Friday, July 22, 2016

6-22-16 ~ A Little Bit of Everything

This week my body has been consumed with Poison Ivy.  Monday will be 2 weeks of itching and places are still coming out. I took Prednisone for a week and am now depending upon Benadryl to do the trick. I have had to stay as still as possible in the house so turned on the AC in my living room and bedroom and spent most of my time in the old blue chair. I did a bit of everything trying to keep my mind off of the itching and worked daily on my Etegami. It was an art filled week, but I managed to turn a pile of lemons into some delicious lemonade.


Let me start with the culprit. Just looks like a week. In Florida a block from the Atlantic all I new were pretty flowers, cockroaches, scorpions, mosquitoes, sea gulls, sand pipers pelicans, and alligators......not Poison Ivey. Well, I know it now?

This is the culprit and it is right beside the front porch step in Buddy's
 herb garden.Fortunately the bug man who comes monthly to spray the house
is not allergic to it, so he pulled it all out and hid it.

http://bluechairdiary.blogspot.comhttp://bluechairdiary.blogspot.com
The Story of My Magical Garden
I am linking up with Art Journal Journal (In My Garden There Is) and Cheeky Challenge. (In the Garden), and Creative Tuesdays (Pond).

Several years ago, my family won the lottery and in our large back yard lot I decided I wanted us to build a safe place for children to come and visit. It had to have a goldfish pond like my church had when I was a little girl and one with a marble seat all the way around it so the children could sit there, dangle their feet in the cool water, throw in their pennies for good luck, and watch the goldfish play. And, then you, Alexandra (Sunday Sketches), I thank you for all you taught me in your classes and loving to try to put a little bluebird named Alexia in all of my drawings. They add a very special touch. Every Sunday it was the happiest time of my day when we went to the Episcopal Church, Bethesda-by-the-Sea in Palm Beach, Florida. It was sort of like a home a block from our home. I also had to have LOTS of colorful flowers just like Bethesda, some seats where they could sit and rest, also like Bethesda and even a swing set for a bit of flying fun. As you can see, the children have come and look to be having a grand old time. Once again, we have my "inner child" coming to the surface. I am a child at heart. I do not want to leave my happy place...my garden and goldfish pond.Wouldn’t it be Wonderful if you could win the lottery and then create an area like this at your new home?


Here is my second watercolor from my gorgeous Seeing Flowers book I wrote about last week.
I did try use stippling on the pod of the cornflower.Alexia is here.
I want to thank my blogger friend, John of Sinbad and I on the Loose, for introducing me to stippling.His work with birds is out of this world.


This is the cover I created for my Doodle Journal.

Here is page 2. These are all words and phrases that
hold much meaning for me. Since all the paper is tan,
 I decided to add some color to the piece.

Page 3 ~ A collage of little doodles and some pictures....and lots of stippling practice. It is hard to do.  Last week I saw one Stephan Stark's  page where she shared with us some spectacular and colorful doodle patchwork. I fell in love. She even showed us the process she went through. I thought it was such a cool idea, and since I had already started a doodling journal, I decided to divide it into 8 rectangles and just go for it. I did not do a rough draft. like she did  I arbitrarily gel penned colors and in particular, the flag with the red, white, and blue stripes in that order. I looked on the internet to see if there was one, and there was... the flag of Paraguay. FYI...there are 37 flags with these colors.


This is a digital copy of a watercolor card I sent to a friendwho had lost her son.
I've decided I am not gong to buy any more cards but instead will paint them.



Last but not least are all of my studies this week painting following the art form of etegami. Thank you, Carol from Creative Harbor, for introducing me to this method of watercolor painting.These are all post cards I did this week, and they are in the order as I painted them. I was curious to see what my name would look like in katakana, so I have written it on the cards. Am trying to make me stamp with the symbols for "genie".The stamping is always in red.







 How the background turned out blue in the photo I do not know. 
The background was white.



In addition to Art Journal Journey, Creative Tuesday, and Cheeky Challenge, 
I am linking to:










29 comments:

  1. Sorry about the poison ivy, that must have been AWFUL: But it lead you to make oodles of gorgeous art - drawings, doodles, your happy banana and more - thanks for sharing. Happy PPF, hugs, Valerie

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  2. interesting post, sorry about the poison ivy, I wouldn't know it either, scary. Lovely art and learning.

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  3. I hope you are well on the recovery from your poison ivy allergy now. The art you have shared with us looks gorgeous and its a magical garden you have for the children and visitors. I loved seeing your doodle art and the banana really made me smile.
    Yvonne

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  4. I'm still smiling about the happy banana, love it! You definately turned lemons into lemonade with your great drawings and doodles. Wishing you a speedy recovery! J :-)

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  5. I love your new look. I do see the change. This is so you. I really want to do more art .
    Yes we need a swap. Let me put my thinking cap on.
    I have been busy with dolls. Mostly online as the vendor space is slow right now.
    I have been busier since the move.
    Yes a new baby. My youngest and his fiance. Both have challenges and she has a son with autism. Oh my.
    Yes they grow up.
    Hope the ivy is outa there soon. Yuck.
    Hugs

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  6. UGH!!!! POISON IVY SUCKS!!!!!! On the bight side you did burn up a lot of creative energy :) Hope you feel better soon!

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  7. Beautiful artworks...especially the goldfish pond picture. Sorry to hear about the poison ivy..I don't think we have that here in UK. I've never come across it. sounds very painful!

