Tag Archives: AJ art journal

I am because we are

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Ubuntu

 

Hello friends

I hope you are well and happy today.  I am doing fine, happy to be over the ‘hump’ of the week and flying towards the weekend 🙂

Today’s post is another of the little books I made for a Christmas present.  This one was for my brother.  Before he retired he was a primary school headmaster and a few years ago he went on a school visit to South Africa, he really enjoyed the visit and was completely taken by the philosophy of Ubuntu which is all about humanity.  So I made him this book to remind him of that visit and I think he was touched by it.

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Have a great week and I’ll see you soon.

Big love

AJ 🙂

 

© Janette Gregson and ajsartjournal, 2014 unless otherwise stated. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Janette Gregson and ajsartjournal with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Glory

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Filled with Glory

 

Hello friends

It’s good to see you again 🙂  The weekend is nearly over, I just have a stack of ironing to do this evening and then I’m ready for the week ahead.

I don’t feel I’ve been very productive this weekend, but perhaps that’s because I’ve done bits of several things instead of concentrating on one job?

T and I painted the kitchen ceiling, twice!  When we bought the house the ceilings in every room had been Artexed (a different pattern in every room).  We hate the stuff, so a few years ago we had the living room ceiling plastered over to make it smooth and a few weeks ago we had the kitchen ceiling done too.  Unfortunately shortly after that we discovered we had some broken tiles above the kitchen and when it rained (which it has been doing a lot recently) it came through.  We got someone to come and fix it before too much damage was done.  It’s going to take another coat of paint (at least) before it’s finished but we have to take it fairly slow as it’s hard work for us.  It made my arm ache painting above my head and standing looking up made me really dizzy a couple of times.

We are starting now to do the preparation for the new kitchen which is due to be delivered in about a month’s time.  We have both taken two weeks off in March to build and install it. When I told someone at work we were going to install it ourselves he made some strange comment and looked at me as though I was insane.  I got the impression he thought I couldn’t do it because I’m a woman!  Hmmm, I’ll show him!  Besides T and I are going to do it together.  We will have to pay a plumber and an electrician to do some some technical bits, but building and installing the cupboards and worktops will be down to us. I’m sure it will be fine. (she said).

This weekend I have also been doing lots of doodling, working on my junk journal and I completed the page above which was inspired by Teesha Moore’s Artstronauts Club.  The two ‘lollypop’ people were inspired by some sculptures by Joan Miro, who is one of my all time favourite artists.

We had a bit of sunshine today which was lovely to see and I’m optimistic that I am going to have a good week this week.  I hope you do too.

See you soon

Big love

AJ xxx

 

 

© Janette Gregson and ajsartjournal, 2014 unless otherwise stated. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Janette Gregson and ajsartjournal with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

 

 

Chaos

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Chaos

Hello friends!

It’s the middle of the week already and, as a friend at work said to me today, “We are over the hump of the week now and on countdown to the weekend”.  I hope your week is going well, I am still struggling a bit with the tedium of work, but I do know that the problem is with me more than the job.  So here are the good things about my job:  It’s only 20 minutes drive from home, it’s fairly easy, I’ve got my own office (which is decorated with my artwork), I work with some really nice people, at the end of the day I can come home and forget about it until tomorrow (unlike many of my colleagues I am not expected to go out and fix things in the middle of the night or at weekends) and my manager is nice.  I really need to keep focusing on the good things…

The page above is from my Mandala Book, I’m not sure it really qualifies as a mandala apart from the fact that it’s circular, but I figure if a mandala is a representation of a person’s universe then this is a fair representation of me and mine – my life is colourful, crammed full of stuff and a bit chaotic 🙂

See you soon

Big love AJ 🙂

© Janette Gregson and ajsartjournal, 2014 unless otherwise stated. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Janette Gregson and ajsartjournal with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

The Wonders of Tea!

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The Wonders of Tea!Hello friends

How are you?  I’m good but I found going back to work after the Christmas and New Year break quite a struggle.  It’s not that my job is difficult or stressful, in fact it’s the opposite, but all week I was coming home exhausted and really lethargic.  After two weeks of being creative a lot of the time it was difficult to get back into the flow of the mundane.  I’m sure it will get better in time.

When I woke up yesterday morning we had no internet, at first I wasn’t too bothered because my ISP is usually very good at fixing problems.  In any case I had a meeting to chair in the morning so I went out fully expecting everything to be OK when I got home, which was not until late afternoon.

