Pain, Journaling and Art

I've been meaning to post for ages but things have just gotten away from me.

First of all good news - I HAVE NO PAIN!!!!!!!

I've been a lot of pain over the last year or so.  It gradually crept up on me and just didn't go away, no matter what pain killers I took.  The only way I could get relief was to craft but my Muse disappeared.  Think she was scared by the pain lol!!

I've been attending the Pain Clinic for a while and a couple of weeks ago the doc offered me a Lidocaine infusion.  Its a local anaesthetic but doesn't numb when given by infusion.  It just does something to trick the nerves into not giving me pain.  There was no guarantee of it working but I *had* to try.

I had it on 25th January at my local hospital.  I had to go in my wheelchair as I just couldn't walk for the pain.  I went in with a pain score of 10 and came out with a score of zero and could walk again!  I get a little pain at night but the rest of the time its fine and no more pain killers.  Its a really weird feeling.  The first night I couldn't sleep cos my legs just didn't feel like mine.

I've still got very tired legs and I'm having spasms again but my MS Nurse is gonna work it out with my Neurologist to change some medication.

So now that I've written loads I think I should show my completed journal page that I started on new Years Day.

I wrote the wording using a dipping pen and drawing ink.  There were spots of ink all over cos I'm not so good with the pen so I decided to try and cover up the black marks by using Black Soot DI, which of course looked too dark and didn't dry.  So baby wipe at the ready I wiped it off and what I was left with was a darkened version of the original page which I love!

I also promised ages ago to show you my art from the MS Trust Secret Art Show.  There's another one starting in April.  I'm in the middle of doing more pieces for them.

All of the artwork is on heavy water colour paper that the MS Trust send out to the artist.  This one is drawing ink allowed to run over the paper with variegated metal leaf applied in some the shapes that the ink made.

This sold on the night of the first day of the show to the lady who organised the show.  She e-mailed to tell me and hoped I'd not be upset.  Out of all the artwork she saw, it was mine that spoke to her.  I was *chuffed*!!!

This is very obvious to any crafters out there.  I used Crushed Olive and Broken China DI's on the background with some water dripped on to remove some of the colour.  The stamp is from Sir Tim of Holtz.  Its a clear stamp and I got permission from Ranger and Sir Tim before using it.  The wording is printed on the PC and cut up.

This one sold in the first 10 minutes of the show opening!!

This was the first piece I did and I not keen on it.  Cos I'd spent time doing it I sent it in anyway.  I'm not sure if it sold or not.

I used some red paint from Ikea meant for colouring the plain wooden items they sell.  I painted another piece of paper and clagged this piece onto it and it came apart with this lovely pattern.  I used a green paint dabber through small sequin waste and then used yellow paint on a skewer to make the lines.

I've already done one piece for the Spring show and I'm really pleased with it.  Let you see that when its (hopefully) sold.

Happy New Year!!!

After my relapse I decided to take it easy for a few weeks to get myself pulled together.  I finally feel ready to craft again and that was exactly what I was doing yesterday - huddled in my craft room with my new Slanket on, listening to an audio book and getting painty!!

I got 2 craft books for Christmas ( along with a lot of other stuff) from Jo - Surface Treatment Workshop: Explore 45 Mixed Media Techniques and Art at the Speed of Life.  The Surface Treatments gave me the kick I needed to start creating again and I started to read the the second one on Christmas Day.  For once I am taking notice of what the author is telling me to do to try to save precious time in our crafting habits.  So yesterday I created most of a journal page and loads of backgrounds for a journal (or smash book) that I made last winter out of recycled packaging.

First of all I gesso'd the journal page as it had some Krylon ink coming through from the previous page and while my sponge brush was dirty I gesso'd all of the pages of the recycled journal.

You can great texture on the page by pressing the end of the sponge onto the page.  The bubbles that come from the sponge stay raised when it dries too!

Next I dripped Golden paints Pthalo Blue (Green Shade) and Pthalo Green (Blue Shade) onto the pages and used a Speedball brayer to roll the colour around and blend it.

The names of these colours always make me smile.  Why is the blue, green and the green, blue??  I'm sure there's some rational explanation but I don't really care so much cos I *love* these colours especially together!

I wanted a complete contrast to the image I'd chosen for the page.  Its a picture of Dita von Teese from one of those glossy magazines a neighbour gives to my Mam and I rip up!

For anyone who doesn't know who she is, she's a Burlesque dancer and if I was fit and well, I'd love to try Burlesque. 

