..cos it's in the details...


Hey journally friends!

Challenge yourself to do something different in your next journal entry... this one is so small but it's fun to make intentional accents on your page backgrounds.


Simple circular marks (profound huh? hehe)

All you need is:

• White or coloured acrylic paint or gesso. I used gesso in this example.
• Something circular with a hollow center. I suggest NOT an Easter egg :) - the lid of my glue bottle worked dandy.
• A sponge

Sponge paint directly onto the circular edge of your chosen item. I apply it fairly generously because I like the goopy look. Press onto your page background prior to writing and allow to dry. That's it!

Yes it's simple. Yes you know how to do it. But have you done it in your journal recently??

Tips

• Vary your circle sizes
• Vary your paint colours
• Test first on a scrap of paper if you like
• Wash your sponge straight away - acrylic and gesso once dry will ruin your sponge if not removed.

About this page

I was fortunate to go see my friend Monique Rhodes play at Artworks Theatre on Waiheke Island just recently. I hadn't seen her play live before and WOWS! I knew she was a talented singer but I was completely blown away. She recently produced the Merry Christmas Baby Plunket benefit album featuring the talent of Shona Lang, Opshop, Jordan Luck, Hollie Smith, Annie Crummer (and herself!)... and was nominated for the 2010 New Zealander of the Year Award - how cool is that.

The night was fantastic, clear evening, fitting venue, good chit chat and laughs (hi Lara!). More than once I was moved by Monique's strong yet soulful performance. I especially liked the inspiration for 'Blue Skies' where she spoke of how the sky is always blue above the clouds (stresses of life) ... an insightful reminder on rainy days. She was touring with Jane Siberry and I'm ashamed to say I wasn't familiar with well all I can say was I felt like I was part of something really special. Jane's narrative expression was intimate, intuitive and profound.

Monique:



and Jane:



I will let you know next time Monique is touring here!
~Kathleen... makin white circles :)

Labels: Great People, Great-Places-Auckland-Region, Journal Tips and Technique, Journal-Pages, Music

Three sleeps till trip... want to do blog posts! Starting the day with a theme song. By the way, I'm not familiar with snowboarding as such but check out the air that dude gets!!




ttfn!
~Kathleen

Labels: Music

So many blog posts on the horizon, so much to tell! Alas all in draft... in the meantime a musical interlude... (turn up loud!)

Hugs friends.

Labels: Music, Net-Picks

Hi folks,
I have a new review up on Amplifier. Continuing on from my recent gig review of Midnight Youth, I was able to check out their new album The Brave Don't Run. Check it out HERE

Another great song from the album:
Calvary - no video graphics but good for a listen!



ttfn!
~Kathleen

Labels: Music

My latest Gig Review is up on Amplifier!




Midnight Youth - All On Our Own from Midnight Youth on Vimeo.



The Letter from Midnight Youth on Vimeo.

Labels: Gig-Review, Music

New music review up on Amplifier!


Check out my review HERE

And for your listening pleasure...

Labels: Music

On my computer this week...

Twitter. Ok so I'm behind on this, in my defense John Campbell (@JohnJCampbell) joined a week after me... so if your a newbie like me, the gist with Twitter it it allows you to answer the question: What are you doing?
Is it voyaristic? a little. I admit to looking up various celebrities on Twitter and adding them to my follow list. (Check out Demi Moore @mrskutcher, William Shatner @WilliamShatner, Fran Drescher @frandrescher , Martha Stewart @MarthaStewart just some of the many).

Oh no! My stunt double waxed his chest. Oh good god nooooo! Brb I'm in the middle of a debate as to how to avoid doing the same.
~ Twitter comment from Ashton Kutcher (@asplusk) Set pics post-wax here

Self appraising? a bit - yes, you will hear when I buy new shoes.
Informative, fast, promotional, social? Definitely. In my two weeks on Twitter I have had conversations with new people, gone to a country music night I never would have known about, learnt a bit more about why the recession is happening, read about marketing, considered ideas for improving my blog, tried a new recipe (knocked my socks off!)... oh and heard what Danice (@daniceh) had for lunch. All worthwhile!! hehee. Current wish list is this amazing dinner at Sky City (as twittered about by @SKYCITYAk ) - wouldn't that be cool to go to?!

Artywise I can check out the latest sketches found by Michael Nobbs (@michaelnobbs), get new inspiration from one of my fav publishers Stampington (@stampington) and say hi to the author of Book of Me Angie Pederson (@AngiePederson) .



Dispatches from the Island. The celebrity theme pops up again. I like the tv show Lost. The story line it a bit unresolved (which is the whole point) and while I should probably give up watching it but when you have watched something from the beginning... well I keep on watching. What I REALLY like though is Jorge Garcia's (Hurley from the show) Blog. He is funny and down to earth. Perhaps a lot down to earth since the last few blog posts have featured moldy food, blocked loos and toilet paper coupons.


Sketch of the Day is the Blog of illustrator Stephen Gardner. He posts a new sketch daily with reoccurring themes of bars, nudes and sleeping subway dudes. My favourites are his bar sketches. He manages to really capture the mood of a bar, especially ones with dramatic lighting. I love his use of colour and free sketching style - like these: here, here and here.


Urban Sketchers is another rich source of sketching inspiration. The blog theme is Urban Life, so you will find lots of sketches of people working, in transit, in cafes, in seminars, in meetings, at the hairdressers. Add to that....lots of buildings, construction, film sets, market places. Subways feature strongly, lots of vehicles, museums, statues, stadiums, inner city parks, buskers, theater performances, peoples restaurant meals, park birds, hotel receptions, churches, factories... honestly the list goes on and on. Fantastic!

Three things I love about Urban Sketchers

1. The blog is contributed by many people so there is a very diverse range of sketching styles to see. All in one Blog.
2. Contributors are from all around the globe. Johannesburg, Seoul, Rome, Japan, New York, South America, London and more. So you get to see a snippet of each unique locations urban life. Very interesting.
3. There is always something new. With lots and lots of contributors this Blog is constantly being updated. Fresh sketches every day!

Roz Wound Up. More with the sketching... This blog is FULL of content. In fact some is too in depth for my usual brain wary state of night time internet reading. But assuming you brain is better tuned than mine Roz does a great job at testing out different sketching tools and papers, providing colour swatches and really knows her stuff. I particularly like her current entries on journaling superstitions - talking frankly about obstacles we put up in our mind on what we think a journal page should be like. I like her statement in a recent post:

"Creativity does not believe in scarcity. Creativity doesn’t believe in “perfect pages.” Creativity has only one great need: to make more stuff."

So true.
She has a great sketching style and is very thorough in her explanations which I appreciate.
oooh an she updates her Blog pretty much everyday so again there is always something new there to learn or spark an idea.


I keep popping back to this blog:
Xsparkage. Its the colour that does it, plus in her videos and twitter she is quite personable. I enjoy the flash backs to my make-up artist days and reminds me its ok to be make-up daring if I want to be. By the way check out THIS amazing pic of Hawaii she used as make-up inspiration. Beautiful pic and interpretation!


Finally music wise... Shihad! I likey.






So that's what has been on my computer this week... what's on yours?

~ Kathleen

Labels: Music, Net-Picks, Sketching