There was still no internet and T told me it had gone off before he went to bed the night before.  Of course the problem with having no internet is that you can’t go online to find out what the problem is.  Eventually I managed to find a telephone number so I could ask what the problem was.  Apparently the fibre optic cable had been damaged and they were trying to find the break and replace the cable.  Unfortunately the break was in a part of the cable running alongside a railway line.  Access to the railway was restricted and this was delaying the repair.

When I got up this morning there was still no internet!  So I made a few prayer flags instead.  Actually that was good because that task was one of the unfinished items on my To Do list and had to be completed by tomorrow.

Finally early evening I got connected again, so here I am!

I’d like to apologise to all the people who have left comments on my blog and not received a response from me.  I am really sorry, I have been intending to reply, but have been really out of sorts this week.  Please know that I love you and appreciate your support and I hope I don’t appear rude.

The page above is the cover of one of the little books I made for friends and family for Christmas and here are the inside pages.

Tea 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4

As far as I can remember all the images came from the Graphics Fairy website.  The book is a recycled child’s board book measuring about 3″ by 3″.  I made 12 books (I think) in total, all different.

Have a good week everyone and I’m going to try and get my head back into ‘normal’ mode.

I’m off for a cuppa now, see you soon

Big love

AJ 🙂

© Janette Gregson and ajsartjournal, 2014 unless otherwise stated. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Janette Gregson and ajsartjournal with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

…And we’re off!

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2013 book

Hello friends

I hope your New Year has got off to a good start.

For me it feels like there is an imperative to start new projects, but today I spent nearly all of my time finishing off last year’s ‘whole year’ project.

This time last year I was putting away the Christmas decorations and I had a stack of Christmas cards, I didn’t want to throw them away so I decided to make them into a book. I made up signatures consisting of 4 or 5 cards and then I covered them with scrap book papers and various bits and pieces from my art room.  I made 13 signatures in total, one for each month and an extra one for the introduction.  For every day last year I wrote (or sometimes typed) a diary entry and put it in my book.  Today I have made the cover and bound it all together.

I didn’t find it easy doing something every day, but I managed it and now my 2013 book is complete.  Below you can see a slide show of some of the book.  It measures 6.5 inches by 5.5 inches and the spine is 4 inches thick.

If the idea of a daily practice appeals to you I recommend that you visit my friend Gretchen Miller’s blog Creativity in Motion.  Gretchen had just completed a project where she made a piece of art every single day of 2013.  The completed project is just THE MOST AMAZING thing, and today Gretchen has started a new year long daily project.  Really, please go and have a look at Gretchen’s work you will be amazed and enthralled.

I don’t make New Year’s resolutions any more  normally between Christmas and New year I make a Revo-lution Book.  This is something I learnt from Gretchen – the idea is to make an art book and on every page put an intention for the coming year and illustrate it with your art.   This year I have decided to work on my Revo-lution book during the year rather than have it all finished at the beginning of the year.  I am going to be using a large sample book I bought in a charity shop which I will be altering, ‘artifying’ and filling with my intentions.

For my ‘year’ project for 2014 I am going to be altering a pack of cards – one card a week for 52 weeks – hopefully that will be slightly easier than forcing myself to do something every day.

What ever your intentions are for the coming year I wish you good health and success in all your endeavours.

See you soon

Big love

AJ 🙂

© Janette Gregson and ajsartjournal, 2014 unless otherwise stated. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Janette Gregson and ajsartjournal with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Happy New Year!

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Happy New YearHello friends!

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas, if it is something you celebrate.

We had a very lovely Christmas Day.  T and I got up and opened our presents – I got Gellatos, new pyjamas, new pens, a bracelet, some new charms for my Love Links bracelet, a scarf, and lots of other lovely things.  Late morning we went to collect my parents and then drove over to my brother’s house where my sister-in-law provided a wonderful lunch for 9 of us.  It was a great day.  We got home at about 6pm having dropped Mum and Dad back home and then we watched a film called Midnight in Paris which was very good and I managed to last the whole film without dropping off to sleep 🙂

On Boxing Day we had invited T’s friend Nigel for lunch and we had to go and collect him from his sheltered accommodation and bring him back home, have lunch, then we went for a walk along the sea shore as it was a lovely day before taking Nigel home again.

On Friday we spent the day preparing the house for visitors and preparing food.

Yesterday (Saturday) we had to get up early to go to the DIY store to buy our new kitchen, we got an absolute bargain in the Sale and everything will be delivered towards the end of February.  Then the real work starts, ripping out the old and installing the new.

After we got home T’s younger brother, his wife and two children arrived, the first time we have seen them since last Christmas.  We had a very nice day together and yet another Christmas meal in the evening.  They all stayed overnight and this morning we all went for a walk on the beach before they had to head off again.

