Donna B Miller

Propinquity Rebellion

As a member of Tangie Baxter's Art Journal Caravan workshop, I look forward to seeing what journaling prompts Tangie has in store for us each Friday. I was surprised at my own reaction to her word prompt last week. Instead of embracing the word propinquity, I found myself stomping my feet, and yelling, "no." Well, not literally. But, internally, I was rebelling like a little child. After all the closeness of the holidays, I guess I just need a little me time.

It wasn't long before I found myself humming Lenny Kravitz's I Want to Get Away. Finally, I just gave into it, and created this page.

Credits: Maya's Streetsmarts (background paper); Tumblefish Froo Froo (woman); Rosey Posey About You (dates); Create23 Revisited (butterfly); BittBox Grunge Wings (brushes)

One Little Word: Embrace

Always bad at keeping resolutions, the idea of choosing one word to serve as a touchstone for the new year appeals to my sensibilities. I don't even remember where I first heard of the concept, but it's been popularized by the My One Word blog and by scrapbooking guru Ali Edwards.

Back in 2010, I informally adopted the word "acceptance," and used it to gude me as I adjusted to the changes brought to my life by fibromyalgia. Last year, I got serious and signed up for Ali's "One Little Word" class at Big Picture classes. My word was "rejuvenate," and I completed a year's worth of activities and numerous related art projects. I even painted a canvas with rejuvenate spelled out in brightly-patterned letters so that I would have a daily reminder of my intentions.

It was such a positive experience that I knew I wanted to do it again in 2012, but I struggled for months to find a word. I knew I wanted it to have something to do with my struggle to find a new identity after my illness took my career and community activities away from me. I did what I always do when I have a problem. I read. One by one, I worked my way through all the classic books on dealing with life changes--Transitions, WishCraft, The Artist's Way, What Color is My Parachute, and so on. They were all wonderful books, but I did not find the answer.

And, then one day, it dawned on me. What if the life I have now, making a home for my family, creating art, spending time with my real-life and online friends, is the life I'm supposed to be leading? What would happen, if instead of trying to recapture something that is lost, I spent my time enjoying what I have? What if I learned to embrace what is? 

And so I have it. My word for 2012 is Embrace. 

(Credits: heading made using the Franklin Gothic font and Krista Mettler's Little Bits brushes; Rosey Posey's magnifying glass (Conundrum) and star charm (Discovery Heart); Tangie's crown (Happenstance), Christine Honsinger's scalloped border (So Edgy); TumbleFish boy and fish (My Picks, both colored); Catherine Designs background and wing (Create23 Revisited); too many brushes to list; and Misproject font.)

 

Starting a New Journey with a Trip to the Movies

How does one miss a whole year of blogging? Rather than go into it, I'll just say that I'm glad to see the end of 2011, and move on.

Before life became too stressful, I started a new art journal last January. My intention was to celebrate 52 weeks of being 52 by completing at least one art journal page a week. I made it as far as the cover (don't laugh; did I mention it was a stressful year?). 

(Papers and overlays from the CreateWings/Catherine Designs collab Create23; face brush from Maya's Weird is wonderful; bike from LaurieAnnDesigns Country Chic; alpha stamps from Kathy Moore; stapled strings from Sausan; and stamp from Mars. The font is Affliction.)

I still like the cover, so I'm keeping it, and trying again. I've enrolled in Tangie Baxter's year-long Art Journey Caravan workshop at Scrapbookgraphics, and I've bought all kinds of new supplies. So far, Week One was a good one. I finished not one, but two pages for my book. 

This one was inspired by the art at the end of the new Sherlock Holmes movie. I loved the movie, but from a visual perspective, the most exciting part was the end credits. I especially loved the technique they used of turning ink drawings into live footage. 

Check it out.

 

Here's my page. 

(Background paper from Rosey Posey's Discovery Heart; heart jewel, exit and paintbrush from Holliewood Studio's Thing Finder; card from Tangie's Art Journey 11; butterfly image from Rosey Posey's Buttefly Escapades; splash from Rosey Posey's Fragments Antiqued; and gesso from Tangie's Arsenic and Old Lace. The font is Dirty Ego.)

The idea of being both the canvas and the creator came from a comment by digital artist Angi Sullins in one of the videos she has posted on her site, . The idea fascinates me, because I can definitely see how art changes the way I look at myself and the world. 

This isn't the first page that I've done where I've been influenced by movies and their graphics. More than once, I've turned to husband Barry in the middle of a movie to say, "Remind me to look up that font when we get home." How about you? Do you ever catch yourself analyzing a graphic effect rather than keeping your mind on the plot? What movies have captured your attention? Link us up.