Art Journal day

I tried.

But for various reasons

I have not continued to follow 

Book Of Days 

art journaling fb group.

I got startled by comments.

I get lazy.

I am re-evaluating everything.

I have menopause.

ok, that last one is 

definitely the culprit for just

about everything right now. 

Anyhoo

I was compelled to journal today.

I am using this journal:

 I still love the journal I was 

up-cycling for BOD.

But that journal is gesso'd and painty and embellished.

This journal is going to be one of those quickie 

paper and glue

only ones 

that get the real dirt

of my feelings 

when they need 

to go down fast and ugly 

not slow and arty.

Feel me?

I knew that you could. 

This is the first spread.

OK maybe it is a little arty, 

you will recognize the cover photo for my fb page is taken from this spread. I needed a place to

 gather and ponder 

on my inchies 

and this is the perfect size 

page spread.

 The second spread is mostly

ripped up paint palette paper, random papers and junk mail, Philadelphia art museum was

advertising a Frida exhibit, yes, I went.

 However it was with an ass who made me miserable and did not give me enuf time

 to bask in her genius. 

Lesson learned.

Go alone.

This page has a transparent insert I journaled on but removed from the photo here.

I was going thru a health scare.

I puked my emotions all over Frida.

She would approve.

 Which brings me to today.

I am using junk mail

that I thought was quite ironic

given my state of mind.

 I sanded the shiny a little and cut and glued 

and picked up random paper to glue down as journal block.

I went to the library today and picked up a $1 book. 

It was meant to be because I found that quote in it that pertained exactly to my feelings today.

The last photo has tissue on top of the specifics.

In general, I've written about

Living Now In The Present Moment

Mindfully

and being sick and tired of 

regretting the past

mourning my choices and

not listening to red flags.

The details are mine alone.

 

 

Thanks for visiting my blog.

You know you have it bad 

when you even keep junk mail. 

Hoarding is the next step.

teehee.

xoS

Spray Play

I had the best time playing 

in my studio last week. 

Altho I was inspired by the mono-print workshop I attended last month, it got me to thinking about where my strengths and skills are, 

and what exactly do

 I Love to create. 

Along those always present lines of "what is my style, do I have one, what am I trying to say, why do I do this etc" .

Scroll back to re-visit my post about the workshop and

the soul searching comment I received from Stewart Gill Paints

on facebook. 

So, I've gone back to LOVE. 

What do I love to do?

Make Backgrounds.

Messy painty textury Backgrounds.

What else do I Love to do?

Collage on wood. 

And most of all?

I Love to make 

 Artist Trading Cards.

Every one of my prints that I have for sale on etsy, began with 

the humble ATC beginning.

So maybe all my soul searching

is a no-brainer.

I Love to make messy backgrounds 

and turn them into collages on wood or ATC's.

Done. 

The technique:

I began with some vintage 

ladies crafts/recipe/ magazines

called The Workbasket.

I started with dripping some

alcohol ink randomly.

I like the intensity of the ink.

It does not get diluted with

water or paint that is added next.

Keep that in mind, cuz, it aint goin nowhere!!!

I then added some Glimmer sprays, home made sprays, Ranger sprays.

I am not thrilled with any of the commercial sprays due to the nozzles clogging.I adore the colors but the clogging is 

frustrating. I use cheap body sprays I get at Walmart.I just dump the "perfume" gag, down the sink and add my ink with water, 

or paint with glazing medium and water. 

I love the look of the oxidized copper and think I got it good this time. I also scored some cross stitch patterns in the magazine and decided to cover some baseball cards to turn into ATC's at a future date. 

By the way, I lightly dry brushed the vintage papers with gesso before spraying. To toughen up the delicate papers and push some of the writing to the back.

I used some scrapbook paper as stencils for spraying and then glued the actual papers down on some of the vintage papers.I love the texture!

I only stamp occasionally now, but I wanted to add some curvy fonts and organic shapes, thus the Italian font and the thorns.

I gesso'd thru scrapbook paper onto some old calendar pages.I also laid a light layer of gesso down and wrote into it with a stick. 

Then after drying, I cut and glued the papers onto illustration board for ATC's and adhered the calendar page onto a wooden shadow box.

So there you have it!

Spray Studio Play! This week I had the mother lode of all hauls!!

Work was getting rid of over 100 solid wood 5x7 plaques.

I was able to take them!!! 

I am sooooo tired of paying $$$

for wooden shadow boxes!

This is the perfect size for me.

So maybe it was a good thing I figured out 

what I LOVE.

teehee. 

Thanks for visiting!!

xoS

Print Making by Hand Workshop

I made a decision

to put a plan in place

to counteract the 

disequilibrium

of having my only child go away 

to college in the fall.

