal to me in 2018 as I was saying goodbye to my mom. So I started with folios of paper already prepped for a daily journal attempt from the past. They are unbound – which I love. Easy to set aside to dry, or lay flat to work on…

There are moody days, and rage-y scribble days. There are simple days of manipulating an art material. there are fast and slow days. There are days that serve as journal of feelings and stressors and shit one is trying to deal with…. and there are days where pretty colors and marks make patterns, where the process took precedence over the product.

I have just about reached one month here, safe at home, not venturing out. And the first folio of pages is coming to an end. I will keep this up – and I wonder how many folios I will fill?

Octopus – the Art Elements theme reveal

August 31, 2019August 30, 201913 Comments

Claire has a deep love for octopus. If you know her – you know this. So it wasn’t a surprise when this was her selection for the theme this month! Personally I find them alternately beautiful and creepy, yet utterly fascinating. They are chameleons, and very intelligent. (Image from this NY Times article)

CreditCreditFred Tanneau/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

I sat down to bead – to bead a tapestry with the perfect enameled Octopus by Anne Gardanne.

My Gardanne piece
Playing with framing
Seaweed or kelp?

I was thinking. a felted and beaded tapestry .I tried out ideas for an embellished frame that wold have embedded shells in Apoxie clay. I wove ribbons of hand dyed French silk ribbon amongst the tentacles….. Nothing. The Muse was not a-mused. ( I set this aside for another day. )

See what I kept thinking of was a mermaid. Who says they all have to have fish tales. I mean, Ursula the Sea Witch was an octopus. So I went to one of my all time favorite artists for inspiration. Alfonse Mucha.

This is “Dance” completed in 1898. It was the figure reface I needed – clearly Mucha in style, with clear lines to alter the lower half of the figure. And I traced it – full disclosure!

I drew my own decorative elements, and did line work in sepia permanent marker. I painted happily one afternoon – a break from the studio – red hair, aqua waves, and a mottled background.And then tackled those tentacles!

watercolor background
base colors on tentacles

I started a base coat of watercolor. I had masked off the edges a little…. I planned on using salt in a wash to get speckles. But I had small salt, and it wasn’t dramatic enough – so I started shattering! What a wet mess and SO much fun. Then I added some Brusho pigment crystals…

I had thought about drawing in the suckers with white Gell pen? Or painting a hint of them in watercolor… but the Brusho are so intense they kinda ruin a piece for working back in. They also splattered past where I had applied Maskit and are very hard to cover! ( They reactivate with anything wet…) SO I think I am done!

This was just what I needed – to paint for pleasure. Thank you Claire for a great theme. Oh – Zoey wanted in on the octopus action too:

Don’t forget – this is a hop! Take a look at other creations from the Art Elements team and our guests this month!

Guest artists:
Cat
Evie and Beth
Hope Karen
Kathy
Melissa
Michelle
Rozantia
Sarajo
Tammy

Art Elements Team:
Cathy
Claire
Jenny
Laney Lindsay Marsha

Swirls: the Art Elements theme reveal

August 30, 2018September 5, 201816 Comments

Swirls.

Its the time of month – reveal time for our theme challenge at Art Elements. Marsha picked a wonderful theme – so many ideas! This month does involve Bead Fest, travel, Lesley visiting from the UK – so I was glad it was a theme that resonated so strongly with my creative self.

Travelogue doodles at Bead Fest.

My main swirly piece is a beaded tapestry I am working on – although swirls were on my mind even in doodles ( see above.)

This piece is approximately 3 x 5″ and features a swirly ceramic goddess by Lesley! There is a bronze clay moon, antique miniature buttons and beads, so many beads. I wanted the swirls to be evident in color – and am keeping size and texture of the beads uniform throughout.

This one? Its on deck on the beading table. It was fired for Bead Fest but sadly had a flaw. Such a shame I have to keep it and bead… LOL. I also must say – once you start looking swirls are EVErYWHERE! (Chihuly installation at DE Art Museum; Art Deco door also at DMA. Hotel wall paper!)

