Diana Trout's blog

Shopping in NYC

Bits of Journaling

We managed to pack in plenty of activities in NYC over our long weekend. Here's a sum up of our shopping trips.

Tip: Leave guys in Bryant Park, relaxing with drinks, while you wander.

Around the Garment District

Kinokuniya (the Japanese bookstore on 6th across the street from Bryant Park). If you love the Japanese aesthetic, pop in here. It a beautiful store and they carry everything from art and architecture to anime. The craft books are lovely. The text is in Japanese, but if you are familiar with the photography in these books, you'll understand why I love them so much.  They also carry some pens, stationary and a few art supplies. I got one of these pens. Kuratake make fabulous pens. 

M&J Trims,  1008 6th Avenue. This is the most glamorous and famous of the gazillion trim shops in the Fashion District. There are oodles more trim shops though and you'll pass by them on your way to the next stop. I nabbed some hand-dyed silk ribbon.

B&J Fabrics, 525 7th Avenue (corner of 38th, upstairs). You'll see a lot of fashion students and designers in this shop. Liberty of London fabrics and everything else from fake furs to cordoroy and upholstery fabrics. They have a very comfortable sofa where you can watch the designers come and go. Not as big as Mood which could be a good thing.

After walking the Highline on Saturday, (more about that in another post) we sent the guys off to wander and set off.

The Ink Pad  37th and 7th is in the East Village. This shop is a little gem. They are stocked floor to ceiling with art and scrapbooking supplies. My shopping buddy wants to start art journaling and I recommended the Peerless Watercolor basic set and a waterbrush. After talking with her over the weekend, I have some videos to make for true beginners. 

The Strand Bookstore, 828 Broadway. 18 miles of books. This is browsers heaven. They have used, new, rare, monographs. A bibliophile's dream come true.

I wanted to get to Purl Soho but there wasn't time on this trip.  Frankly, I'm not the best shopper in the world. I could do one shop a day but for the sake of research ;) 

Setting up a Journal Kit

Here's a little video showing what's in my journal kit. Including my small journal-from-a-sheet. I'll be sharing that how to soon.

I recently set up my kit again because it really does make it easier for me to journal or sketch anywhere, anytime. Your kit could be a shoebox, a backpack or any kind of bag. The trick is to think carefully about what you want in there and take a minimalist approach. 

Happy Journaling!

 

 

 

 

Day Off

After a fantastic day teaching at The Ink Pad on Sunday, I treated myself to a couple of days off and after some nice time with my sis in Princeton (Paper Source!), some "must do's" and a nap, I put in some play time with my journal.

One of my students told me about the ghosting technique using Dylusions ink, water spray and a stencil and I was playing around with it. Here is the video.

A lotta bang for your buck with this technique.I tried (briefly in class) with watercolors and technically it should work since both watercolors and Dylusions inks are liftable. We'll see. 

I felt an urge to paint some stripes with watercolors. It was a colorful messy afternoon. The overspray and drips made for a lovely "drip catcher" paper. I'm using nicer paper for that these days. Dividend. 

Now that the house is dusted, the laundry done, bring on the rest of the week! Why is it that cleaning the house and fresh sheets feels like self-care? Is that pathetic? And here's another question. I have plenty of art supplies but have been lusting after some of these Dylusions since I saw them last year at Ink Pad. I bought a bunch. Self-indulgence? I'm calling it a treat. 

Pics from my class on Friday!

Art Journaling is a Verb

A Toni Morrison quote today for you. She's so wonderfully rich, isn't she? And the quote from this post is from Richard Iannelli. Feel free to use these quotes with abandon.

Because I Dream

I have fallen into the habit of making backgrounds in my journal while working on art projects and then - days or weeks later - pulling out all of the journaling supplies for a few days and just working through. This process is working for me right now. I need more time to moodle with things. 

little secrets/hidden under/dreaming then coaxed

And parallels ... I've been working on some papercloth pieces and finding, in the painted papers, bird shapes. The birds are already in the paper, I just need to find them - look carefully. 

Notes on materials: The top page background came while I was doing Gelli Prints recently. The stencil was goopy so I stuck it in the journal and made a print then some ink spray. Rub on letters, portfolios smeared, pen and collage. Because I Dream: the illustration was done awhile ago. Then some caran d'ache was smeared around. Marker, inktense pencils and the little black book with some gel pens.

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More Gelli Prints

I am rolling with the Gelli Artz gelatin printing plate and water soluble oil paints. The paints are heavy body (Golden Open) and have an extended dry time which make them perfect for this. I used a variety of papers including printing paper, heavy vellum and inexpensive cardstock.

I used a stencil that was hanging around doin' nothing. Not sure where this one came from. Was it a chunk of something else? And a handcarved stamp - a stone flower.

Sumi-e papers printed and made into papercloth.

and what next? I have the deadline coming up for MamaCITA's Miss Representation (more here if you are in the Philly area): choose a woman I admire and make some art honoring her. EEEEK! Too many choices. Eva Hesse? Emily Dickenson? Helen Frankenthaler? Rachel Carson? Right now, it's looking like Rachel Carson. I've been endulging myself by reading poems, looking at Eva and Heln Art and learning more about Rachel (who is currently at the top of my list). 

Who is your favorite woman? Top three? Top ten? Nice journal prompt. Happy weekend. We are on a snow watch here.

Art Journal: Stencil As Prompt

Jessica Sporn has a delightful new set of stencils out with StencilGirl, MaryBeth Shaw.  I have a great fondness for squares so am attracted to random squares stencils.