The first and only step 

I've come up with so far:

get your ass outta the house. 

In the spirit of doing just that

I joined two local Meetup groups.

The first is

 Philadelphia Blues Meetup

and the second is

South Jersey Mixed Media Artist Meetup.

My first venture outta the house

was a Print Making workshop

led by Dolores Poacelli.

We met at the Medford Arts Center, which is a spacious, comfortable place to spread out and make art!

Dolores is a patient, supportive,

talented, excited and most

important in my mind,

generous sharer of techniques and supplies.

 

She helped me think 

outside the box.

Priceless.

And shared a Master's work:

Attending the workshop was a great group of friendly talented artists! 

 Here is proof of talent:

 

 

 I know its not 

politically correct

to have a favorite 

but screw it 

it's my blog

and this print below

SLAYS ME.

good job outta you, Andrea.

 

Here are pics of 

my prints:

I thought I should 

keep it simple

so the night before I googled

stencil images of the lotus

to use as a guide.

 I brought my favorite

colors to print, 

turquoise and red.

I hated paying $21 for a brayer. I'll just have to make sure I use it a lot. 

I eyeballed the pics I brought

and we used all kinds of tools

to imprint our designs in soft foam. 

My foam:

 Really cool alert:

check out the tp roll covered in 

adhesive foam designs. When rolled on paper it looks like this:

About this time, after lunch,

I was feeling my new and unwelcome

menopausal information overload

combined with the wearing off

of pain meds.

I had to leave a little early but not after Generously Thanking

Dolores and Kathy, the teacher and organizer of the group. 

Thank you again, to the 

talented women in the group:

Angela, Andrea, Deb, Kathy,Joy or Lois confused on that,

and one other artist with beautiful long curly hair

that for the life of me I can't remember her name.

Damn menopause. 

I apologize and please comment me your name.

Oh, Deb has a show coming up!! 

Congratulations! 

June 2012 Exhibition

Deborah Pey

Palmyra Cove Nature Center

and Andrea has art for sale on etsy. Please visit her shop.

Dolores,when not in her studio, also teaches at the

Perkins Center for The Arts.

Please contact them for a listing of her classes. 

I give her an A++.

cuz it's my blog

and I can.

xoS

Etsy Question for my Bloggin Buds

Here is a question I 

posted on facebook

March 5.

I can't figure out how to link

to that particular post.

So go to my fb page and scroll

back to March 5. 

There are many practical

comments that just might

help you out with etsy as well.

I thank everyone who 

commented on fb.

If you are reading this blog

please friend me on fb if you

haven't done so already.

(Susan Rae Sager on fb)

I love to see the art you

are creating! 

So, back to my point. 

I received a comment on this question that has 

really really really 

made me think.

And I would love to 

get your opinion on it. 

The comment is from

Stewart Gill paints aka

Amazing paint that is 

pricey perfection.

teehee.

So here is the Question I posted: 

To all my art friends who sell on etsy: I need advice. I've been on etsy for 2 years and have made 2 sales. I understand the economy and that my art may not appeal to everyone. There must be things I can do to promote my shop. What advice can you give me. Is there a blog or book you recommend about how to jump start my shop. Should I close and reopen? do I need one of those long ugly names for each print "blue dragonfly painted print of original art" instead of "Dragonfly Print"? I do use tags etc. Here's a link to my shop. I would appreciate any input and constructive criticism. Bring it. I can take it!!! thanks in advance. 

And here is what 

Stewart Gill Scotland commented:

Hi susan, I wanted to encourage you to think about the core reasons why you make art in the first place....who are these people in the etsy netherworld that you hope will buy from you...do you really need the money from selling your work (and can you earn that money more efficiently doing other stuff) or are you translating 'sales' into 'artistic merit' - canyou get a sense of value and purpose from other ways (blog, the opinions of those you really trust)....how much time away from actally making REAL ART is it going to take to negotiate all the bizarre little online ways of raising your profile....and is that worth it???? WIll you look back in 5 years time and think i wish i'd spent more time getting tag lines and 'LIKES' or I wish I'd made more art, not felt so harrassed with the kids, housework etc etc etc!!!!! Sorry for ranting....it's just your question raises an eternal one that all us artists face - How do we know that what we are doing is meaningful? I wish you every success in finding the right path to truly enable your creativity to be at the forefront! xxx

I love this comment.

It has actually rocked my world

since I read it March 5.

I haven't figured out 

how I feel yet. 

What do you think?

I would love to hear

your thoughts!

xoS 

oh and here is a 

gratuitous hot guy pic

for hanging in there

with this wordy post:

You're welcome.

teehee.

xoS