Hello – Lesley here...I’m currently vacationing with Jenny so I’m piggy-backing her blog post too. I didn’t get anything started for this challenge before I left the UK but it turns out that was a good thing because I got some great inspiration from a trip to Longwood Gardens with Marsha and Jenny. When I think swirls one of the first images that pops into my head is ferns and the wonderful patterns the newly forming leaves form as they unfurl. Fortunately for me there were examples aplenty at Longwood.

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Back at Jenny’s I started to think about how I was going to use this inspiration and looked to a half face cab of Jenny’s that I’d started beading a few days earlier – unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of it then but it brought to mind the ‘Mud Maid’ sculpture from one of my favorite UK places – The Lost Gardens of Heligan.

I decided I could use these two elements to create by own beaded Fern goddess and this is what I’ve come up with so far…

Jenny’s cab has been bezeled with Peyote stitched and then I’ve just free-form beaded around it – the excess backing will be trimmed away to give a contoured edge. I’ve used dagger beads to create mature fern fronds and seed beads to represent the swirling new growth. Fire polished crystals give some organic structure and random flower beads add texture. It’s not finished yet because I’m not sure exactly how I want to continue. The plan is for the lower portion to graduate into slightly more earthy colors and finish up with some sort of fringing to suggest the ground and roots. I need to take some time to think it through so it will probably happen when I get home. so far though I’m pretty pleased with it.

I did also manage make a couple of other pieces – both using ceramic components from our lovely host Marsha. First up a pair of earrings using the yummy pod charms she made for the last Art Elements challenge. I added some swirling wire and some pale smokey quartz beads to come up with this design that I’m pretty happy with…kinda cute and very easy to wear.

Finally I beaded (because that’s what you do when you stay at Jenny’s) a pendant using a swirly cab of Marsha’s that I brought from home.

This one is in my trademark muted autumnal tones and uses a lovely Peyote mix I picked up at Bead Fest…pretty simple but again very wearable.

So that’s where Marsha’s challenge took me and to be honest, I could probably go on for ever with this theme as there is no end of inspiration. So a big thank you to Marsha for giving us this opportunity, to Jenny for letting me raid her bead stash and to both of them for taking me to the wonderful Longwood Gardens.

I hope you’ve enjoyed our offerings and will join us on our blog hop to see what all the other participants have come up with – just click on the links below. Enjoy!

Guest Artists:

Art Elements Team:

The Art Elements Rune reveal

February 27, 2018February 28, 20189 Comments

Welcome to our last official COM here at Art Elements! Starting next month we are moving to monthly themed challenges. We felt this was expanding the option, invigorating out creativity and opening the door to so many mediums!

This final COM is stunning metal clay runes made by Niky Sayers. I had the good fortune of meeting Niky in London and receiving mine personally!

Niky’s runes are cast from her own hand made personal set, and based on the Elder Futhark. These symbols were originally carved in wood and stone, and their straight lines reflect that context. Elder Futhark was a runic alphabet used by Norse and Germanic peoples from approximately the 2nd – 8th centuries. ( styles changed, runes evolved, and continued to be used….) Runes are recorded in sources such as the Poetic Edda as being used for inscriptions and talismans.

In the 1980’s Ralph Blum published and popularized the runes as a system of divination. I have long been a fan of Tarot cards, as an inspirational and oracular device. But runes were never my go to, and I enjoyed this chance to start working with them.

The first rune I selected to work with is URUZ, meaning “aurochs”. It’s traditional meaning is “Physical strength and speed, untamed potential. A time of great energy and health. Freedom, energy, action, courage, strength, tenacity, understanding, wisdom. Sudden or unexpected changes…” Immediately I saw a Phoenix, as working with the runes coincided with a New Moon journal spread I was planning. ( And yes – this means I still have this actual rune to use in a piece of jewelry!)

The dark moon was done in watercolor pencils and crayons. I wanted to leave a hint of a triple spiral there in purples and black. The Phoenix was drawn in pencil and inked with fine marker. The color was very satisfying to do- many layers and colors blended using Derwent watercolor pencils.

