I'd like to begin, this post, by thanking everyone for their prayers and positive thoughts for helping us get through this past weekend with "Irene". It was a white-knuckle ride but we made it through and we are left with a sense of deep appreciation and gratitude for coming out of it the way we did.
We have minimal clean-up, here, and were only without power for a brief few minutes! There are many left without power and it might be days before they get it back. Parts of our area has serious flooding concerns, roads are closed due to downed trees and power lines, there are so many stories regarding, this storm, that I couldn't possibly cover in this post.
Wherever Irene hit, she certainly left her mark and there are some deaths, unfortunately, being reported. I'm sure we'll be hearing lots of things about Irene for a long time to come.
Right now we are thankful and my heart goes out to those who have much to recover from the storm.
I, for one, never thought we would ever see a day when a hurricane would come up the coast as far as it did; perhaps I took that for granted that it could never happen here. I was listening to some scientific reasons for it on TV last night. But, I never felt living here was the perfect place. Northeast living does come with its challenges. And; where is the perfect place? I do not think that it exists. Based on religious beliefs, heaven perhaps, but I'm talking about the now.
I've come to the conclusion that the perfect place, for me, is right here in New York because my family and friends are here. That is the answer, for me, and all that comes with living, in this area, is worth it. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else because my heart is here. This storm really got me to thinking, through my fears, the stress of not knowing what was going to happen, listening to those terrible winds and the non-stop rain, I never thought, once, that I'd like to be any place but here.
The rewards we are getting now will be a week of mild temps, dry air, bright sunshine and cool nights. Thank you! I do feel we deserve it and the calm weather will help with recovery and resuming our daily lives. Yet; more than ever, feeling the true spirit of living is one day at a time - and not taking anything for granted.
Again; thank you all for the comforting words you've posted and sent to me. Hope you and yours are all safe and have a great week ahead.
I leave you with a picture of a journal page I did the day before the storm hit. It is called "The Ice Skater". I created the page with a Citra Solv-treated National Geographic page. I began painting around the negative space that I saw of a figure who appeared to be ice skating and adding some collage. I loved the free-motion appearance of the figure, seemingly peaceful, calm, and joyous in her skating. Honestly, today? I could go get a pair of skates on and do the same!!!!! :)
Best always........................Love, Marilyn xxoo
This is a recent journal page I worked on trying to come to grips with my fears after hearing predictions about Hurricane Irene.
I have never been much of a summer person for a couple of reasons; the heat is the main reason and I do not do well through summer storms; maybe it's a carry over from a scary experience I had a long time ago. But; it was an unforgettable one.
Now; Irene is the "mother lode" to me and so many people are in its path of destruction which is very disturbing to me. It's a very big storm and the East Coast is bracing for it or trying to anyway.
We will get the effects of Irene on Sunday and I need to come to terms with my fears. We will get deluged with rain and damaging winds; that is what is predicted.
This all just leaves me feeling very vulnerable and ill-at-ease; maybe we all have fears that we are not ready to face yet.
Today is a lovely day, here, and I will try, my best, to focus on the now. Maybe that is the message along the way through this journey, or should I say "journal" of life - live for the now!
It felt good to release some of my feelings on a journal page in my way.
I will pray and keep positive thoughts for all who already have and will be effected by Hurricane Irene. This has been quite a year for natural disasters and I say enough is enough!
All be safe this weekend!
Much love - Marilyn
This is a recent page in my journal. Drying time was a bit of an issue with this as the background is done with plaster gauze, spackle, Gesso, then acrylics. We've had such humid weather but the past couple of days have been gloriously cooler!
The heart the figure is holding is made out of corrugated cardboard using the plaster gauze and spackle, too. I added one of my French vocabulary card words.... le plaisir (pleasure) on the heart to symbolize what a pleasure it is, for me, to have my art journal to turn to.
Hope you all had a great weekend and are experiencing a good beginning to another week. I can't believe, in two weeks, it will be Labor Day weekend! Yikes!
