Moving blog

I'm simply not happy with the layout and things here on Blogger.com so I am moving my artjournal over to Vox. Come find me at: http://thelittlewitch.vox.com/ ^_^

moleskine pages (some unfinished)

I'm quite happy with this one.


Right side is unfinished.


Made this on Valentines day.


I'm not to good at sketching or making "messy" art. I need to practice some more and to keep reminding myself that everything doesn't need to be perfect all the time, or at all.


Work in progress. Not sure how to proceed next.


Work in progress.


Work in progress.

Some goodies from Berlin

Can't go abroad without getting some goodies. Here are the art related goodies. Things to use in my art journal or just for inspiration.

Postcards, stickers and some beautiful decopage paper.


I love postcards and I love stickers, so these postcard with stickers are great. ^^


A book for inspiration. I love this book of Pin-up pics by Gil Elvgren.

We now return to our regular updating schedule

It's been to long since I updated. Life kind of got in the way for a while, but now I am back and with easter coming, I will have more time for art and art updates. I've just spent a week in Berlin and it was lovely. There was art to behold everywhere. Art shops, street art, gallery and design exhibits on every corner. I loved it. What I also like about Berlin is that it has many vegetarien resturants. In Norway it is hard to find even one.:( My BF is still in Berlin, doing his video projects. He has started a blog about it should you be interested: http://apelonius.vox.com/ However, he is not used to blogging and his internet connection is rather unstable, so don't expect everyday updates. ^^

I've uploaded some Berlin street art pictures at my flickr account.

Mum's in the hospital and I got a terrible cold so there won't be any updates for a little while. Take care.

Traveler's notebook is here!

I've been wanting this journal for some time now, but it's almost impossible to get outside Japan. Fortuantly I have a really great friend in Japan (Hi cecilie! ^_^) who was kind enough to help me get it and today it arrived. It is just as perfect as I thought it would be.

package


repair kit


Cloth bag that it came with


The wonderful journal ^^


A peek inside

OWOH winner

I used the random number generator and that gave me the number 22 which is angela.
Congrats! ^_^ I have notified her through her blog.

Berlin

My boyfriend got a three month stay in Berlin through Artist in Resindence. He will be there to work on some of his VJ project. The stay include free apartment and Studio for the enetire three months, pluss a small scholarship. I will be going with him the first week, then I'll visit once in a while and offcourse he'll come home now and again. We'll be going to Berlin for the first time in March. I was wondering if anyone reading this blog has been there? I wondered if anyone had any recommnedations on what to visit, especially art vise. Museums, big art shop, special architecture stuff like that. All I have been told so far is to visit kreuzberg and that they have vintage shops there. ^_^ I think it will be a great trip no matter what I do though. I love visitng new places.

I am currently saving up for another Japan trip. I hope to go to Tokyo again sometime soon, but I fear it'll take a will to save up. Bills to pay you know.
While on the subject of Japan; my dear friend Cecilie is currently on a one month backpacking trip through Japan and I asked her to do me the big favor of keeping an eye out for my dream journal/notebook/sketchbook called the Travelere's Notebook. It's only available in Japan and Thailand and I have been dreaming of it for a while now. Today I read in her blog that she got it and was sending it to Bergen soon. ^____^ I am beyond thrilled right now. Pics will be posted once I get it, but you can see more of it here.

Art school

I'm thinking about applying to art school. This has been on my mind for a while now, and I would really like to go as I think it would greatly improve my art skill (naturally). However, I don't know if I can handle another art teacher or two telling that I'm no good at art. I know I shouldn't care about what some silly art teacher has to say, that I should be confident in my art, and that I should do art for me not everybody else, but alas it's not that simple. When I first started really getting into drawing and painting, I was 16 years old and not doing so good at life. A series of bad stuff happened to me and I was really depressed. But I started art classes at high school and had hopes for the future. Then exams came along. My teachers told me I had actually failed the exams, but they had passed me (barely) just to be nice (I was in special classes do to my real life problems). Then they so kindly told me that perhaps art was not my thing and that I should serioulsy consider another education. At that point in life, a saying like that was devestaiting to me. I gave up art all the way convinced I was no good and couldn't improve. I would doodle a little now and again, but I never thought I was any good or that my art was worth anything. It took me almost 15 years to realise they where wrong. To tell a 16 year old that you have no room for improvement or that you can't delvelope as an artist is just stupid. You're 16! You've hardly started living. There is so much yet to learn, and art can be one of those things. Last year I finally started drawing and painting in full again. I love it so much! Not only because it's great fun, but also because it helps me grow and it makes me realise things about myself. I feel calmer, more confident, more happy and I know now that I was right the first time, this is what I want to do with my life. It's what I need to do. So why in my knownledge of all this am I afraid to apply to art school again? Why should a rejection of my art mean anything to me, when I do art for me? Because I also want to make art to share. Art that others will enjoy. And I guess that though I am now a grown, more confidant woman, there is still that little insecure 16 year old inside me, who so desparetly want approval, even if she shouldn't need it.

