New Page for my Altered book

Yesterday, I got another page done in my Altered Book. I do like the way it turned out, but may add something else to it. Sometimes when you let your work sit and take your time with it, it may say to you that it needs something more, or it is fine as it is. I have already basecoated another page, so I am ready to go again.

I also want to start work on some other ideas that I have. I have been admiring so many other artists' work and see that the ones that are the most successful are the artists that have their own style, their own look, something truly unique that is all their own. Finding your way to that point isn't usually something that happens overnight. It is something that takes years of work and thought.

Being a successful rubber stamp designer, I developed my own style that was truly all my own. I look back at my 20+ year career and think about those first stamp designs that I put out there for sale. For the life of me, I don't know why anyone bought them, but they did! (AWFUL)

My artwork developed over the years. The more I drew, the better I got at it. Many many of my customers told me they liked our stamps because they were unique and not like what the rest of the companies were putting out there.

So I will try to remember this with my artwork. It is not something that I am going to do and immediately become a successful artist. It is something that I will have to develop over time.

Some of my recent ideas that I will put into play may just be the first step towards that point.

Calligra~Fun

I am having sooooo much fun!!! I signed up for a class called "Calligra~Fun with Martha Lever and it is a wonderful class. She is a fantastic teacher with a lovely southern drawl that I love to listen to. She has been a calligrapher for over 25 years and she does fantastic work. Over the years, I have tried to study calligraphy on my own. Bought books, pens, and lots of lined paper, but it seems that without some direction, my attempts were rather ugly. So when I found out that Martha was going to teach her fun, relaxed style of letter forms, I jumped on it. I am so glad that I did!!
Here are a few of my attempts at it. Now remember, I have just learned this and have lots and lots of practice to do to get better at it.

This is in a small altered book that I am working on. I was a little afraid to put it on something that was permanent, but I told myself....go for it!! There is always gesso.......lol!!! Page isn't finished quite yet, but I like it.



Just a little practice and play on this sheet.....

A quote that I found that I liked. I think I'll use this somewhere in the future on some other paper.

More playing......and doodling. Doodling is something I have done for years!!!!

On to more practice now......

New Altered Book

I have been having so much fun making an altered book. I started with a small childrens book....about 7 x 9". I glued pages together to get a nice firm page to work with, and then gessoed all of them. I then started adding collage elements to them and a different theme on each page. So much fun...and so free!! I love this style of painting.

This page was a bird and tree theme.....

This page, the theme is MUSIC and my love for it.


This page, the theme is BEAUTY.....inside beauty.

I loved the way this page turned out. The theme is in the words....

I created this page to include some of the things that I love....

About my artistic journey.........

And this is the cover of my book......

I will be posting more pages from my book as I get them done. I think that I will be making many more of these books in the future, as I'm lovin' it!!

It has been awhile since I posted, and it has been a busy time. We had company for the month of June, and it just flew by. My son and his two daughters were here for a nice visit. He is in the Navy and was being transfered from Texas to Maryland for the next 4 years. He had 30 days of leave so he came home for a nice long visit with us. His brother lives close by, and he and his daughter were here a lot too. Lots of talking, grilling, swimming in the backyard....it was a fun time. As usual, it went by too fast. Here is pic of kids and Dad in the pool.