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  8. Wow .. amazing pages and art dear Genie! I hope you are well after your poison ivy allergy again!
    Thank you very much for joining us at Art Journal Journey!
    Happy weekend !
    ♥♥♥
    Susi

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  9. Genie, these are great. I am so impressed with the doodling pages. That is something I am having difficulty with so I greatly admire what you do. Don't get all caught up in the stippling. Yes, it is very time consuming and can be painful. Not kidding. A few times after an hour's worth of it I've had to stop and take an Aleve. Maybe just stick to small portions such as you did with the cornflower which I think added a nice texture to the image. As I've said before, I like your style such as in the first painting. There's a name for it and I wish I could remember what it is called. Keep up the good fun!

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  10. a magical garden - great idea, now if the flowers just tend to themselves, wouldn't that be even nicer?

    thanks for your visit to my CT, have a lovely day.

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  11. Get Well wishes from AJJ.
    Very sorry you are suffering.
    Poison Ivy is THE pits.
    There is a rhyme: leaves of three ... let them be (and when the leaves are just coming on they are shiny...I also learned that hairy vines going up trees in the forest are poison ivy too ACK.
    Your wonderful artwork looks like the perfect way to run away without leaving home.
    You and your inner child are creating some wonderful things indeed!
    Take care and feel better soon.
    oxo
    p.s. I had no idea they have scorpions in FL OH NO!

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  12. Gosh Genie, so much original art in one blogpost, it's all fantastic.
    I love your garden with the flower borders and the happy children all in their sweet outfits admiring the goldfish pond, all painted in your own inimitable style.
    Your etegami paintings are wonderful too, I especially like the orange flower.

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  13. My goodness you have been busy! I hope you are less itchy soon, that sounds dreadful. I love the garden you created in your art and the flower with the tiny bird is especially beautiful.

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  14. I'm definitely a child at heart too, Genie, and how lovely it was to see this late entry with your utterly charming pond entry for Creative Tuesdays! You are lucky as normally this would have closed on Tuesday night but i was moving Wednesday so forgot to do that! :)

    Wow, how lovely for your fam to come into such good fortune. I hope they are blessed and blessing others with their windfall. Your illustration is a blessing to me and the rest of us, for sure. Thanks for joining in and I hope we see you back for the next go around which will need to be delayed a few weeks as I am moving to England for a short while to help my mother! Stay tuned... I will announce it on CT soon enough! Thank you.

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  15. Lots of fun pieces. I enjoyed them. And I like the perspective of looking down onto the garden as if above. Stay playful. Hugs-Erika

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  16. i'm so sorry about your poison ivy, how awful. i hope you heal quickly. meanwhile you were certainly able to make some wonderful things. i love your magical garden piece -- it is magical indeed and so full of imagery. xo

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  17. So sorry to hear about the poison ivy debacle. I love your cute little garden #sundaysketches

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  18. Oh wonderful creations on your post ~ each a little different but all very creative despite your bout with poison ivy ~ Love the yard with the gold fish pond ~ delightful work and etegamis are progressing nicely ~

    Happy Creating to you ~ xox

    ps. Got my Chinese Chop (stamp) in China when I was there a few years ago ~ you can actually carve one yourself ~ on block printing material (soft eraser like material) ~

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  19. looks like you had a very creative week in spite of your poison ivy itches!! i've never been exposed to it and (knock on wood) hope I never do!

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  20. So many beautiful pictures you are sharing with us - awesome! I am sorry to hear about your run in with poison ivy, but good to hear you are on the mend.

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  21. Oh no, you poor thing! We don't have poison ivy here, thankfully. I did get a nasty rash once from a shrub in the rain-forest and my then-husband said it was a wild mulberry bush. Nothing like the effects of poison ivy though. Well done on turning it into a creative week regardless of the itching.

    I love all your art pieces, particularly your magical garden. I have never heard of etegami before so searched it on Google. Very interesting!

    My condolences to your friend, Marie, who lost her son. How devastating for her. May she have lots of love and support from friends and family. I just can't imagine what she much be going through. :(

    Wishing you a happy, itch-free week. xx

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  22. ow ow ow, hope that clears up soon

    lots of art created from a bad situation tho :)

    was always told growing up "Leaves of three, let them be!" because in the area we lived, it was all around :/


    Happy PPF!
    Jen #45

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  23. wow, you have been busy :) My favorite was the beautirul cornflower :) And your childhood story.

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  24. Ooh so sorry your are suffering with poison ivy! Hope is subsides soon!! Wonderful variety and yes I too am a kid at heart. As probably show from my art!! Thanks for sharing all your influences!! Great pages!!

    Hugs Giggles

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  25. Gosh your posts are such a joy to read Genie.. so sorry to hear about the Poison Ivy, sounds dreadful but I see as always you put your recovery time to use in such a positive and productive way. Loved the story of your magical garden, as long as we keep our inner child alive all will be well :)

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  26. Looks like you've been having a lot of fun with your journal book pages! Look at you go!! :)

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  27. I am loving your beautiful and fun and inspiring art Genie and want to thank you for following the challenge over at Dezinaworld too.
    Hugs June x

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  28. Genie, I am here, but haven't got to look around...will later. I do love the new design...heading to see Rachel...she is up and awake...

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  29. All of your illustrations are so darling! I especially enjoy the journal doodles -- great details going on -- lovely!

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