The beginning of a new Journey.

Exciting new play for me.

Each year for the last 23 years we have holidayed in the same place camping for 17 years but progressing to a holiday rental that looks over our bay.

This place is overwhelmingly beautiful, peaceful and joyous. The ocean is my haven I draw strength and energy from it. The sound of the it fills my heart with song and rhythm. The pounding of the waves lift my spirits – the ocean is so alive, so tangible. I love the rock pools teaming with life, the salt and sand on your skin. The wind that plays with your hair and whispers secrets, the tingling of the saltwater on your toes and all the way to your nose. The dolphins who so elegantly and playfully dance in the green of the waves. I love the beautiful parrots who talk, chattering, gossiping, who trust us, and leave with a blaze of colour. The kangaroos swiftly move along the edge of the sand and the eucalyptus that grow tall and straight. We watch the large stingrays poetically slide on the sandy bottom of the crystal clear waters. Each day I swiftly gather inspiration for the year ahead, each day we laugh, swim, read books and are very thankful for this time that fills our lives with a calming restoring beauty.

“To be an artist means never to avert one’s eyes.”
― Akira Kurosawa

An artistic challenge – inspiration 

This holiday I decided to challenge myself with a new concept. My challenge was to produce a small piece of work each day that represented some part of my holiday, it was not to be perfect, not to be cumbersome but to be a tool to use for later art projects. I wanted to keep a journal that included printed images from my mobile phone and I pad. Why ? I often take photos with my mobile phone for inspiration but dont use them, so I decided to print images from both my mobile phone and iPad. This will be a resource in combination with my ears eyes, touch and heart.

I purchased a portable Canon Selphy 910 printer ithttps://www.canon.com.au/Search?ss=selphy%20software .This printer produces postcard size images, it is small, light and has its own internal wifi. I am very impressed with its quality of image and will be using it for many applications now.

To add interest to some of the images I played in some very simple apps including https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/livecollage-best-2d-3d-live/id530957474?mt=8. This exciting and interesting play helped me to visualise stitch and colour for a textile art work. I now have many ideas, maybe too many  :-) for new art works about the coast.

I hope you join me on this journey from journal entries to art work. I will post the progress as it happens, and will be delighted to share the experience with you.

I only took the basic Kit  for this project. This was part of my challenge

Leather bound journal

Water colour pencils and paint pens

Hand stitching thread

Water colour paper

Glue stick

Ipad, I phone

Ipad apps such as Waterlogue, Enlight,Live collage and Lightroom.

Canon Selphy printer

Scissors and a open mind

I used found materials, dried sea weed, plants, lolly wrappers, gum leaves, silver foil, and baking paper.

Some samples of the same image altered in the app you can see how it would translate to fabric and thread.

A page from my journal

From my Journal using the cliff face images,  my art kit and including dried sea weed.

I have cut out the stones from a photo and worked over them with paints and then placed my book mark across the art work for extra depth

A page from my journal which includes ribbon from a gift.

Sea weed glorious sea weed, alive with texture colour and movement. Imagine the fabrics you could use   their drape, their colour, the textured threads and yarns. In this journal entry I worked on top of the photo which I had printed to try and capture the lovely soft movement and flow.

They razzle and dazzle and chatter so vibrant, inquisitive and spontaneous.

Great just to think about colour and design,looking at the shapes and forms.

To begin each day with colour and form leads to enchanting day.

Only using whats available in the holiday house and my kit I used baking paper to add to the texture. In other entries in my journal I used torn magazines and chocolate wrappers.

The local vegetation’s offers layers and layers of texture. 

So here we are at fish, oh how I love fish, the way the glitter and flee in the water, they effortlessly glide and shimmer. They are elegant and swift with so much wonderful texture.

After a quick photoshoot he swam happily away.

Here I used thread backing paper, paints, pens and water colour paper.

Each day an new beginning, each day a new idea, each day the creativity is driven by what we see, hear, touch, imagine and feel in our hearts. I am really excited by the possibilities and I will continue this journey completing some textile art works and hope to bring you along with me.

If you would like to see more images of my journal please let me know and I will publish them in another post.