The "Be positive" art journal project

Hi there,

Last month I started with a daily art journal called "Be positive every day".

One day I was reading my daily newspaper & feeling kinda sad doing that (after all, newspapers seldom bring positive news).
Now I have this preference for found poetry, i.e. cutting words out of magazines and papers, and turning these into 'found poems'.

And so the idea was born: to use my daily newspaper (with mostly negative news) as a source for cutting out words and sentences, and using these for making a POSITIVE message or poem.
I've been making one every day since and I hope, in doing so ,to spread some positiveness and happiness around me!

Wanna join me in this project?

-Grab your daily newspaper and cut out words and parts of sentences. Form these into a positive message or poem. Glue them down in a journal or on a piece of paper. And, if you like, make nice colorful art around it. (for inspiration/ examples you can take a look at my pages on Flickr (see below) or here on my blog.

-I have opened up a special Group on Flickr, where everybody can load up their own "Be positive journal pages". (you'll find a link to this group on my site)

-For one journal page, use words from the newspaper of one single date
-Make sure you date your page
-If you like, you can name your source/ newspaper (f.e. mine is De Volkskrant)
-You can make a page every day, but of course you don't have to. Just make one whenever you feel like it or have the time...

It would be really great if you join me in this project. And perhaps you have friends who'll want to play along too!
I look forward to seeing your positive pages!

Btw, if you don't have a Flickr account yet, it's very easy to join. Just go to Flickr.com and they'll guide you thru it step-by-step.

Be happy!

Een achtergrond voor een nieuw schilderij/ Background for a new painting

Hi,

Heb nog een schilderij gemaakt met found poetry. Hier laat ik je zien hoe ik de achtergrond heb opgebouwd.
I made another painting with found poetry. In this post I''d like to show you how I built up the background.

Step 1: paint the canvas in 1 nice color of acrylic paint; I chose greenish yellow.

Make some stamps all over with a black inkpad.




Step 2: tone it down a bit with a thin layer of gesso.

Step 3: tear out some nice photographs from an old magazine, in colors you like. I chose flowers with 'pinkish' colors.

The white lines you see here, are made of masking tape, because I wanted to make a sort of 'cross'.

Step 4: color all over the canvas with colors to your liking. Try using colors that match with the photographs you used. You can leave parts of the photographs uncovered (or remove some paint when it's still wet). Make sure the different colors of paint and the photographs all blend nicely into eachother.

So there you go, your nice colorful background is now ready for journaling or painting or anyting you like to make on it!

Be happy!

Nieuw schilderij / new painting

Hi there,

Meer dan een week niet geblogd, woow!! Sorry sorry....maar ja, soms ben je zo druk met van alles, dan komt het er gewoon niet van! Wel intussen nieuwe dingen (af-)gemaakt, o.a. dit schilderij met '' found poetry''. Gemaakt met een o.a. collage van oud magazine papier, acrylverf, Neocolor crayons, handgeverfd tissue papier.

Didn't do any blogging for more than a week, woow! I,m sorry.... but then again, sometimes you're just so busy with lots of things, you just don't have the time for it! I did make/ finish some new art; this painting's one of them. Painting with found poetry, made with magazine paper collage, acrylic paints, Neocolor crayons, handpainted tissue paper.

The 'poem' reads:
How will I survive
in the morning
without coffee?

Be happy!

Mini art

Hi,

Heb van de week een groot vel "achtergrond" gemaakt. Begonnen met gescheurde stukjes tijdschriftpapier, toen diverse lagen gesso, acrylverf, stempels etc eroverheen. Een lekker vrolijk geheel.
This week I made a big "background" paper. Started with torn magazine paper, then I added layers of gesso, acrylic paint, stamps etc.
It all looks happy & colorful.

Vervolgens heb ik het vel in stukjes gesneden.
Then I cut the paper into little pieces.

Nu ben ik bezig om er mini mixed media schilderijtjes van te maken.
Ik heb er al een paar af:
Now I'm busy making mini mixed media paintings. Already finished a few:

Ze zijn gemaakt met handgeverfd tissuepapier, Copic markers en found poetry.
De werkjes zelf zijn heel klein, 6x9 cm.
En binnenkort staan ze uiteraard in mijn Etsy shop!
They were made with handpainted tissuepaper, copic markers and found poetry.
The paintings measure 6x9 cm, 'mini' indeed.
And of course they'll be in my Etsy shop shortly!

Be happy!

Shop opening!!!!

Hi there,

Vandaag is het zover: mijn online Etsy shop is vanaf vandaag geopend!! Ben er heel happy mee!
Ben de afgelopen week druk bezig geweest met inrichten, foto's maken etc. (dus vandaar, weinig tijd om te bloggen...)
Hoop dat jullie een kijkje nemen in mijn winkeltje; ik hoor graag reacties!

Today's the day: I opened up my online Etsy shop!! Feeling very happy about it!
I have been quite busy this past week with making the shop, making photographs etc etc. (so, very little time left for blogging...) I hope that you'll take a look in my little shop; I'd love to have your reactions!

Be happy!

3 schilderijtjes/ 3 little paintings

Hi,

Heb een leuk formaatje canvas board gevonden: 10 x 15 cm. Perfect voor kleine mixed media schilderijtjes.
Found canvas board in a nice small format : 10 x 15 cm. Perfect for these little mixed media paintings.

Be happy!

Love love love...

Hi,

Twee mixed media schilderijtjes wilde ik nog laten zien... Vandaag afgemaakt; en allebei gaan ze over de liefde!
Ben steeds meer bezig met het maken van 'found poems'; woorden en zinnen knippen uit oude tijdschriften & junk mail en die vervolgens gebruiken voor het maken van gedichten. Bij deze gedichtjes probeer ik dan weer een passend kunstwerkje te maken.

Wanted to show you 2 mixed media paintings... I finished them today; and they're both about love!
Find myself more and more busy with the making of 'found poetry'; cutting words & sentences form old magazines & junk mail and using those for making poems. Then it's fun to try and make a fitting artwork for each poem.

And since we're heading for Valentine's Day, more love-paintings are to follow!
Be happy!