Sometimes a few minutes is all you have to play and that’s all I need to make an OOPS, an Outstanding Opportunity Presenting Suddenly.  Being an adult can take up most of the day, but I have to have a bit of play for my sanity.  Just a few minutes of play with the art supplies keeps me [...]

O.O.P.S. was a word said more than once on this art journal page and near the end, that word was coming fast and furious.  O.O.P.S. isn’t a mistake, quite the opposite, since it means an Outstanding Opportunity Presenting Suddenly. In the video, you’ll see how I get myself into a quandary with the very first step and how that turns [...]

The play gets ugly today.  Really ugly.  The challenge of this page is that I used Dylusions spray ink on the first layer and it reactivates as soon as paint hits it PLUS it will bleed through any paint layer.  But what I thought was ugly became something I love thanks to a little help from a Gel Press [...]

Starting is the most important step when playing.  How I start doesn’t matter and this video proves it! I started with warm colors then went a completely different direction under the sea thanks to a color O.O.P.S!  I had no idea what the fish were for…until I was writing up the post for this week’s Let’s Play! [...]

You just have to start. Something.  Anything.  It’s the most important step when it comes to play.  What you start doing doesn’t have to be perfect or magical.  In fact, you’ll see how this starts as simple shapes and becomes a mixed media canvas called Once in a Blue Moon over Venice. I had no [...]

Building an art journal page with PanPastels is instant gratification.   No pesky waiting for the color dry.  But how do I seal PanPastels so they don’t smear and can pass a white glove test?  One way is with a gel printing plate! In the video, you’ll see how I built this steampunk page by combining pieces and [...]

I was completely in my head when I tried to play.  Any idea I had was shot down instantly.  That first step of getting started felt paralyzing.  My muse had left the building.  Play was not going to be happening with this mindset.  But this has happened many times to me and in the video, I am [...]

There were words of painting wisdom that I just wouldn’t listen to as I played.  The muse kept whispering in my ear, “Let the paint dry.”  But didn’t want to stop playing to wait for anything to dry! I started with a scrap of cardboard, a piece of trash.  Why trash today?  Because this Let’s [...]

How big of a print can you make with a little gel plate?  As big as the paper (or whatever you are printing on)!  This almost 4 foot long print was made with the 3×5, the 6×6, and the 4″ round Gel Press printing plates! Just printing over and over on the paper with the 3 [...]