Sorry for the rant. Hope it made any sense. And yes, I will apply. If not, I'll always wonder what if, just what if. What if I actually got in.

Moleskine pages

I've completed my first pages in my moleskine. I am absolutely in love with that journal. Here are three finished and one not so finished pages.





This was so much fun to do!




The Japan page isn't finished yet as you probably can tell, but I think it will turn out great in the end. ^_^


On another note, the One world -One heart event is going strong. So far I have visited so many amazing blogs and entered some incredeble giveaways. But the best part is to meet so many new people. My favorite list is packed with links to the blogs of such wonderful creative people. I will defently enter next year also. ^_^
Thank you all for visiting my blog and entering my giveaway. Blessings.

One world - One heart giveaway

Edit II: No more comments please. I will draw the winner tomorrow using the random number generator. Thank you to all who participated. ^_^

Edit: Important please read. I just caught an spelling error making it seem like the drop dead cute book was included. :( I'm so sorry, but it's not. To make up for it, I will add a little extra suprise to the winner. Please forgive me. I've changed the photo now to avoid any more mistakes.

I'm signing up for the One world-One Heart event.
Bloggers who join commit to give away a prize (or more if you wish) on the 14th of february, valentines day. It can be handmade or store bought. A lot of wonderful crafty people are giving away beautiful items they have made. I just recently learned about it, so I have no time to make anything, but I hope my prize will be welcome anyway. :)
I will giveaway a lovely Moleskine Sketch book variant. New, unopened, blank and beautiful and ready for you to fill it's pages with wonderous things. The Moleskine is a world famous brand that features sketch books, watercolour paint books, journals, notebooks and more. Among famous people who where great followers of the Moleskine, was Picasso, Hemingway and Van Gogh. The sketch book version is wonderful for sketching, journalling, writing notes and much more. Not so great for painting though, as the water just roll of the pages.

How to enter: You must leave a comment in this post sometime between today and the 13th of february. You dont have to have a blog to join, but please remember to post your email in the comment so I can contact you if you win. I will draw and announce the winner on valentines day here in my blog. ^_^

Pictures. This is my personal Moleskine. Yours will be new and unopened. For more and bigger pictures please see my flickr account here.
The cover.


Inside.


Back pocket for keeping something special.


For a list over all blogg participants, please follow the One world-one heart link at the top.

Wohoo! Finally some journal pages.

The first page of my artjournal made on the inside of the cover. Once again, please excuse my terrible camera skill.
The colours aren't as bright and beautiful as they appear in real life.





Showing the detail of my favorite part, the green border next to the house. ^_^


And there are a few pics from my Japan journal.
I had some lovely handmade paper I bought in Japan. I cut it in small squares and glued them on the front.


"First" journal page. There is a few before this one, but they are mostly lists of Kanji and how to count in Japanese. ^_^ On this page I remember what my first trip to Tokyo was like.


Back cover. Incomplete. Girl is not by me. She is cut out from a Japanese ad.

I wanne try this one day. It seems cool and fun to make your own sketchbook like that. Then it really feels like yours. :)

I am saving up for the Timbuk2 artist's canvas bag. I want the black and white one. The bag is made up of good quality canvas ready to be customized by the artist. I've heard a lot of great things about the Timbuk2 bags and I need a new bag, so this was just perfect.

Suziblu has updated with her assignment and we are to make accordion pages. Wohoo! ^_^ I'll get started on that tomorrow because now it's bed time for me. I have to try to paint less in the middle of the night and more in the middle of the day. ^^

A sketch and a fairy

I made a little fairy to keep in a pocket in my new moleskin. Hope she'll bring me good luck. The colours are stronger in real life. I'm just really crappy at taking pictures. Maybe one day I'll learn how to really work a camera.







I kind of like how this lady turned out despite her failed boob job. I don't think I will be doing anything more with this picture though. I'll just leave it as it is. Again, please excuse my crappy camera skills.

While we wait for art journal pages

Here are a couple of older pictures of mine. The first is a selfpotrait of sorts in mixed media and the other is a quick sketch done with the wacom tablet. Both done in November 2007 I belive.

