Saturday, September 26, 2009

joy


that's what i've been feeling lately, and lots of it... i suppose that august 23 - september 23 is a whirling, high time for all virgos - it sure is for me each year, and this year was no different. if anything the ride may have been a little higher and a little faster!

in the last week i've been to lava beds national monument and back to mt. shasta for the equinox. both places are simply beautiful. lava beds nat'l monument is where the petroglyph cliff is. since this is already a long post, i'll put a link here to last years post with photos of some the petroglyphs. i can't resist sticking in a couple of shots from this trip, though...


above the cliff many, many birds were circling...


just one of the hundreds petroglyphs...


the lava tubes/caves are about 20 miles from the petroglyph cliff... this juniper was growing at the top of a shallow cave. some go on and on, and some are shallow. what amazes me about junipers is that they can grow in places like this with virtually no soil!


these pictographs were in the cave under the juniper above,


as were these. i left these pics huge so you can click on them for further gazing...


in my walking here at home i finally saw a pack rat house when the light was right for picture taking! as you know, i'm crazy about pack rat architecture - it impresses me to no end. i also left this pic huge so you can click and see the pièce de résistance at the top. look at those sticks all neat and tidy lined up! also, the big stick that i've drawn an arrow to - was that already there and one of the reasons that he (she?) chose this particular building site (it's one of the main supports), or did she ask her friends over for a 'stick raising'?! either way it's impressive!


speaking of sticks...








and a little flag love left behind on mt. shasta. love those chenille bees...


the page at the top of this post is the last one in my third Barely There Book... i did a couple of paintings on the last pages, and a lot of experimenting with photo transfers. i think this is me pondering another transfer technique... no wait, i think it's me looking at another transfer failure!


this was the paper that was left behind from an experiment. the transfer didn't work, but the paper looked great!


a photo transfer that did work on the cover page - this was using regular paper and matte gel medium, which so far is about my favorite technique.


this is the first page i did after i finished the BTB. still muslin, but i'm leaving the pages separate. after working in a book for so long, i'm loving not working in a book. it's freeing...


the back of the page above. it seems to me that joy lives inside us like the life force lives inside a bulb. i think we all have 'joy bulbs' inside of us...


i did this transfer of a painting of frida's using TAP. i've had some good results with it and some not-so-good results, but this one i really liked. everything was already on the page before i did the transfer (the wing, the flower, etc.). i think you'd have to gel medium over the transfer before you could add to it because it has a waxy/plastic-y surface.


the back side of frida - the bottom of the page was another TAP transfer that turned to mud. for some reason the colors just didn't show up, so i gessoed over it... these pages were done on the day i went to the lava beds... frida is crying in her painting, which is what i feel about the way the native americans were treated who used to live on this land.


i got my trusty caran d'ache crayons out to paint these bulbs. mostly i dip the crayon into the water and scribble around with it until it dries out, then dip again. i used a brush here and there, but not much. i love the way the crayons look on the muslin.


another TAP transfer - the bottom was way darker than it should have been so i made it darker yet and sort of covered everything up.


the silk ribbon on the right is from vivian bonder. she sells the most exquisitely colorful silk ribbon on the planet.

the day that karin b. told me about the red book, it was all i could think about... you can read about it here.


this painting is done on a piece of raw silk - it's not a journal page, but i wanted to show it to you because painting on silk is really wonderful, and i highly recommend it. kathy gave me a lot of incredible birthday presents, and one of them was a yard of silk... (and some more st. armand paper, and paints, and, and) thank you so much, kathy!

this week's quote is courtesy of banksy...

The holy grail is to spend less time making the picture than it takes people to look at it.


have a beautiful week everyone!

XO

29 comments:

  1. Ah, Lynne, your blog posts always make me sigh...

    *ahhhh* ;)

    oooh thanks for the heads up on Jung's book...did not know that it was published...

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  2. What an incredible body of work! I DO love to just sit and look at it, and look and look.
    Thank you.
    Signed
    Alice (in wonderland)

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  3. I like your idea of joy being in a bulb inside of us - that's great !!

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  4. Beutiful post,beutiful photos and works..

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  5. I can't stop looking at the pictograph photo just under the Juniper. It's a lovely photograph and I especially like the leafy branch .... or thats what it looks like. Thanks for spreading the joy, Lynne :-)

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  6. You always share so much here Lynne.

    The petroglyphs and lava tubes are amazing, as is pack rat house.

    I love the idea of your sticks and flags here and there. It must be a visual treat to walk through the woods and find one of your creations.

    Love your Barely There books too, and your tips for image transfers. I'm just thinking about doing some of that. AADD and all you know.

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  7. beautiful work...such calm and lovely place to visit...thank you!

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  8. I have just found you recently and love to come see what you have next as I know I'm always going to be in awe.

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  9. Wow! Have you been a busy girl!!! Love, love everything!!
    I went to the lava beds national monument link.... it is very cool! I also didn't know much about Mt. Shasta so I checked that out also.... what a beautiful place.

    Interesting about the pack rat architecture...lol! Personally, the thought of pack rats flips me out.... lol.... but it's pretty fascinating!

    Your work is always so inspiring and so beautiful!

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  10. I sit down with a big cup of coffee to enjoy all you share here these days Lynne! Everything is inspiring! Thanks for sharing al your natural wonder finds, and your own creative nature!
    xox K
    My verification word is 'trove' -
    as in treasure!!

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  11. I have just dicovered your wonderful blog - thank you I shall be following

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  12. You take beauty with you and you leave it in your wake.

