Hello from my Creative Squad! Today we have a beautiful little journal from Robin Seiz, sharing with us her experiences over the past year, and using my Triple Play stamp set and our theme: Another Door Opens – There is this saying, “when one door closes, another door opens” that basically is an optimistic way of looking at change in your life. Create an art journal page with this in mind, however you’d like to express it, however the idea inspires you to create!

This month’s theme was about emerging. When one door closes, another one opens. I am a strong believer in this saying.

I haven’t journaled or written much about the pandemic, yet I feel like I have “processed it” in the daily moments as the days and months have unfolded. It’s been a year of ups and downs for me. It felt really scary in March, 2020; it was a dark time. I really missed seeing family and friends, especially my children and grandchildren. As the months went on, I got into a rhythm; a pandemic pace, if you will. I spent enormous amounts of time in my studio creating. One day rolled into another; I wasn’t sure how a week had flown by. We developed our pandemic pod and learned how to see a very few friends in a socially distanced way.

By June, I was feeling better. We had learned how to get what we needed, we had our systems down, we were zooming with friends and family with the warmer weather, we could get outside.

By the fall when we were moving indoors, it felt disheartening. I really couldn’t fathom the thought that our long standing Christmas traditions had to be put on hold. We managed to quarantine and test and could at least have my children and grandchildren in for a gathering. We did everything we could to mitigate the risks. My partner and I made our own new traditions, which we have decided we will keep. A silver lining!

By January, I was feeling like this pandemic would never end. I was still enjoying the studio and vowed to get out everyday for a walk, even in the cold. And then the spring came, vaccines were on the horizon and it seemed like there was a glimmer of hope.

If I think about the doors closing — for me that included an over-scheduled life; all wonderful things, but just too many of them. I have come to really appreciate the “pandemic pace” and it’s opened the doors for a different way to think about family gatherings, what I add to my plate, and how I spend my time post-pandemic in a way that brings me joy everyday.

I used Nathalie’s new Triple Play Foam Stamp to illustrate what I just verbalized.

I started with an 8 x 5 Strathmore watercolor journal. I spritz it with water and lightly added some Quor watercolors to the pages, just so I wouldn’t have a blank page. I used grays and blues. Then I splattered black paint on the left page to represent this dark time. Next, I put black water color on all but one side of the hexagon. I wanted the one side open so the triangles could emerge from the opening.

On the left page, I stamped the same triangle in black signifying those first few dark months. and how I felt. Then I used more grays and a different triangle to show how I settled into a routine of sorts. By Christmas, the triangles are emerging, but it’s a little scary.

On the right side, the page becomes more hopeful, but as January arrives, it’s sad again and it seems like it will be a long winter. As the months go on and spring arrives, the news of vaccines is better, my colors are more hopeful. The last stamp, the sun, ends with the day I received my first vaccine. We can do so much with color to select feelings. It can tell a story on its’ own. I was also selective about which triangles I used to tell my story. The tulips and other spring looking triangles were used at the end. And finally, the sun, always a symbol of a new beginning to me. 

The message for me in all of this is to hold on to the things that have given me joy during the pandemic, to cherish every moment of being with those we love, and to honor this time as a a moment when the world slowed down. 

Thank you Robin for sharing such a thoughtful page – there are so many familiar emotions and ideas here that I know will ring true for almost all of us. What a beautiful representation of them!

Give it a try: you can find all my Foam Stamps in my Online Shop and here are some of the supplies Robin used:

Don’t forget to check out Nat’s Creative Squad on Instagram too: Each week we post projects, ideas, and inspiration for mixed media art.

Nat

Hello from my Creative Squad! Today we have an art journal page from Maura Hibbitts that presents a really cool way to look at life’s challenges and changing circumstances. She’s using my new Triple Play foam stamp set and this month’s theme: Another Door Opens – There is this saying, “when one door closes, another door opens” that basically is an optimistic way of looking at change in your life. Create an art journal page with this in mind, however you’d like to express it, however the idea inspires you to create!

I have always been a firm believer in the adage “When one door closes, another door opens.” Maybe it is a part of my optimism, and maybe I have been lucky in this life, but even in the times I have struggled the most, whether physically, emotionally, or financially, new opportunities arose that led me forward. During my teaching career, I worked at opening doors for my students, so they could follow the path they chose. It has always been a joy to hear how they are doing, and which doors they have opened. Keep yourself open to the possibility of doors!

I started in my large art journal, layering paints. I started with my darkest green and blue, Prussian Blue Hue and Phthalo Green Yellow, and scraped the paint across in broad swathes with a silicon brush. I painted only on the right page, then closed the pages to spread to the other side. I repeated this step with Green Gold and Primary Cyan, then another layer with Turquoise Hue and Quinacridone Magenta. Final layer was more Magenta along with Titanium White and Gold.

After I heat set the painted layers, it was time to stamp with the oh, so awesome, Triple Play Art Foamies stamp set. I like to use my gel plate and a brayer when I am using foam stamps, it acts like a giant ink pad, and gives a nice layer of paint on the stamps. On the right side, I repeated the stamped pattern several times.

On the left side, I stamped the hexagon and the triangles on the outside this time. I first did it in black paint, but it didn’t show up well, so I went over it with white paint. Again, I added paint to the gel plate and smoothed it out with the brayer, then stamped into it, to transfer a nice image to the paper.

To create more of a focal point on the left side, I added some water to the white paint left on the gel plate, mixed it to create a whitewash, and brushed it around the design. Now it stands out more.

I also whitewashed around the design on the right, dried it completely, then added doodles and details with Posca paint pens. I also doodled a door, and added the words around the image on the right – “When one door closes, another door opens.” I also smudged Prussian Blue with fingers and a baby wipe around the edges of both pages to tie them together. I thought I was done.

I slept on it, and decided to make a different door for the left page, so I pulled out some leftover paper from last month’s project, and stamped the entire Triple Play with Moonlight Duo ink. I cut it out, cut it in half, drew on a door handle, and inked the edges with black ink. My original idea was to have the door open, but with the hexagon shape and the orientation I had, I decided against it and adhered it with adhesive tape.

All of those background colors pop through the designs, even in the whitewashed areas. I think sometimes toning down areas makes the rest of the page pop.

Thank you Maura – loved learning your process and how you came back to the page to add that amazing door. Beautiful spread and beautiful ideas to keep in mind :)

Give it a try: you can find all my Foam Stamps in my Online Shop and here are some of the supplies Maura used:

Don’t forget to check out Nat’s Creative Squad on Instagram too: Each week we post projects, ideas, and inspiration for mixed media art.

Nat