This page was inspired by a gel print.  It was supposed to be all about the colors and bits of pattern peeking out in that print.  But plans don’t always go as planned. Okay, mine rarely go as planned. Turns out it was a polka dots and Paris kind of page that emerged from the play. [...]

I am turning to the masters of play to help me when drawing the ideas that pop into my head.  When I draw it is often far far from perfect.  In fact, it is often not even recognizable.  How do I know that is okay? I studied the masters of play, kids. When a kid wants [...]

Cleaning.  It’s a bad word in my world. I will do just about anything to avoid doing it and for good reason.  Sometimes inspiration strikes from the messes of other projects, like it did here! These bits and pieces have been floating around here for a while and instead of tossing them into the trash, [...]

I loved the background that started today’s play.  Loved it so much I wouldn’t use it.  That love kept me stuck.  I didn’t want to ruin it so I wouldn’t use it.  Enough was enough. We had to break up. The affair was over. The love had to end.  But how? I threw the entire studio at [...]

  One of my favorite ways to let myself play is to act like a kid. After all, kids are the masters of play so it is no surprise that they are the inspiration for this month’s Let’s Play theme. This miscellaneous box of inexpensive oil pastels created a scribbled background in my art journal.  The [...]

My imagination ran away with the idea of another world while I was art journaling.  Perhaps all those sci-fi shows I love like Stargate, Star Trek, and Dr. Who have had a bit of an impact on this page. But in true sci-fi fashion, I didn’t start out thinking I would find another language or [...]

There was real terror in my studio last week.  Not artful terror.  Animal Planet kind of terror. A 3 foot long black snake.  As Indiana Jones said in Raiders of the Lost Ark, “Why did it have to be snakes?” Of course his were venomous and angry…mine was scared and harmless.  But emotionally, I was [...]

I had a plan that was inspired by a pattern on the sidewalk I noticed when I was on a bike ride. It was a crazy crazy plan.  It involved precision.  Straight lines and measuring. If this was a movie, you’d hear the ominous music playing. But this isn’t a scary movie, it’s play inspired by the everyday, this month’s Let’s [...]

Precious paralysis struck while I was making this art journal page.  I was between a rock and a hard place.  I loved this background so much that I didn’t want to ruin it.  But I wanted to add more to the page. Was it a bad thing that I had a bit of paralysis?  Not at all!  One could [...]