The gold on the outside of the page is Golden paints Irridecent Gold (fine) and is sponged through small hole sequin waste.

The page isn't finished yet and I'm sure how its gonna end up, but I love it so far!

And here are some of the backgrounds I did.  You can see that I used the same colours a couple of times meaning I only had to wash my tools once.  Its common sense but Art at the Speed of Life has really brought it home to me.  Bit dense you see ;-)

And I'm intending to keep my baby wipes and use them in art too. Here are my first 3!

So here's to a new Year that is Happy, Healthy and Crafty for all of us!!

Relapse number 2 :o(

I've not been feeling myself for a few weeks and it all came to a head on Monday.  I rang the doctors and got an appointment for 3 hours time for an unrelated matter but by the time I got to the surgery I had lost my balance, had visual disturbances and felt like my legs would colapse at any moment.  And i'm still waiting for my whelchair - typical!

I rang my MS Nurse on the advice of my GP and low and behold I'm having another relpase.  I've already had 1 this year - is that not enough????

So I've been backwards and forwards to the hospital for 3 days to have high dose steroids by intravenous drip and they've taken blood tests to see if I am building up antibodies to the Tysabri (my normal monthly infusion).

So firstly an apology to all my blog buddies.  I just ain't been in any frame of mind, fatigue wise, to leave any comments for weeks.  Rest assured though I have been by all of your blog posts but just not shown my presence.

Secondly I've decided I'm not making Christmas cards this year.  I bought some a few weeks ago with the intention of making a few, but this relapse has really scared me and I'm just not gonna push myself.  Hope you all understand.

So I'm off now for some food and put my feet up in front of the telly and catch up on stuff I've taped.

Journal Journeys Challenge #04

This is my journal page for Journal Journeys Challenge # 04.  Dawn gave us the prompt of  Nature & Autumn.  I chose to just do Autumn but I suppose the leaves constitute the 'nature' part of it ;)

I started on a blank page of my Moleskine Journal.  I didn't gesso it before hand but now think I should have as the back of one of the pages is soooo covered in Glimmer Mist and krylon pen!

Anyhoo I decide to use some leaves out of my garden as 'masks- and spray Glimmer Mists through them.  However I chose a piece of conifer which was far too dense (bit like me for choosing it!) and the mask just turned out like a big un-painted blob. 

So to try and save it I just sprayed Glimmer Mist in every autumnal colour I had all over both pages.  They were looking a complete mess, so I decided just to use the rest of leaves as 'stamps' and basically plonked them in to DI's and used my hand the press them onto the pages.  The veins showed up brilliantly.  So I tried stamping the back of leaf.  It worked just as well and I loved the page as it had sooo much texture.  Of course I forgot to take a photo (again!)

I used the Sir Tim of Holtz Tattered Leaves die to cut leaves from book pages, scrunched them up, opened them out and sprayed them with more Glimmer Mist.  Once I dried them they started to look more like Autumn leaves.  I stuck them randomly around the edges of the pages and wanted to write 'Autumn natures last and lovliest smile' in the centre.  But....I spelled lovliest wrong.  Typical.  (note to self - *always* write any words you want to use out in rought first!)  At first I used a black Sharpie to write, but it didn't show up very well and I'd already corrected my spelling mistake so there were 2 lovliest's.  When I decided to use a gold Krylon Pen and realised I could've changed the spelling mistake without anyone knowing.  So 2 lovliest it is!

I'm really happy with the pages and I'm gonna try and do the background again and take a photo this time ;)

MS Trust Secret Art Show

The Winter MS Trust Secret Art Show is pretty special for me this year. 

The exhibition has over 250 pieces and includes artwork from well-known artists such as Caroline Tate, Richard Long and Patrick Hughes and ME!!!!  Yes I have 3 pieces of artwork in the show.

Each piece of artwork sold in the show is 12cm x 12cm (the size of a CD case) and costs £45. The artwork is in a wide range of styles and media, including oils, watercolours, abstract, landscape and still-life. The artwork is signed on the back, so people only find out who created it when they receive it in the post. The Secret Art Show gallery will be available for people to view from Friday 30 September. The show will then open for sales at 9am on Friday 7 October.

Please, please, please follow one of the links above and have a look at the work.  Its all wonderful and, if you can afford it, please buy one.

