Finding images inside free Sparks of Art-spiration is like spotting objects and characters in the clouds.  In this one, I saw Bed Head Betsy, a very happy woman waking up excited about the wonders the day holds for her. In the video, you can see how I bring the image out and use it to build an [...]

The plan for this canvas went horribly wrong. The idea in my head did not translate one bit the way I intended on the canvas.  That is a polite way of saying “Yuck, it was rear end ugly!”   But it was just an O.O.P.S., an Outstanding Opportunity Presenting Suddenly, that started the journey of this canvas. [...]

What do I do when I want to play but don’t want to tackle a blank page?  I flip through my art journals and see which page calls to me.  That’s one of the perks of having random backgrounds and pages in progress sprinkled throughout. The page that called to me was loaded with brown, which usually affects me [...]

Treasures were used to create this art journal page.  Were these expensive treasures?  Nope. Would they be considered trash by many? Yes!  These treasures were a bag of scraps of paper that I had been saving in my studio for a very long time that I decided was time to use them or lose them courtesy [...]

What are the best supplies for art play?   Whatever is within arm’s reach!  If you’re feeling a bit tricked by the headline, I was too when I started playing.  I hunted for the best supplies to use but experience taught me that it wasn’t the supplies that made the difference.  It was just diving in with [...]

The sun was in that wonderful late afternoon golden glow phase, the birds were singing, and I was playing outdoors.  Springtime is my goldilocks time outdoors, not too hot & not many bugs. It’s just right for play. A basket of fun was put together quickly, of what was on my counter, with absolutely no clear [...]

The muse had me on a need to know basis for this piece of art.  I only knew what was happening in that moment, without any idea of what the next layer would hold.  I was so in the dark, I didn’t know that it would become a gift for my daughter as she graduates and [...]

Cleaning and play can go hand in hand. Not house cleaning…but cleaning excess paint off stencils.  My fast and favorite way to clean off an inky or painty stencil, especially when gel printing, is by blotting it off on another surface like an art journal or in this case a wood panel. Since this is not the actual [...]

What do I do with a hideous start to an art journal page? Call it an OOPS and add more layers!  An O.O.P.S. is an Outstanding Opportunity Presenting Suddenly and little did I know that the word discover would take me to the 70’s and disco. https://youtu.be/gldjQyYT7wo Watch How I dealt with an ugly art [...]