YAY! More suziblu

Suzi is starting something new today. She will be posting an assignment every last sunday of the month, then we have three weeks to complete it and mail the åics to her, and then she'll be showcasing it in her next video. I can't wait for her to post the video. Just what I need to get going again after this stupid flu. ^_^

An artists wishlist

Being all creative makes me wish for more stuff to be creative with. :p I've recently bought The creative lincense and The decorated journal for some inspirational reading. Wating for them to arrive from amazon.com soon (I hope).

I also really wanne buy this lovely metal art and these skull ribbons for decorating my art journal.

And this drawingboard would be handy.

And these. Don't know quite what to do with them yet, but they are so pretty.

I wish I wasn't so broke. *sigh*

Artsupplies = love

Sadly I haven't finishes the artjournal pages yet as I hoped I would. I'm afraid the flu got to me first and I just can't get any work done while it feels like dinosaurs are playing ping pong with my head. However I did manage to sneak out of the house for a little while today and that lead to the
purchase of some new art supplies. ^^ So since there is no picture of my art today, I'll bore you with some random pics of some of my artsupplies stuff insted.

The current journals that I'm working on. Bottom is my art journal. The next one is my Japan motivasion journal. I am currently studying Japanese and I find it hard to focus. I'm hoping this Journal will help me keep my eyes on the goal. Next is my quotes and poem journal. Here I write poems and quotes that I like or that means a lot to me.  The top journal is a Moleskin sketch book that I bought today. I will use this as more of a day to day journal as well as a sketch book.


Todays purchase. My lovely new Moleskin sketchbook and the "Drop dead cute" art book. "Drop dead cute" is a book that features women artists of Japan. I bought the book mostly for Aya 
Takanos work. It is her painting you see on the cover. 


Two things I use a lot in my journals these days. Derwent watercolour pencils and alphabet stamps.


I went to an art sale last week and I found this horrid basket bag thingy that I really didnt like at all, but I bought it anyway because of it's content. Behold the oil pastels. :) :)  I really want to play around more with oil pastels and learn how to use them properly. This pastels are of lovely quality and according to the man in the shop, some of the best in the world. Looking forward to trying them out. ^^





 

AIR and Mino paper

I really wanne apply to the AIR program at some point. Most cities seem to take people in based on open call and with no art education necessary. It would be interesting and exciting I think, to  
go abroad for three months to an unfamiliar place for the sole purpose of art exchange and to just paint, paint, paint. :) I need to do some more researh on the subject.

I really want to get a hold of some Mino paper, but I dont know where.   It's so pretty. Maybe ebay? *goes to look*

I have been thinking about applying for art school, yet I fear I'm not productive enough to fit in there. I wish I painted and drew much more then I do, but I am still to unsecure about my art and my abilities. Also I seem to have a hard time sticking to one idea at a time. There is no red thread to follow thru any of my art. My Bf thinks I should paint a bunch of paintings and then put them on display somewhere. He says that you can not wait for inspiration, you just have to sit down and paint and it will come to you. There is some truth in that i guess, but it is also true that I hate what I paint when I don't feel like it. There is no heart and  soul in a picture thats been forced in my opinion.  Blah. I'll stick with art journalling for now, and maybe I'll start on a canvas piece next week.  
Of to finish of some journal pages. :)

Art on its way

I got one page in my Life Book (another name for my art journal. Suziblus idea. :)) mostly finished today and two more are well on their way. I will try to post pics tomorrow. I seem to want to do nothing but art these days. Its like my mind is in creative overdrive. I can't stop thinking about drawing and painting and what to do next. It's quite frustrating really cause I never seem to be able to finish one project before I start the next. There is just so much I want to get down on paper and it's like I'm afraid I'll forget all the ideas I have so I need to do them right away. But it's fun also. I haven't been this crafty in years. I credit a lot of this new inspiration to Suziblu. It was her videos that got me started again. Thank you ever so much Suzi!

Art journalling

This blogg will be my art blogg. Paintings, art journal pages, drawings and more will be posted here. For ramblings about my life in general, go to thelittlewitch.insanejournal.com .

I am really into art journalling lately. It's so much fun and a great way to get over my artistic block.  I couldn't seem to get anything down on paper for a while. Also, with art journalling, I find that I try much more new things, new medias and new techniques. I play around with colour alot more then I used to. Before I seemed to almost be afraid of anything that wasn't just plain black and white. Now I've invested in lots of acrylic paint and colourful paper stacks to tear up and glue all  
over my journal.  Today I also bought a beautiful set of 24 oil pastels. Really good quality pastels 
that are easy to smudge as much as I want. :) 

I'm hoping to have my first art posts up sometimes during this week.  I'm working on a couple of art journal pages that should be finished by the weekend. If I don't get to distracted by my new oil pastels that is. ^^