See if you can spot mine.  I know that all of my crafty friends out there will definitely be able to spot one of them ;)

Elements of Art Journaling final pages

Well its been a long time coming but I've finally finished The Elements of Art Journaling course.  Not that its been a chore, but I've just not felt like doing any crafting for a while.  It happens every now and then and I say I can't be bothered but its more than that.  It usually means I'm too tired to do anything.  And that's how its been for most of this month.

Anyhoo, here are my final two pages.  The first is the fire page.  For this page Effy told us to art to music.  This is not unusual for me, as anyone who knows me will attest to.  Then she said to just enjoy ourselves and make a 'hot mess'.  Now this is more difficult for me as I'm a perfectionist and messes just don't come easy.  So I started with red Ecoline ink and blew it around the pages.  Good basis for a messy page....or so I thought.

I then painted Stewart Gill paints in cerise on one page and orange on the other.  This is when I realised my mistake.  Ecolines are water based and they just ran and mixed with the paint.  Ah well...lesson learned.  Once I got the pages painted I closed the journal and squished the pages together and it gave a lovely texture.  This is where I stopped and thought about the words associated with fire.  One of them is anger.

I realised I am ANGRY!!! 

I've always said I was frustrated or irritated but now I know that all this time I have been angry.  I'm angry at my MS for what it has and is doing to me and there are other things I am angry about too but this isn't the time or place to go into them.  So I wrote it all down and burned the paper.  And as I watched the pieces of ash float away into the sky I started to feel calmer.  So to symbolise this I charred the edges of pieces of book pages and arranged them into a 'fire' on the pages and drew tendrils of golden smoke coming the from the fire.

The last page is the Spirit Page.  This was all about celebrating which virtues we possess now or would like to possess in the future.  Again, being British, I struggled to admit what I possess.  So my Mam got out the drinks coaster her and my Dad had bought me a few years ago and between us we decided my virtue is inner strength. 

I did a search on line for the Goddess of Inner Strength and it kept coming back to Sekhmet, the Egyptian warrior Goddess but she was also the Goddess of healing.  As I adore Egypt and everything to do with it she seemed to be an appropriate Goddess for me!

I drew a face using instructions I got from Art, Heart and Healing.  Its definitely worth checking as its a FREE course!!!  As I liked the face I'd drawn and didn't know if I'd be able to do another one I photocopied it and used the copy for the journal page. 

I first dropped spots of Golden Pyrolle Red and Hansa Yellow Medium paint on the pages and smooshed them about with a Speedball brayer.  Once they were dry I used the yellow paint on a clear stamp of bubble background and stamped it randomly around.  I then added drops of Golden Titan Buff paint and smooshed that with the brayer.  It ended up looking almost sandy.

I bought some papers a while ago which feature Egyptian images and used the black one with golden sarcophagi all over it, cut into strips, for her hair and a one with pyramids in neutral colours, with a little more Titan Buff over it, for her dress.

To bring both pages together I sponged Golden Iridescent gold paint over the whole thing.

I used a dipping pen to write the wording.  Its the first time I've done this (as you can tell by the big glob of ink on Sekmet's name), and I'm really pleased with the results.

I got the Ankh that I used on her head from a Zuzu, a blog buddy of mine, and coloured it golden with the same gold paint.  If you get a chance stop by her blog Zuzu's Petals Altered Art 'n' Stuff.  Her work is amazing!!

So there you have it.  The Elements of Art Journaling course.  It has been a revelation for me to do this course as it has helped to open my eyes to who I am and to make some decisions I would ordinarily have shied away from.

For anyone who would like to do this course it will be available as a Self Study course on Wild Precious Studios.  You have to join the Studio but it such a welcoming, nurturing and inspirational place to be part of.

Press for Design

My wonderfully talented friend Carrie has taken a huge step and become a Self-Employed Business Woman.  I have unashamedly copied this from Carrie's Blog as she has put it so more eloquently than I ever could.  Pop over to her blog to read the whole post.

'...I have completed all the forms and am all signed up and am ready to trade! I have two different arms to my business, web and print design and my printmaking side. My web and print design service is specifically aimed at sole traders and small businesses, so if you know anyone in that category please do let them know about my Press for Design site As for printmaking I signed up as a Network Member at Allendale Forge Studios today, so my artwork will soon be available to buy there – do visit if you’re in the area, as it is a lovely studio with many different artists and a cafe attached too. My linocuts are for sale in my etsy store, and greetings cards and prints and canvases of my work are available for sale in my RedBubble store.'

Way to go Carrie!!!  I wish you all the luck in the world - you deserve it <3