This afternoon I went to see Mum and Dad and tomorrow I will be taking Dad to the hospital audiology department so he can get his hearing aids fixed.

Now that Christmas is out of the way I am hoping to have some ‘me’ time, I don’t go back to work until Monday 6 January and, apart from taking Dad to the hospital tomorrow, I don’t really have many commitments so I’m hoping I can tick a few more things of my ‘To Do’ list and get some time for art.  I am currently working on 2 journal spreads – one mixed media and one collage and I am also altering a big ‘sample’ book I bought in a charity shop years ago.  I remember being so excited when I bought it but never did anything with it and the other day I decided to make a start.  I also have my 2013 year long project to finish and hopefully I will be able to share that with you soon in the New Year.  Then I have a new, year long, and hopefully easier project to start.

I hope your Christmas was wonderful too.

Thank you to all my readers for your support and encouragement over the past year (or longer) it means such a lot to me.  I wish you all success in all your endeavours and peace in your lives.

The image above is page 8 in my latest Mandala book.

Big love

AJ 🙂

 

 

© Janette Gregson and ajsartjournal, 2013 unless otherwise stated. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Janette Gregson and ajsartjournal with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

 

Fishes

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Fishes

Hello friends!

So that’s another weekend almost over!  I hope you have had a great weekend, mine has been great and not so great.

On Friday evening I had a wonderful time, meeting up with two of my school friends and going for a meal, it was lovely.  We were friends when we were 15, pretty much lost touch with each other and now over 40 years later are friends again, it’s great.

Yesterday I woke up with a migraine and spent the whole day in bed trying not to be sick. It’s frustrating, when I have so much to do, that I lost half of the weekend but it can’t be helped when I feel like that all I can do is lie in bed and wait for it to pass.  For much of the time Jack Kat kept me company, I like to think it’s because he cared but it’s more likely it was because I provided him with some warmth. Here is Jack trying to look festive:

Happy ChristmasWhile I was sick T put the Christmas Tree up so we are looking ever so slightly festive in our house now.  Me, being the Grinch that I am, was going to put it up on Christmas Eve, providing I had completed all my tasks by then, but I must admit it does look very lovely in the corner of the living room.  It has three sets of lights on it, but unfortunately one set has already stopped working!  We’ve decided not to fret about that.

Today I have been feeling much better and I’ve been updating the Ryde Social Heritage Group website, working on Christmas presents, put clean sheets on the bed and visited Mum and Dad.  T has been baking bread and sorting out the washing.  I also watched an online tutorial by the fabulous Teesha Moore over on the Artstronauts Club website and then had to stop myself from immediately trying out what she had demonstrated.  I need to keep myself on track to get my stuff done before I allow myself to play!

The page at the top is from my Mandala Book and although it doesn’t truly qualify as a mandala it was inspired by a visit we made to the Monterey Bay Aquarium many years ago. If you ever get the chance to visit that aquarium I thoroughly recommend it.  It’s fabulous. The first thing we saw when we walked in was a HUGE tank 28 feet deep containing a kelp forest and loads of fishes swimming through the swaying fronds of kelp. It was so impressive it took my breath away.

We also petted some small Rays while we were there, they are just adorable creatures.

The page above was inspired by an exhibit of Northern Anchovy in a circular tank. To me it looked like there were millions of these tiny silver fishes all swimming round and round the tank. 99.9 per cent of them were swimming in the same direction with just the occasional ‘anarchist anchovy’ swimming against the tide.  It was mesmerising to watch them.

That’s all for now folks, have a great week.

See you soon

Big love

AJ 🙂

 

© Janette Gregson and ajsartjournal, 2013 unless otherwise stated. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Janette Gregson and ajsartjournal with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Pressure!

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Mandala-5

 

Hello friends!

How are things with you, I hope all is good.  Me?  I’m beginning to feel the pressure of impending Christmas now.  I am making progress with the little presents I am making and I’m sure I’ll get there in the end but I think I’ll go right to the wire before I achieve my goal!

Of course I am actually making it harder on myself because, although I keep telling you I never watch television, I have been watching the latest series of MasterChef the Professionals.  It’s strange because I never cook but there is something about watching other people cook not just good but superb food.  It’s the finals tonight so after that I should have more time.  Note to self ‘Stay on track!’

Other than that all is pretty good here, everything is sorted out regarding purchasing the new kitchen, I just need to make sure we get there on sale day so that we can get it at a reduced price.  I am beginning to get excited about this now.

