paint under my fingernails...

I said I'd be back soon, didn't I? I guess it depends on your definition of soon... haha! Anyway, I have been working on some art, some of it involving paint, which explains the title of this post. (I can't paint without getting it all over my hands, no matter how hard I try!) Here's some pics, with more on my Flickr page: I've started doodling again... I used to do it when I was younger, but stopped somewhere along the way... it's mostly random patterns and lines, but sometimes it turns into something more, like these two. The pic above started as a sort of leaf (or football, depending on your viewpoint!), which I filled in... kinda like a Zentangle, which you can read more about here. This was done during a meeting at work. I can't focus on only one thing... listening to someone talk makes me really tired unless I'm doing something with my hands, so I doodle. I taped this into my journal with tape off the battery backup that was installed on my computer. I fished the tape out of the trash, actually- not sure which is weirder, asking "hey, can I have that tape instead of you throwing it away?" or actually garbage-picking it out of the trash can... but, when you're obsessed with paper and strange stuff, material is everywhere, isn't it?? (and on an environmental note, it's recycling!!)

this is an in-process journal spread... the left page started with red, yellow, and blue paint that got all muddled together- it looks lots better than I thought it would, actually. The right page is strips of magazine paper and masking tape, still waiting to be painted and finished up.

This is not an art project, but it is really cool! We have a number of fishhook barrel cactus in our yard; this one took a while to start growing, but apparently it really likes where we put it, because it's flowering! This flower is already dying, but there's at least one more bud... I'll have to get more pics of the second flower. (I love the yellow and peachy-orange colors!!)

This is also a work in progress: I joined the Art Unraveled chunky book swap (everyone makes 4x4 inch pages showing off a technique they learned, send them to the swap hostess who sorts them out, and we get back pages from the other participants), and have started working on my pages. This is where the paint under my fingernails came from... I start out using a paintbrush, but inevitably end up smearing the paint around with baby wipes and paper towels. I have to make 30 pages, and so far I have 21 painted (the front, anyway- need to decorate the backs, too!). Of course, this is just the first layer- I have more ideas for these pages, which you'll just have to wait for!!