Spilling Over!

Today as I met the post man, completely drench from just having a shower with my pjs crammed on like a lunatic. He handed me a parcel, and I knew instantly that it was the book I'd ordered a couple of weeks ago so all the embarrassment of looking like a drowned rat in shocking pj attire slipped away!
I have decided to buy myself one book a month to keep my journal/mixed media/art/writing collection going, so my first book purchase was Diana Trout's Journal Spilling. Oh my, how delish this book is!
I am half way through reading and soaking up the beauty, I was meant to make an art vid today but when the book fell into my hands everything else was forgotten and I got lost amongst it's pages like a beautiful dream.

filled with ideas, techniques and her own experiences this book is just devine, buy it you know you want to!
as I've mentioned a few times in the past I'm undertaking Samantha Kira's True 2 You 2 course over at willowings ning site link to it is in the sidebar, and week one was all about colour, here are the fruits from week one. Week two is pattern so I shall be getting stuck into that and with yesterdays finished canvas patterns are on my brain!
in between my mummy, cleaner, daydreamer moments I am also still working on my Remains of the day, I'm trying to make the time to sit down and bind the signatures into the journal, but for now I'll just play amongst the photos I've printed out to start working its way into the magical mismatching pages.
and last on the agenda today is the quickie sketch I played with in a moment of I need to do some art NOW! so I grabbed a dark graphite pencil and just started scribbling till something came from the mess, a little spray and a little watercolour and wahla took me 15 mins max to do. Sometimes you just need to inject some art onto a page. Doesn't have to be perfect (mine sure isn't) but its good to get it out of your system. I'm contemplating binding a journal just for these types of works, those quick quick don't stop sketches that just evolved from scribbling lines and a bit of paint.

that's all for me, I'm currently waiting for my mum to rock up, shes late as per usual then its off for a bit of birthday present shopping and dinner at parents place. I've got my journal packed and I'm ready to just sit and sketch while my little ones play and I get the night off from cooking.
xx Courtney

Inkings and Works in Progress

Before I start babbling arty stuff, I'd like to dedicate my blog post today to my sister, we dont see eye to eye alot and we drive eachother bonkers, but shes one of my favourite people on this earth. At the moment shes going through a really craptastic time, so I want her to know, shes the yellow in my rainbow.., the one that helps me shine, You amaze me beyond words and I hope you find your footing real soon my darling girl.


ok onto the art!
Today in the Raven Nook, the entire desk was filled with ways to get down and creative, paints watercolours pencils pens stencils inks. My awesome plastic pink plate of cheap win for my painting palette..hey whatever works.


as you know I joined the out of the journal challenge, and this is the start of my second canvas, yes yes I know you're going but its a new week. I am behind... I personally am not loving the below work..but my mum and my man are telling me to keep going because..with highlights and little details...it might be amazing..so going on the vibe of what it 'might become' I will keep going and then do two smaller canvases to catch up.
and in the journal...I am drawing girls, who would have thunk lol. yes yes girls are what I draw the most of, but its because I'm trying to refine my skills and also find where my style is, copying others style is whats helping me try and discover what I want my style to be...maybe one day I'll know because I am still unsure.
still trying the Art Geeks skin paint recipe and I'm trying to refine that too lol as she was again too purple so as I go along it will get easier and maybe just become second nature. Practice makes pretty.
and the highlight of my week... is finding a pair of almost new docs for sale for $50 on a trade swap sell group for Inverell on facebook. I squeeled when I went to visit the girl who owned them and they fitted! I adored my docs back through highschool and uni, I wore them for almost 6 years straight till they fell apart lol, so I cant wait to see what adventures I'll have in these.
as you can see Ive already worn them and gotten foundation makeup on the souls from cleaning up little miss's mess.
take care my dears, I'll be back tomorrow with some more of my art
xx Courtney

a little art geek challenge.

so over at Effy Wild little ning site, there is a little magical grp run by someone who I mention quite a lot in my little nook, Gulf Sprite runs an adorable group called Art Geeks. I joined up of course this woman makes me want to be a better artist. Every week she sets us art prompts of challenges. This week was using texture and painting faces. I started by sketching the face at about 1am! yes I couldn't sleep so I sketched. I adhered her to the canvas today and started working on the shading, using Christy's tips and skin tone recipe.

yah shes a little bit dark and a little grape like lol Christy saved me, I layered and layered bopped to some Florence and the machine and just had fun with it! I knew I had to get a canvas close to finished as I have to do two week! as well as my True to You homework for the week.


so after many hours of layering, added texture paste, spraying painting darkening, this is how shes looking at the moment. She isn't finished as I'm contemplating what to do with the background..tone it down or leave it? what are your thoughts.

now I must tidy up the mess and get to work on the colour theory for true to you.
enjoy your evening...do pop over to art geeks, for Christy's videos alone..they are very much worth it.
xx Courtney

works in progress!

