Club 6

Thank you so much to Club 6 who have selected PAINE - please ABUSE IS NO EXCUSE as the recipients of their fund raising this year. This morning we had a breakfast which was absolutely awesome, intimate and very special.Women really can achieve anything they want when they put their minds to it. I will be posting some photo's soon of the event... keep watching.

Altered Journals

I have been buying Sommerset Studio magazines for many years and have come to know a lot of the artists who submit their work. Their work is unique and so are they. Many of these artists are now friends on Facebook. I wasn't sure what to do with the magazines because they are quite expensive, so I thought this was a wonderful way to recycle their work and make my own journals with their art.
Each page gives credit to the artist who did the original work.

During the Easter weekend 2011 my family and I went to Clarens a lovely little town in the midlands, a short distance away from Lesotho. I made a journal for that weekend and spent some wonderful bonding time with my grand daughter painting various scenes and memorobilia in the journal. These are some of the pages before I had written in them.

Journal Pages

 

 

 

 

 

I have been making a whole bunch of journal pages so that when I am in the mood all I do is grab a page and start writing. Sometimes I will add a prompt word and wait for just the right day to journal on that particular subject. Once my pages are full only then do I bind them into the cover.

My Love of Journals

When I was a young girl, like many other women I am sure, I kept a diary, but I did find it boring recording the daily events, what sports matches I was playing in, or who I had a fight with, or who I fancied at school, so my diaries transformed into journals instead. My first journal was a scrapbook journal, writing about the places I was going, the people I was meeting and keeping all the little bits and pieces reminding me of the occasions when I had so much fun.
Over the years my journals became more personal and included drawings, cuttings from magazines and anything that would express the way I was feeling. I have kept journals for almost 40 years and still have most of them. Don't ask me how I have managed to keep them with the amount of moving I have done over the years, but perhaps they became as important to me as photo albums so I took special care of them I don't know, but I am glad I still have them.
When my 3rd marriage came to an end in 2005 I buried myself in my journals it was the only place that I felt safe, where I could hide, explode, weep, reminisce about the past that had been so painful for me. I was seeing a therapist at the time, but I was so deeply depressed I didn't have the energy to talk. I needed help but I was exhausted from talking. One day I gave my journals to my therapist and asked her to read them, which she did and as a result she encouraged me to write my book... the rest is history as they say.
I have seen many therapists over the years and could never have done without their wisdom and support, but I wouldn't be where I am today if it were not for my journals and my art either. The three of us became firm friends - therapy, art, writing.
For a long time I have been wanting to share not only some of my own journals but also the journals of other artists that I have enjoyed, either for their content, art, style of writing, creativity, inspiration or what ever.
There are many famous celebrities who journal Oprah probably being the most well known with her Gratitude journals but there are many more and I try my best to buy them for my own collection. I will share some of those too in the weeks to come.

Liz-Borromini Steel

Liz-Borromini Steel

Liz is an architect so I am never going to be surprised at her beautiful work. I have been following her for a long time and she can also be found on Facebook.  I love loose style of drawing and of course her drawings of buildings and bridges is simply breath taking. I seldom read what she writes about because I feel as if I am being nosey, but when I do it is obvious that she is a very committed Christian and spreading His love through her work is wonderful.

Soul Cards - Touch Drawings

Anyone who truly knows me will know that I am a soul person and I am fascinated with people who have learned to connect with their own soul and are willing to share what they have learned. I find this art form so interesting. I began making Soul Collages about two years ago and I find it relaxing but also fascinating what comes out of the subconscious.

Deborah Koff Chapin

Treat yourself by visiting Deborah's site it could change your life.

Hello again....

                           Andrew van der Merwe is a beach Calligrapher who lives in Cape Town.

Oh wow, as you can see I haven't been around for a while and there is so much to catch up where do I start? Well first of all I need to explain that I had an internet contract with a company who ripped me off badly so I had to wait for the contract to end before changing my service provider. It has also been a quick start to the year planning all the things that need to get done this year. My pewter classes came to an abrupt end when some of my students left to go over seas and others became ill and weren't able to come to the classes anymore, so I have had to think of new ways to make a living.
The organisation is really taking off now and I have been invited to speak and do a book signing at a breakfast at the end of the month. We have lots of plans for the future which I will share as we go along, but for now we are on a major fund raising drive, so if you feel led to dig into your pockets we won't say no. But as always I always enjoy sharing the things I love. I found these pictures on the internet the other day, are they not just incredible?