    Love Renee xoxo

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  13. thank you, kelly... that makes me smile... : ) xo

    lol, loani, that's the way i feel looking at your creations... i gaze and gaze...

    hey luvvie... smiling here!

    thank you very much, flyinamber...

    robyn, you're welcome... i love the drawing in that photo that looks like stacked ovals. that one just really grabs me.

    hee, leslie! yes, image transfers definitely need to be added to the AADD repertoire!

    thank you, jean... and thank you for visiting...

    aw, yvonne, you are sweet! thank you!

    hey manon, yeah, i've been hoppin'! seriously, these pack rats are sweet. ; ) xo

    hi karin! trove is perfect, eh? here we are exploring it! xo

    thank you clare, and welcome!

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  14. Loving all your pages and your sticks! And putting all the pieces of this post together I realized that a lot of your work is like modern day petroglyphs. Amazing!

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  15. Ah I so look forward to your blog! Thanks again for sharing! I love the pages you created! The lava beds must be an amazing thing to see in person as well as the Pack Rats nest! Now I will go back and read your blog over again and click the links I missed.

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  16. I want to print out this post and read it over and look at it again and over and again. So many great quotes and pieces of inpiration, it is truely a gift!! Thank you for taking the time to post this :) xox, Lisa

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  17. Om mani padme hum
    Om mani padme hum

    ah its been a long time to breath that again!!!!

    i can't speak more, its too much... i will speak later...

    peace. how joy has been this years word you can't again imagine.

    exoblessings up and down your spine! LOL

    x

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  18. I so love your posts, Lynne. So much wonderful eye candy and inspiration on every inch !!! Love, love love your sticks in there nature home...oh and your Frida trials...so much to love. Thanks as always for sharing it all with us !

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  19. thank you, renee... as do you... xo

    heya seth! thank you! it'll be interesting to see how these colored pencils last outside over time. i wonder what the pictographs were drawn with...

    hi janine, thank you... i appreciate your kind words and support for my art... xo

    thank you, lisa! that's the way i feel about your posts - a gift! xo

    exoblessings to you, too m.... up and down and all around!

    hey kim! thank you sweet woman! xo

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  20. well, I'm full! amazing post Miss Lynne - so much to see and ponder - as always, love the work:)

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  21. it has ben ages since I have been to Mt Shasta! I remember how magical it was! and Lynne your transfers are just spectacular, love the Frieda and what is TAP????

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  22. Another wonderful trip...the petroglyphs are amazing. It must be such an awesome experience to visit such a wonderful area (thanks for sharing as always).
    The Juniper tree is so ruggedly beautiful and I just adore your new journal pages (especially that self portrait???). And those bulbs with the caran d'ache...very special.
    My absolute favourite though is that glorious page with the red chair...love, love, love it!

    Thanks for the joy!

    Jacky xox

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  23. Hi Joy'ful sweet girl: thanks for all this happy post, it's just beautiful and soooo full of 'Joy'. loved Mansuetude's post very much. when I first open your latest posts, that is exactly how I feel too - can't speak at that moment but dooo later, ha : ) your sweet little forrest faces only get sweeter along with your BTB pages, tooo cooool !!! I've been playing with transparency sheets, the kind from an office supply place. they are fun and do image transfer well but ohhhhh soooo messy, ha : ) love the TAP best !!!! thank you for all your heartful-sharing - love it !!!
    Blessings, Sandra in AZ

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  24. Lynne... there is so much beauty here, the petroglyph paintings on the cliff, the old juniper tree and it's roots... and then the transition into color... your reds... so pure... like fruit, and I love the bulbs so much and the joy that you feel and make me feel... Roxanne

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  25. heya, jeane... this was a 10 course meal ... ; )

    hi cat, and it's still magical! e-mailed you about the TAP... thank you for the compliment on my transfers! yours are sure great...

    thank you, jacky... i don't know what it is about red chairs but i just love them. well drawing them... even though i don't have the perspective right in the least, i still love to draw them. xo

    hi sandra! well so far my transparency sheet transfers have not been a success, but i've just started experimenting. the one thing i realized after i got the sheets is that (duh!) they're plastic and using them just means putting more plastic in the dump, so i don't think i'll keep using them. do you have any tips for the TAP? do you get good results consistently? happy weekend to you!! xo

    roxanne, i thought about you as i drove though the tulelake wildlife refuge... oh, you would've been so happy out there with me on the petroglyph day -- we would've been dancing!! xo

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  26. Hi Lynne: I like the TAP best on fabric cause it melts into the weave and loooks more like a print rather than a transfer BUT not all fabrics are the same as you too found out, ha : ) then it becomes a matter of the iron being too hot or not hot enough, ugh !! mostly I don't mind the 'altered' loook, where it doesn't all transfer : ) I agree about the 'plastic' part of the film transparencies BUT I usually re-use the film on paper, I'll transfer first on fabric then the film/plastic I just use gel med to glu onto a journal page. that way I feeel like I'm 're-purposing or recycling : ) happy creative weekend to you : )
    Blessings, Sandra in AZ

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  27. Your photo's and your art are breathtaking. You have a skilled eye.

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  28. thank you sandra... i agree about using the transparency sheets when you're done with them. i did do that, so maybe it's okay... lol, but first i have to get the transfer to work! i let the gel medium dry and my transparency was cemented to the muslin. the muslin barely survived the process!

    jasmine, that is so very kind of you... thank you for leaving your thoughts and for stopping by...

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  29. i just don't have any words.. love reading your posts and i go on journeys while visiting here. truly wonderful. thank you!

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