Using Jessica's stencil as a prompt, I began with layers of ink and the stencil. You don't need to use the entire stencil, using parts of it with different colors of ink makes them more painterly. 

For a bit of pop, I pulled out my gel pens. Nice warm colors on such a cold day cheers me up.

Next came a hand-carved stamp.

How about some gesso?

A picture of seed pods literally fell out of my journal. Oh! That is where I'm going. 

And so it goes. Try using a stencil for a journal prompt. Using Jessica's Random Squares stencil lead me in a direction and the process pulled me along for a ride. I'll add some writing and drawing to this page next.

Here are all the blog hoppers in Jessica's hop. Jessica will have a giveaway on her blog as well.

Seth Apter, The Altered Page, http://thealteredpage.blogspot.com/

Carolyn Dube, A Colorful Journey, http://www.acolorfuljourney.com

Kristin Dudish, Art & Stuff, http://kristindudish.blogspot.com/

Corinne Gilman, Sparkle Days Studios

 

What's Doin'

Scurrying around today in between a Monday/Tuesday trip to Maryland and a Thursday-? trip to take care of my auntie. 

I managed to make a couple of prints using my new Gelli Artz plate and Golden Open Acrylics. Amazing. Making prints is thrilling for me. I minored in printmaking in art school so this was really REALLY exciting. The cleanest monoprints I've made without a press ever. I am using washi paper and the plan is to turn that into papercloth and do the stitching on it. 

I think I need a bigger plate. 

In the straight up fabric and stitch, there is more inspiration than there will ever be time to complete ...

The violet and golden in the upper portion of this picture is making me drool ... sun and mountains.

I am off to pack my bag full of stitching while I take over the nursing. Eeegads. I'm a dreadful nurse but my sis, who actually IS  a nurse has been there and will train me to take over. I'll bet we do fine! Wish me luck. 

Spicy Colors: DIY, from Sketchbook Challenge

You can see this post at Sketchbook Challenge today as well. Get in the fun over there. This month's theme is Spice of Life. Check out this month's giveaways as well! 

... Look no further than your kitchen and neighborhood for this journal entry. Based on my experiments with botanical dyes last year, I decided to whip up some DIY stains for this month's theme. This is a great way to explore nature. 

Paprika, Turmeric, Walnut Ink & Pokeberry, Journal Page, Diana Trout

 

Paprika and turmeric are readily available at your grocery store. Add about 3:1 water to spice and let them sit for a while. You may need to add a bit more water as the spice absorbs and it won't absorb completely. It will be grainy.

Please note, this is just for playing around. The "paint" will be full of undissolved spice. I painted the colors on (see above), let it dry and just brushed off the undissolved spice.

Pokeberries grow wild and are usually in full berry right about now here in the Mid-Atlantic, US. The snowstorm we had last week clobbered our neighborhood bush so I was only able to gather a few. Put the berries in a little bowl and squish them with a fork (or your finger) to release the "ink." I don't mind getting messy, so I pick up one of my berries after squishing and pushed it around on the page. Great fun for adults and kids.

If you have a black walnut tree around, you can find the nuts on the ground in autumn. Smack one with a hammer (if it's not already broken) and then cook the outer hull in about 1/2 cup water. Just bring it up to a boil and simmer a bit. It is very intense! Badda-Bing: home-made walnut ink.

I did the little drawings and writing on this page with the DIY walnut ink and a dip pen. 

There is a clip at the end of this video showing me-self making and using pokeberry ink (the above page. The clip begins at 6:32 so skip ahead to that (unless you'd like to see my daughter in action at her post-grad job a couple of years ago :)

Enjoy!

My {Im}Perfect Life

If you don't read the text in this post, it may appear to be a "perfect life" post. The photos are from around my studio. 

Looks can be deceiving. 

These lovely pictures are the surface. And I have a perfect life. You probably do as well.

Most days you start out with a plan, right? You get up all rarin' to go. Drop a glass in the bathroom and step on a shard. Spend the rest of the day limping around and cussin'. Get the jobs done. Keep going. Get a great email or see someone you love. Spill your coffee on your favorite shirt. 

Forget to bring the packages you need to put in the post. And then there you are driving home in the middle of a most amazing sunset and somehow you realize that you do have a perfect life. And this is it.  

Perfect has to be flawed. Or it wouldn't be perfect. Flaws are part of the wonder of life. So is hard work and problems. If there were not problems to solve, where would the challenge lie? If you hadn't been limping around (and cussin') all day because of that shard of glass in your foot, it wouldn't really be such a treat to stick your feet into a bucket of warm, sudsy water. 

This is real life. Don't believe everything you read on blogs and in magazines and what you see on TV.

Books in no particular order because it is fun not knowing what is going to come at you next: 

Photos in this post: Art Journals, More Art Journals, Mini art journals, part of my flip book collection, art supplies.

Organized for Art

Cigar boxes are a great way to organize supplies, especially if they are in your living space. You can usually get these beautiful boxes at your local cigar shop, at flea markets and Ebay has them too. 

And isn't it a great idea to put these brass labels on the cigar boxes? This idea came to me from Susan Cohen (and you should check out her Pinterest boards).  I went to town with this idea.

My Zentangle supplies may just need a bigger box. 

Such a simple way to class things up. I had a whole bunch of these label holders leftover from journal making.  Google "brass label holders" and you should come up with some suppliers. I superglued them onto the front of the boxes. It is easier to put my toys away now! 

This just in ... some really nice label holders over at Amazon.