Lori's Lexicon

Okay, so I've been working on this sort of artist's journal for a while, and I think I'm ready to share. I made a book using watercolor paper, with enough pages for a spread on each letter of the alphabet. On each spread, I'm including images and words starting with that letter that I'm drawn to. It's been very therapeutic, and I'm starting to like the outcome. Here are a few finished pages:







This one's my favorite so far. If you click on the image, you can see a larger version:









I've finished the pages up to G, and all the others are painted and ready for me to start adding images and words. Here are some of the painted backgrounds:







I'll continue to post the finished spreads as they emerge!

Emma's Recycled Sweater Purse

I mentioned in a previous post that my friend Melissa came over and made a purse for her daughter out of recycled and felted wool sweaters. She had sewn very little before and was able to finish it in just a few hours.

Emma loves it; her new journal (see post before last) fit right in and the pockets are perfect for pens and pencils, so she's going to use it as her art bag.



Here are some close-ups:





Great job, Melissa!

Mexican Primitive Postcards

Here are my March postcards for the postcard exchange group. The colors for March were chocolate brown and turquoise. I found this picture of a Mexican sculpture with turquoise mosaic across the face, and I just had to try to continue the mosaic look.





I used modeling paste to create the primitive-looking tiles, then painted the "grout" and embossed the color onto the top of them. Different, huh?

My First Art Class (as a Teacher)

I taught my first art class today with a delightful group of kids and one mom/friend who got the group together. The kids made wonderful journals with painted burlap covers.

As always with kids, I was amazed at their natural artistic abilities. How do we lose that confidence as we become adults?

Here are the kids (and Melissa!) hard a work:











And here they all are with their beautiful books:



















Working outside in the sunshine helped to make it a truly enjoyable day.