Boy howdy.

I’m trying. I have so much to do and catch up on, but haven’t quite come out of holiday mode. I’ve made a to do list and gotten rid of all the quick and easy things over the last few days, so I feel like I’ve achieved something. But I have a couple of huge projects I need to get stuck into and haven’t quite managed to get into them just yet. It’s coming, I can feel it, but it’s not happening today.

So, here’s a few pics of where I went. We stayed in the converted stables and blacksmith at Schaloen Castle

Plain and simple inside, but perfectly spacious for 6 of us (we had two apartments for the group in all)

Here’s the Castle itself

There were beautiful botanical gardens adjoining the Castle and at the back was a nature reserve, with strange shrines growing in the trees

The rest of the photos all have people in them and I don’t have permission to post them. I can post their cats though so here’s Steve’s gorgeous cat Vazquez

and these two Siamese beauties are Kelos and Beren who belong to Eline and Rien

That’s it for holiday pics. If you were part of the group you can see the rest over on the Truewatch photo album. If you weren’t, you’ll just have to use your imagination and picture 12 gamers wandering around Holland and Belgium, samping beer and getting into mischief. Shouldn’t be too hard.

Yes, I totally stole this image from Connie at Dirty Footprints Studio. If you have 5, grab a brew and go check out her 30 Journals, 30 Days post happening right through July.

Last week was busy with personal stuff. This week is busy with art stuff while I catch up and music stuff while I unwind.

And we're off!

Apart from a few minor tweaks and links that I still need to do, website functionality has mostly returned, so those of you who have this blog in you rss feeds should be getting this sometime soon

Not sure if networked blogs and whatnot have updated yet, but the fundamentals of the site are the same, so hopefully we won’t have any trouble there either.

This is what happened…

'Summer Solstice' 8x5" art journal page, 2010 Klair Scattergood

Another change of style? Oh yes.

I touched on this in my interview last night with Blade over on The Artistic Biker’s U-Stream show. If you’re not familiar with Blade’s show and you enjoy art journaling you should check it out. The shows are recorded so you don’t have to watch them in real time. They’re not how-to shows, they’re more working shows. He uses a different technique each week and shows you what he’s doing as well as answering questions from the chat room and updating what’s happening in the art & art journaling world.

One of the things we discussed was organic journaling. Not just on one page, but in the life of your journals full stop. Truth is, I rarely do the same thing for any length of time because I get bored. Art journaling is not about doing what everyone else does or using specific techniques. It’s about doing what feels right today. Back in May I was thinking I wanted to do more painting and sketching in my journal, so I have a 40 page journal on watercolour paper that is full of paintings. But then I had to work on paintings for a gallery show and when I’m done with a 10 hour day of painting the very last thing I want to do is paint in my journal! So I went back to basics and returned to my illustration roots. My current book is all about the pens and collage.

This page is just a simple illustration with a Pilot g-tec c4 ultra fine sepia ball pen. That’s it. No fancy stuff, no paints, no gesso. For this entire page I used a pencil & eraser (for the initial sketch), the sepia pen for the colour and an ordinary Fine point crystal orange Bic Biro for the writing. No need for an outside journaling supply kit, in fact I didn’t even need a pencil case really, I could have just shoved the bits in a pocket of my bag.

Like Blade said last night, you can do whatever you want in your journal and “no one can tell you that it’s not good because it’s not theirs.” Once you get past your own judgements about what you think of your pages and decide that it’s OK if you have a page of paints, then collage, then writing, then a pencil sketch, then some scrap that you scribbled out and then another collage page, you will start to enjoy the process a lot more.

That’s the central point of all my workshops that I try my best to get across to everyone; do what you want to do today and forget having a style or a technique or a single way of doing things. It will open up a whole new world of possibilities in your art journaling.

Speaking of which, I’ve been looking for a perfect little travel journal to take with me. I normally go with a pocket Moleskine, but I’ve been disappointed in the Moleskine quality the last few times I bought one, so I wanted to try something new. It needs to be something tiny I can fit in my pocket but chunky enough paper to take watercolour and ink.