My best to all of you! Love much - Marilyn
Misty Mawn offered a wonderful online class a few months back called Stretching Within. I was one of her students and I found the class to be challenging, refreshing, amazing, and so enjoyable. I would take another in a heart beat. I learned so much.
I came home, yesterday, to a recent issue of Somerset Studio (Sept./Oct) and any time I receive my subscription issue, I have to open it up right away and scan what inspirational articles and techniques are in it.
What to my surprise was an article written by Misty regarding her online class offering. Included in the article, were students' works including mine! (shown here). I was honored to be among such talented and creative people for this article. Thank you Misty!
I also want to mention, for those of you who follow Cathy Bueti's Blog, she has an amazing article in this issue as well. Congrats Cathy! It was a pleasure to be in your company! :)
Hope you all are having a good weekend and your weather is peaceful and bright. Ours has turned really beautiful, the past few days, and we haven't had to turn on the a/c in awhile! Life is good!
Much love always......................Marilyn xxoo
Sophia got to the beach, this summer, and absolutely loved it! She loved playing in the sand!
I worked on this 5 x 7 watercolor, while she was gone, as I was missing her and it helped me with thoughts of her. The photo, of her, here, is one that I took awhile ago and I decided to insert it in the picture with Photo Shop.
This weekend I am going frame shopping to put this in and present it to Sophia's parents as a memory keeper.
The watercolor was based on a photo I took a few years, back, in Rockport, MA (one of my favorite areas).
I hope you all are having a good week; we are coming upon another weekend soon. Our downpour rains have stopped and we are now enjoying beautiful weather! I hope you are, too!
Peace in your hearts and minds....................Love, Marilyn
I am sharing photos, here, of a process for one of my favorite background techniques. I used to make books out of brown-paper bags and I have a number of bags in my art stash. I decided to start using them in my art journal activities.
I tear up pieces of the paper bag and using gel medium, adhere them to my substrate overlapping the pieces. I have also done this without tearing - just using a larger piece of the bag but I prefer the torn pieces as they add so much texture to a background. Once I have adhered the torn pieces to the whole page, I then go over the whole area with gel medium and while the gel medium is still "setting up", I go in with a texture stamp. Here; I used the Lego pieces I "borrowed" from my grand daughter :). I then let this all dry completely.
The next step is to add white gesso to the page and while the gesso is still wet, wipe off areas with a rag or paper towel until it looks like a "white wash" and you can still see the Lego imprints. Let dry and begin your art work.The first two photos reflect this process.
I just love the texture that is created and shows through no matter what I am adding to the page. I also like to leave open areas of the background as you can see in my finished piece.
The finished piece reflects my continuous dream of getting to Italy someday. The image is my own transferred onto the page, sketched over and painted, the olive branch is hand drawn and painted and collage was added with woman's collar and flower embellishments.
I hope you all had a nice weekend. We are at the beginning of a new week and wish you a safe, healthy and happy one!
Best to all! Much love, Marilyn xxoo
I call this journal page "The Gardener". Again; transferred ink-jet image of my own drawing onto journal page and went from there. I find I enjoy the transfer system a lot because I get a very faint image, after, and the facial features actually change with this which I think is neat. I can go back into, the transfer, and add more pencil lines and paint as I want. I had a little trouble with her hat but - it's my journal page and not going to hang in the Louvre. :) The flowers are actually a Donna Downey foam stamp using two colors of acrylic paint with a foam brush. 
The little bird is collaged.
I picked up some vintage French vocabulary cards on Ebay a few weeks back and while I love them for collage purposes, I'm finding they are a good way of learning French!
I used la fleur (flower) and fournir (to provide) and felt was appropriate for "The Gardener". :)
The background was done with, what is becoming to be, my favorite technique. I will be sharing that process in near future.
We have another weekend coming up. It's already the second week of August! Whew! How fast time is going.
I am wishing you all a joyous weekend, ahead, be safe and enjoy the moments!
Much love, Marilyn xxoo