Today the sun was out, the warmth was beautiful and the colour palette was absolutely endless! I set the little ones up with a craft box filled with goodies while I sat at the bigger table in the sunlight and started the day with some art.





I started working in my art journal, working over and old letter, getting those last few pages done before the book is finished. A little butterfly girl, with bright orange hair hehe. I rather like her and she only came to life when I put the white highlights in her eyes...its almost like artistic magic what a few highlights can do.
as I mentioned yesterday, this month of august is going to be 2 canvases a week! A way to jump out of our journals and onto canvas...so I started layering today with my first canvas. No idea where it will take me..but that's the beauty right? I was stuck staring at its stark whiteness, when my dear girlfriend Lisa, told me to put some pink on it...and with her little nudge I started.

I'm excited to see what journey this piece takes me on! its all about the process with the canvases that's what I'm telling myself..I'm letting the work tell me what to do, and not the other way around.

and to top my day off...a new installment of my copic marker club arrived! yummmy colours, good day I think good day indeed!

Pop over to Her Library Adventures for the beginning of Journal Week...you might see me there....
have a beautiful Monday my dears
x Courtney

Get Your Art On Day 29 - already thinking...

Well we made it through the car trip barely! the little teacup humans hardly slept well I lie, one slept but work up every 20 minutes whimpering little lily, well she decided to defy the odds of sleep law and just talk on and off for ages! boy and I are showing signs of wear and tear for sure.

so here is my pathetic attempts for tonight's art attempt, just a little collection of things from moments in my life all down on the page.


organizing the crazyness that is my art stash at the moment, I think ikea gave me lightbulb moments, where things can look neat and tidy and be contained in freaking cute boxes! so that's been what I've been doing for half of my day, just tidying and putting things in giant boxes to make sure that all my supplies are kept safe and are easier to get to, I still have my usuals at hand though they are on my desk all unpacked from the trip to sydney.

as the Get Your Art On month draws to a close, I thought about what I might do for next month, I like the thought of making time to art, things get done...practice makes perfect... and I went looking for something else to keep me on the journey to semi regular arting. Yep I am doing true to you 2 which is going to be FAB! but today I saw a blog post by the dear Journal Girl herself, her challenge, is to do two paintings a week on canvas. or on Big bits of paper something other than our art journals, and I thought about it for a bit, and went WHY NOT!
so I went out today and bought two canvases ready for the first week in August, I'm a little excited by it, I like the idea of filling a wall with bright bright canvases 8 in one month! I might have to sell a few off and give them as gifts! we shall see!!! Im hoping I can keep up, but I have a good feeling that I will.

that's it for me! pop over to Traci to see her beautiful photos and a journal page for today
xx Courtney

Get Your Art on Day 27 and Creative Space! True 2 You Two

well well on today's creative front, its the beginning of a new artistic journey, I enrolled myself in an art course a little while ago and the course starts in a few days, as a pre teaser, Samantha Kira has given a little worksheet/questionnaire on journalling, how we came to journal, why we journal all different questions on our journalling selves. So my art today is theoretical art, writing about my art, which I feel is just as important sometimes as the art itself.



I will be using my new art journal for the course, as I'm about 5 pages left of my current one and wanted the course work not to be split up so I move into this book, who says you cant have ur hands in two books at once!


I also started keeping a written journal, purely for my everyday journalling, the mundane if you will. I realized that my writing had become less and less as I got more involved with my art journal, so I got out a little O Check Designs book I have had for over a year, and started jotting things down, how I'm feeling, moments in my day I wanted to remember, things the kids have done and general reflections.
It feels good to write again, I didn't know how much I'd missed it till I started again.


So there are all my journals stacked up waiting to be filled up and inked all over whether it be with words or ink or art they all have a purpose in my life, and they are all so very important to my growth as an artist a writer and as a mumma.


So for Creative Space links! please pop over Here to the Communal blog and check out the overwhelming amount of awesome

and for Traci's Blog to see what shes up to for get your art on pop over here.

and as for me..pop back tomorrow I'll have something else for you.
xox Courtney