Then earlier this weekend this little cutie arrived on my doorstep. Here’s Crowe ‘modelling’ it for us.

It comes from the bookshelves of Roz Stendhal, bookbinder extraordinaire. I did her a little techie favour, she wanted to thank me, this book needed a new home, the book made it’s way to me.

It’s beautifully made. The back is all linen bookcloth and the front is this funky watercolour style paper you see in the picture. Inside it’s made of torn edge Gutenberg paper, which I’ve never used, but it’s a lovely buff colour with little black bits like poppy seeds and feels really rough,but takes media smoothly – I’ve already opened it to the back page and tested all my paints and pens on it as usual! It works really well with my ink pen even though it looks like the texture is rough.

I’m thinking it’s going to be perfect for my little jaunt and I can’t wait to use it. I plan on working mostly in pen & ink with watercolours while I’m away so that I can travel light and this will do the job nicely. Plus, it’s so tiny it’ll fit in any pocket alongside my miniature watercolour set.

Crowe has been helping.

I’ve also been catching up on some cool arty posts

like this traveling journal, some comments on artists and social media and peeking at other people’s studio cats and art journals

and watching some cool arty videos, like this one

Photo Manipulation: Zink-PoGo from Frenky on Vimeo. (found via Dawn sokol)

and some equally cool non-arty videos

Heartless: The Story of the Tin Man from Brandon McCormick on Vimeo.

and listening to some very cool music

(found via Sarah Von)

2 years ago I read a blog which pointed me towards a new blog that had just started. I have long since stopped reading the original blog because it stopped being what I wanted to read, but the second one has got better and better over time.

That second one is Yes and Yes by the lovely Sarah Von.

Those who know me will know I’m not into twinkles and moonbeams. All the ‘follow your bliss’ and ‘be in the moment’ catchphrases and positive statements, that are all too often translated into twee little scrapbooking rub ons, just don’t do it for me.

I like my self-development to have a bit of practicality in it. I like to find out about other people’s unusual jobs, read about their unconventional lives, receive the occasional lesson in semantics and get the odd uplifting reminder, without any of the airy fairiness that normally accompanies such things. And on days when I just don’t feel like much of anything, there’s always the wisdom of Dr Seuss. That’s what you’ll find at Yes and Yes. A whole pile of fun and encouragement interspersed with honest debate and touching interviews that just make it a pleasure to read. It’s uplifting and enlightening without being so chipper and perky it comes across as being fake, and it’s rare that you’ll come away having not learned something you didn’t know before.

So when Sarah said she wanted to do a grand giveaway for her second blogiversary I immediately offered to chip in a little something, as I’ve been there since the first few days and kept going back for more. Believe me when I say that holding my attention for 2 years is something of an accomplishment.

I’ll be doing a semi-commissioned piece (around 6×6/5×8″ ish sized) based on my Funshine Sunshine girl – she’ll be holding two balloons saying ‘Yes’ and ‘Yes’ and you can choose the overall colours, her hair colour, length and basic style, any extras like a puppy or kitty etc.

You can find out more about this huge giveaway and enter for yourself by visiting Yes & Yes for yourself. There are two days worth of stuff up for grabs, so check back tomorrow too!

dis·com·bob·u·late

[dis-kuhm-bob-yuh-leyt] link

Origin:
1825–35, Americanism; fanciful alter. of discompose or discomfort

That’s my favourite word. Ever. I love how it sounds and how it feels when you says it. It sounds very Steampunk and nutty gnomish professor/tinkerer. I don’t get a chance to use it very often because I don’t often do that kind of confused to that degree.

But if you have a week off with the flu, spend 4 days of that week in bed semi-conscious and then get up and return to normal, only to find it’s not only a different day than you thought it was but that that day is in a different month AND it’s a Bank Holiday, you’ll be right where I am about now.

I had the day planned. As I drifted off last night into the wonderful sleep of ‘Oh my goodness, I can lie down AND breathe simultaneously at last’, which you usually feel you’ve earned a right to after a week with the flu, I planned today. Well, in that I thought of all the things I haven’t been able to do because I’ve been in bed with the flu.