The page above is another from my Mandala book, made from just doodling about and coloured in with Pitt Artist pens, white Signo Uno pen and a gold pen.  I am a day late in posting because I got side-tracked yesterday!

I hope you week is going well and if you are in this part of the world I hope you are keeping warm.

See you soon

Big love

AJ 🙂

 

© Janette Gregson and ajsartjournal, 2013 unless otherwise stated. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Janette Gregson and ajsartjournal with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Red hot

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Red hot

Hello friends

I thought I would add some bright colours to my blog this week, because today I am feeling bright and cheerful, I hope you are too.  Above is page 4 from my Mandala book.

The weekend has flown by again and it seems a little unfair I have to go back to work again tomorrow already!  Yesterday I spent the whole day at the tea counter at St Thomas Church where we had a Ryde Arts Festival event.  Visitors were invited to make Christmas wreaths for free.  In the middle of the floor was a big pile of holly, ivy, yew and other bits of greenery and there were wire hoops, fir cones, cinnamon sticks and other bits and pieces for people to make and decorate wreaths to hang on their doors over the festive season.  Tanya was there to give advice and help to those who needed it. Lots of people took part and there some really lovely creations.

While I was at the tea counter my friend looked after the table for children’s activities where they made paper robins or paper chains.  The table was always full of children deep in concentration as they coloured and added stickers to their paper robins.  Keeping the little ones occupied meant that their parents could concentrate on making the green wreaths.

It was a really good day.

Today T and I went back to the DIY store to do some checking on things and make the final decisions about what to buy for the kitchen. I have to go back on Tuesday to meet the planner and get the final quote, then I’ll have to arrange to have the money available just after Christmas.  All being well we are planning to do the work in February, but I guess that really depends on when they can deliver it and the amount of space it takes up in our small house before we start the work.  I can see we are going to be living in chaos for a while, but that’s probably going to bother T much more than it does me though.  My art room is always in chaos, so I’m used to it.

I went to see mum and dad this afternoon and they are both fine, they even went out for a short walk today so that’s good.

I am doing fairly well with making the Christmas presents and have completed 10, I still have 6 more to complete so I need to keep at it or I am going to run out of time.  It’s not long until Christmas now it is!

Have a great start to your week and hopefully I’ll be back here mid week with another post.

Big love

AJ 🙂

 

 

© Janette Gregson and ajsartjournal, 2013 unless otherwise stated. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Janette Gregson and ajsartjournal with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Space, the final frontier

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Space, the final frontier

 

Hello friends

I hope you are all well and happy.  All is good here, my dad has made a miraculous recovery and is back to his old self again.  Most of the bruises have gone and his broken rib gets a bit easier every day.  I am so pleased 🙂 

I am so excited to be sharing with you my first journal spread inspired by Teesha Moore‘s Artstonauts Club.  I made the deep space background using a technique shown by artist James S Flagg, then I collaged images of planets, a spaceman and a rocket on top and altered them with various pens.  I wanted to do something like the Ship’s log I remember from years ago when I used to watch Star Trek.  I typed out the words in a digital looking font and then found an image of an IPad to paste them onto.  I think it worked out quite well.  Oh and I put Teesha’s husband Tracy in the space suit 🙂

I feel like I want to hibernate at the moment, I am going to bed earlier and earlier and I am not so keen to get up in the morning.  I usually manage to be up by about 6am but not with the enthusiasm I have in the light summer months.  Cold, dark days don’t really suit me…

I am progressing (slowly) with the Christmas presents, but I am a little bit disappointed with how they are turning out.  Still I’m committed to making them now so I have to proceed.  I’ll show them to you after Christmas when I have handed them out.  They may not look totally brilliant but there is a lot of work going in to them so I hope they are received OK.

This coming Saturday I will at St Thomas Church in Ryde all day serving teas to visitors at a Ryde Arts Festival event.  There will be Green Wreath making, children’s activities, carol singing and lots of fun.  I am going to wrap up well though because it will probably be very cold.

I am still planning the new kitchen, T seems to have lost interest now it’s come down to the fine detail, but I want to make sure everything is as good as we can possibly make it, I doubt we will every do it again.  I’ve even toyed with the idea of perhaps learning to cook once we have a nice kitchen, I’m in my late 50’s so it’s probably time I did, I’ll never be able to cook as well as T does but I ought to be able to provide meals at least occasionally.

Anyway have a great week and I’ll be back at the weekend with another mandala.

Big love

AJ 🙂

 

© Janette Gregson and ajsartjournal, 2013 unless otherwise stated. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Janette Gregson and ajsartjournal with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.