HippyHippyHooray

Journal Love

2010-06-20T10:36:00.001-07:00

Basque in the Knowledge

2010-05-30T14:40:00.000-07:00

My grand-daughter has been researching our family roots. Nearly every day we talk about the towns and villages in Italy and France where my grandparents' lives began.

My Dad's family came to the states from Palermo, Sicily. After talking and thinking about life there for hours, I noticed images like the one above appearing in my Art Journal as I sat on the sofa doodling.
I was thinking of the Sicilian architecture as it seemed to teeter on the edge of the Mediterranean.

Although I lived in Germany back in the early 1970s and traveled to Italy, I was never fortunate enough to make it to Sicily - but in my mind the doodle I drew feels 'familiar'.

Forty years ago on my parents 31st wedding anniversary I set out to find a painting as a gift for them. The year was 1969 and my favorite art store was Aaron Brothers. I walked in and within five minutes I was drawn to the painting below. I had to buy it. There was never a thought of looking further...it just felt 'familiar'....

...Flash forward to 2010...I now know something I did not know then back in '69.
My maternal grandmother was born in a small Basque, sheepherding village in France, on the border of Spain, called Urepel.

My grand-daughter found this photograph of Urepel on Flickr...

Do you see why it felt so 'familiar' to me?

Background Check

2010-05-16T17:11:00.000-07:00

Checking in with more backgrounds in my visual journal...

In No Hurry

2010-04-25T16:54:00.001-07:00

Pages evolve. I never know where they are going to take me. Layering paint, drawing, collage, image transfers... no rhyme or reason...and yet... stories appear, or snippets of stories at best.

Some are still held deep within me from the 60s...most ethics and beliefs still held strong:

...still the Dove and not the Hawk...

...some things even further back appear on the pages...those things we love in childhood that stay with us...or at least their memory...

artist-visual journal thingy

2010-02-08T18:14:00.000-08:00

I refuse to over-think the little spurts of creativity that happen to fall upon the pages of my artist-visual journal-thingy. There is no rhyme or reason and I do not tell a story that lasts more than two pages, if I tell a story at all. Sometimes I find myself wondering what birds are thinking...yup, all that and more in my artist-visual journal thingy. Pull up a chair.

(bit by bit, piece by piece... pages evolve)

My Background

2010-02-06T13:42:00.000-08:00

Lately when I am creating something I have 'revenue' in mind...always searching for a way to bring a few more bucks into the family budget - but for nearly three weeks now I have taken a break and just allowed myself to make marks in my art journal creating backgrounds for future journaling.

I've had a lot to process these past 4+ years - first losing my precious parents, and a few weeks ago my life-long childhood friend/sister, Jan...and so I sought solace in playing in my journal.

I work in layers. I can layer from sunrise to sunset and then layer some more. I love discovering what is below the surface-- to feel as though I can see the history beneath the present. Building the layers, creating texture, laying strong foundation...a lot like life...

I have been working in this same journal for nearly 3 years now - with no rush to get it done and move on to another...often I think pages are done, only to find myself turning to them when hearing them call out for yet another layer...

*above: Additional images by Shepard Fairey*

My Generation

2009-12-06T11:30:00.000-08:00

It has been said that what you love in your youth stays with you.

I loved the 60s and 70s (and the 50s too...yes, I am an oldie but goodie!) and I reflect it in my art.

I had so much fun creating the two page spread seen above. I was listening to a mixed CD of 60s music at the time. Music is a must when I am making art. It allows me to tune out distractions and focus on creating.
The two stamps (a likeness of Bob Dylan, and Give Up War For Lent) were hand-carved during my Zen period.

Talkin' 'bout my generation...(that's me around 1972!)

Does your art reflect the things you loved in your youth?

Where I Found My Zen

2009-12-06T09:22:00.000-08:00

A few years ago I was really into hand-carving rubber stamps.
After losing my precious Mom I needed to find a way back to enjoying my passion...
...making ART...
-the quiet and focused method of carving stamps was my path.
It was where I found my zen.

While carving the rubber stamp of Paul in the journal page pictured above I began thinking back to 1963.
I was 13 and the British invasion had begun!
I remember clearly that even our mom's thought Paul was 'the cute Beatle'...well, at least my Mom did! For over 42 years Mom and I loved listening to the Beatles together.

I have a photograph, preserve your memories...

2009-12-05T09:02:00.000-08:00

Long ago it must be
I have a photograph
Preserve your memories
They're all that's left you.

--bookends...simon & garfunkel--

We all have them. Old photographs in shoe boxes; in photo albums on dusty shelves; in envelopes stuffed in a dresser drawer...and in our busy lives we rarely pull them out and look at them.

Two photos of my Grandfathers were tucked in a large brown envelope at the back of my closet. I made photocopies of each of them and grabbed my Visual Journal...now I look at these photos often and reflect on my families history.

After creating a background using acrylic paints I simply cut out the photocopies and adhered them to the page using a gel medium...I used a gel pen to jot down thoughts that came to mind. Finding an image in a magazine of an antique globe I cut it in half using one half on each page and drew 'stitch marks' to symbolize the connection these two men shared...their children (my Mom & Dad) who joined together.

The original photos are still tucked away (for safe-keeping) -- but now I (and others) can enjoy the memories I have preserved in my Visual Journal that gets opened far more often than the family photo album or shoe box up on the closet shelf :)
Think of what YOU could do with photocopies of old family photos and create a one-of-a-kind Visual Journal as a gift for someone in your family!

(you can enlarge the photo by clicking on it)

It's Personal

2009-08-01T13:59:00.000-07:00

(my handmade Art Journal)

Visual Journaling is a very personal thing. I have always felt that whatever we create as artists - it must be something we are passionate about. If we don't express ourselves in a true and honest way - then what is the point of our art? I have, more than ever before, been practicing this belief in my visual journals. I have learned that there is no benefit to censoring my creativity. Sure, some people may not like the 'politics' I express, or the experiences I have had in my 59 years on the planet, or the views I post here. But, I hope that in some way my ART connects with YOU. Just YOU. Not the masses. Not everyone who comes here to visit. Just one person may say..."yeah, cool, ...".

My generation was the Hippie Generation. Love-ins, peace marches, flowers in our hair. And I loved every moment of it. I felt full of hope during those turbulent yet groovy years. Yes, we wanted a revolution and we sang about it and spoke about it openly and freely. And so, as I openly share my personal journal pages with you...love 'em or hate 'em...the choice is yours...and that is one thing MY generation stood up for....choice.