This was my mental to do list.

1. Take exploded TV to dump for recycling
2. Teach workshop
3. Go and pay in cheques to bank
4. Do the food shopping
5. Buy catfud & litter
6. Drop in the art shop for blue ink
7. Pick up packages from post office
8. Get mobile top up at post office

This is what my to do list looks like now

1. Take exploded TV to dump for recycling – Do Wednesday after class, it’s not open on Bank Holidays
2. Teach workshop – Postponed to next week; they don’t come on Bank Holidays
3. Go and pay in cheques to bank- Do Wednesday after class, it’s not open on Bank Holidays
4. Do the food shopping
5. Buy catfud & litter
6. Drop in the art shop for blue ink- Do Wednesday after class, it’s not open on Bank Holidays
7. Pick up packages from post office- Do Wednesday after class, it’s not open on Bank Holidays
8. Get mobile top up at post office – Do Tuesday, it’s not open on Bank Holidays

Productive eh?

Anyways, with being out of circulation for a week I have lots to catch up on, including a week’s worth of work(!), lots of things I’ve had to put off til Wednesday (which has thrown Wednesday’s to do list out the window), no art, no journaling, no scheduled or backed up posts ready to share and far more email in my inbox than I like. Granted my preferred number is in single figures, but 304 is still too many.

Normal service will (hopefully) be resumed shortly.

Pretty purple dreamcatcher

I’ve been doing weekly artists dates every Friday since I started reading The Artists Way a couple if weeks ago. I don’t feel the need to work through the book itself as it’s more for people who are stuck creatively and don’t know why, but I do credit morning pages and artists dates with making sure I haven’t burnt out yet despite having tobe at the drawing table every day since last March.

If your job is to be creative every day you have to show up and get on with it. If you’re really uninspired, having an off day or feeling a bit under the weather you use it to catch up on the accounts, because you don’t really have the luxury of stalling. But like Julia says in her book, if you’re constantly using your creative reserves you have to fill the well again.

So morning pages (they help me get my brain going faster in the morning) and artists dates, when I go out and find inspiring things, are now part of my schedule.

Today’s artist date took me bargain bucket hunting in my favourite treasure-trove art supply store in the city and a fabric store I’ve never been to before. (Huge thanks to those who suggested Abakhan, it’s wonderful!).

This I what I found for literally pennies in the bargain bins.

Pretty 3d Spring themed embellishments. I already have plans for paintings for these!

3D Embellishments

Gorgeous clay bridal bouquets. I have plans for this too.

Clay bouquet

I bought fabric! Oh yes indeedy! I’m not a seamstress in any way but I want to make one of Teesha’s fabric journals.

Fat quarters in co-ordinating fabric

I also bought some sewing thread (I will get that sewing machine out, I promise!) and a new journal for my morning pages as I’m almost finished the first one. Plus I treated myself to that beautiful purple dreamcatcher at the top of the post because I’ve wanted one for ages but never saw a small purple one.

Not bad for a total spend of £12 – including £2 parking!

Yes, the accounts are done. Not the taxes, we can’t enter those until the new tax year apparently. But all the filing, receipts, adding, subtracting, accounting for fees, matching up postage and all that jazz, is done.

Things I have learned form this exercise:

• My plan to have a plastic document sleeve on the pin board each month for receipts worked.
• Next year i should add sales to that too, as sales were harder to track.
• The taxes up to June were easy because I’d logged them on a basic spreadsheet with dates. This meant i could match receipts to listings and make sure I had everything.
• Next year I should do this for the whole year, not just throw it all in a corner for later.
• I should also match statements more regularly because they’re a nightmare.
• I should pre-order ink cartridges for the printer because printing out all this evidence takes a LOT of toner. My poor printer has a headache.
• Next year my pre-accounts ‘to do’ list will say ‘Buy Chocolate’ in the number one slot.
• TV Boxsets are great for helping you log those receipts.
• Facsimile style paper receipts deteriorate really fast. they should be logged while they’re still readable and have totals and notes jotted on the back so you know what they’re for!

That’s it. This weekend I’m running workshops, painting and chilling. Have a good one.