I was a bit disappointed with the background. I used a student grade liquid watercolor and it feels a little flat, a little blah to me. Such is the nature of an art journal: experimentation, risks, and play.

The second rune I selected was EHWAZ, meaning horse. It’s traditional meaning is: movement/ progress, steady progress, transit and transition. When thinking “horse” I immediately think of the Uffington chalk figure, and I was seeing landscapes in my mind’s eye from my recent trip to visit Lesley in Dorset. This idea evolved quite naturally, involving polymer and felt…

I wet felted two abstracted landscapes in a palette of greens:

The rune will be affixed to the frame at center top. The felted tapestry inside, and an image of the Uffington horse to float above, suspended on fine gauge copper chain.

This is the work in progress so far – I am seeing a few changes I want to make. I want to create another felt tapestry and play up the copper color from the rune itself. I think I will add a thin layer of white acrylic paint on the frame, a white wash of a sort, to lighten the piece. And yes – that is a rogue hair from my paintbrush. Oops. I am happy with my overall design plan – but need to tweak the palette a little. What do you think? I would love to hear your thoughts…

And I look forward to seeing the creations from my team mates and our guests this month:

Guests:

Art Element Members:

Jennifer Stout Cameron

Claire Fabian

Lindsay M Starr

Niky Sayers

Magic on the Streets of London…

February 7, 2018Leave a comment

(OK – now I have the Smiths song stuck in my head… )

Part 2 of the trip!

Don’t you love it when a plan comes together? Its magic… When Lesley and I realized that my visit would coincide with the Harry Potter: History of Magic exhibit at the British Library… well, you can guess the rest. What REALLY made this day magical was who joined us there!

We took the train from Bournemouth and had a lovely scenic ride through he New Forest and into London. Arriving at Waterloo and then heading to Euston by Tube – I was thrilled to see 2 of the 270 enameled labyrinths! This public art project was the creation of Mark Wallinger. In 2013, to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Tube, 270 unique labyrinths were designed and installed. One in every Tube station. The signs aren’t labeled in any way, and were enabled by the same company that created the iconic London Underground signage. The video about the project is outstanding!

Newton in Bronze by Sir Eduardo Paolozzi

St Pancras station – next door. And no, we did not go on to Kings Cross platform 9 3/4.

Exhibition poster: Fawkes bu artist Jim Kay

So this was a momentous occasion! I got to meet all of my team mates from the Art Elements blog! The whole UK contingent! I have to say – it was so exciting, so energetic, and yet so familiar. I have known and worked with these creative talented women for years. I treasure these friendships! And while we were meeting in person for the first time, it felt like old friends getting reacquainted!

The UK team! And me! All together none place! ( From top left: Lesley Watt, Caroline Dewison, Laney Mead, Niky Sayers, me. )

The British Library? Heavens. I cant even find the words. We toured their exhibit first. The Magna Carta. Original Shakespeare. The Lindisfarne Gospels. Beatles lyrics scrawled in pencil on old greeting cards. Medieval girdle books. Simple awe inspiring. I was incredulous.

Then we went to the HP exhibit. ( No photographs, naturally). What a beautifully curated exhibit! Arranged in groups, mirroring the subjects at Hogwarts, the items displayed ranged from Medieval pieces from the BL collection, to handwritten notes and sketches from JK Rowling, to new illustrations by artist Jim Kay. There were also pieces from the Museum of Witchcraft in Boscastle, Cornwall. ( Drawings below from an interactive piece at the end of exhibit)

Heading home – bag filled with treasures, gifts and more than a few books…. Mendel and Malachi were rather mischievous. ( Crocheted mandrakes by Caroline!)

And hijinks continued as I worked on my travel journal the next day…

You can read more about my travel journal over at Art Elements. There is a nice sense of spontaneity and memory-making that I get from creating a travel collage/art journal in real time. With found papers, and a little Googling…

Me – I am back in the studio sculpting cauldrons that Snape might even sneer fondly over… There will be a whole new series of Mythic tiles this year. Magical creatures, witches, wizards, alchemy, and the like!

Stay tuned for part three of the trip coming soon!