Sunday, October 9, 2011

The 100 Fountains

Hard to believe I was in Italy only a week ago....
I spent last Sunday on an Alitalia flight that was over 10 hours...
Thank heavens for direct flights...
Didn't sleep a wink....think I watched 6 movies or so, although I couldn't tell you what they were...
Working on my Travel Journal all this week has continued to remind me of the Adventure....




I started the background with some Golden Heavy Body Acrylics....

Pushed a few colors around with my handy dandy credit card....

It dries fairly quickly, so put some elbow grease into it as watercolor paper loves to soak it up...












Used a foam stamp, brushed some gesso on....
Then merrily stamped...and...stamped some more...
(Clean stamp immediately after)


Tap fingers while waiting for the gesso to dry....
Pour a vino...or tea....or coffee....water?






Add some depth with watercolors....
Or acrylics....
Or inks...
Don't stop with one....






Get involved with glue, thread, google...
Encounter bobbin issues on the sewing machine....
Consult the manual - Toss - and page Husband...

Misspell Italian translation only to be realized after taking photos, resizing photos, etc...
Correct spelling with a handy scrap as peeling each of those clear letters off for stamping is annoying...

Pour another vino...or tea....or coffee....water?
Don't stop with one....and curse the fact that you are no longer satisfied with that $9.99 Cavit.....



Get engrossed in 15 layers of wallpaper, paint, pearl-ex, inks, oil pastels, buttons, book searching for an EXACT phrase...or hoping one will "speak" to you....

Put on your new Italian tunic and scarf...and go to dinner....wear GOOD shoes and insist your husband wear that sexy Italian shirt you picked up in the market for 5 euros....squeeeeee...

Indulge in microwave popcorn with parmesan cheese watching "True Grit" trying to figure out what the heck Jeff Bridges is saying....
Sneak off to bed with your ipad determined to reach level 8 on "bejeweled"...
Sleep fitfully thanks to your "Alitalia cold"....consider tossing a pillow at the dog whose "guarding" the house from the cat who is outdoors meowing to be let in....feel pity for your bed partner...

Finally decide to just get up...clean the kitchen...make coffee that tastes nothing like the deliciousness you had a week ago...sneeze...cough...go smoke a cigarette...check emails, blog, facebook...and decide you are NOT getting out of your PJ's...may not EVEN wash your face and you WILL finish this page....
After greek yogurt with blueberries...because you are starving (why does this happen when you eat late at night???)....












Be HappY!....Finish Page.....Provide link to Villa D'Este and the 100 Fountains...Encourage everyone to visit...

Consider a shower at 6pm....
Wonder how late Jo-Ann's is open because I'm not sure I can cut that Italian lace I bought....
Post to Blog...Facebook...Facebook Group...

And Pour another vino...or tea....or coffee....water?





Friday, October 7, 2011

The Path

Even though the dust bunnies beckon, I'm continuing to work on my Travel Journal....



Quinacridones, tissue paper, molding paste and stencil to start.......





I knew what I wanted my focal point to be when I started.....rare as that is....













A photo from Tivoli gardens in Italy that doesn't come close to capturing the essence of that path....it was long...so full of sights, sounds, smells...beautiful and magical.

It got complicated thinking about the vision and layers of construction involved....
The maintenance....nurturing....discipline....persistence....
The back breaking, sweaty diligence.....

That resulted in this exquisitely beautiful path....exuding tranquility....peace....appreciation.....respect....

It inspires me....helps me...soothes me....and encourages me to stay steady on my path....


A Textured Pocket Page






Oh - I wish you could feel this page!

I started with paint, then used a stencil and slathered Liquitex white opaque flakes on one side of the page.....
It dries translucent, so I worked on highlighting with paints and acrylic inks.

Another piece of the stencil was used with light molding paste, which dries white....popped with color thanks to Adirondack alcohol inks






The "pocket" started as piece of an envelope...
I "pushed" paint with a credit card (Sap Green Hue by Golden) - let dry - used more light molding paste - let dry - colored with adirondack inks.
Added some trims with the sewing machine (yes, that's from a friend's skirt) - sewed the sides and bottom onto my orignal page, glued a scrap on and wrote "observation" in Italian with my favorite opaque white pen (Gelly Roll by Sakura I think)...






A new home for my sweet notebook made by my sweet teacher, Kristi Steiner, as part of our "Adventures in Italy" package...

We toted our notebooks around for sketching and note taking in the streets of Orvieto...over cappucinos...or in Etruscan caves...I noticed I'd written down several vino brands from tastings we participated in.....














There she will rest for a bit and keep my company while I continue to work on Travel Journal pages....
Till I take her out for a sketching date in her newAmerican surroundings....
There will for sure be more notes on vino;)














I invite you to join me and link up with Paint Party Friday to share Paint!



Thursday, October 6, 2011

Ancient Ruins - Deluxe Accommodations

It began with Nickel Azo Yellow 


Followed by Yellow Gold patterned Tissue paper

And Evolved from there....

Stitching, Stenciling, Layering Transparencies....

Reminiscing while layering away.....


Till I had another Travel Journal page from my Adventure in Italy....


Linking to Jenny's Alphabe Thursday featuring the letter "Y"!

Jenny Matlock

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Be Brave Navigators

Adding to my Travel Journal and sharing Adventures from Italy...
Little by Little...
An incredible journey with so much inspiration....

We had to Be Brave and learn to navigate Rome!
As we were staying near Villa Borghese...

We had to learn where and how to buy a bus ticket - (interesting when your knowledge of the language is minimal) to get to some nitty gritty Rome sights....

The Spanish Steps

Trevi Fountain



Amazing, si???
So many stories.....
Working one page at a time....


And am looking forward to sharing....

Ciao;)

Monday, October 3, 2011

First Morning Home

Awake at 03:00...
Email catchup and some Googling on Italian thoughts...
It's now 05:43 - time to shower, walk Bella, exercise my body and spirit...
Afterwhich I will work on sharing my Rome/Orvieto adventure....
In the interim...a treat and a thought to share with you...
Make Haste Slowly - Bill Steiner's Italy blog






Sunday, September 18, 2011

Orvieto, Italy Bound

Part 1 - Idea
Part 2 - Research

Part 3 - Budget

Part 4 - Invite a Pal Who Accepts
Part 5 - Feel Blessed and Celebrate
YAY!!!!  WHeeeeeEEEE!!!!  YooHooOOOO!!!!

Part 6 -Feel Guilty About Leaving the Dog

Part 7 - Lose Weight

Part 8 - Anticipate Adventure


Part 9 - What To Pack (and will the dog be oK)?

Part 10 -
Ick...I hate packing...
But I Have an Idea...



More Later....