Friday 15 May 2015

Open Your Eyes and See!

Servus and welcome to my little creative spot!

The first half of our May challenge over at SanDee&amelie's Steampunk Challenges is over and our mid-month reminder post is up to provide you with more Steampunk inspiration and to invite you to join in (if you haven't done so already)!

This month's challenge theme is "Eyes Tested!" - so goggles, monocles, eye charts, dolls eyes, winking eyes, mechanical eyes, blue, green or brown or any other kind of eyes you can think of with a creative crafty project are very likely to be seen more often around these days. ;)




My project today may seem rather likely at first sight, but it really turned out to be very meaningful to me during the creative process. Sometimes my projects take me on a journey instead of the other way round.

Since I was a girl I have been watching the world around me closely. I was a rather quiet and shy girl and instead of throwing myself out there I spent a lot of time watching and taking a close look at the people around me and their behaviour. Learning about the mechanisms of communication and which actions lead to which reactions was important for me as a young girl (as I wanted to be able to make others as happy as possible) - and I haven't stopped looking closely ever since (even if I do it for different reasons now) - be it human behaviour or artwork or nature.

So my art journaling card for today is my very personal message (and also reminder to myself) as I believe that if we all looked a bit closer (also at ourselves) before acting or talking, we could often spare others and ourselves disappointment and hurt. But looking closely takes time - and time is what we feel we haven't got nowadays. So we rush forward. So I know that this is easier said than done.




I used some G45 paper as a background. The gears and calculations stamps I used to create more depth are from Carabelle Studio. The observing eye and test glasses are Tim Holtz stamps.

The glasses were stamped onto acetate using black StazOn ink. Once that had dried I painted the backside of the image using a white Sharpie.




The acetate was fixed to the card using four brads. But before I fixed it I scraped on some white Gesso and Viva Rusty Paper with a palette knife.




The stamped observing eye was coloured using a watercolouring pencil and fine tip brush. I also used it for shading in some of the elements on my journal page.



For a finish I added some white here and there to make some of the elements pop from the page. I love my white Sharpie pen! ;)



There was an eye chart on the background paper, but I got carried away and almost covered it up completely...lol. But sometimes a textured background is a good starting point - even though hardly any of its details will be visible once the project is finished.

As this is a journal page that tells more about me than I had consciously intended to, seeing the finished result is rather moving for me. Maybe you know those finished pieces of art that are like a mirror that shows a different you -  a "you" you tend to forget about or that you do not like staring back at you as it touches a sore spot in you. Well, that journal card is one of those mirrors - and - how appropriate for a mid-month-reminder-post - a reminiscence too.

Well, after that load of rather unexpected emotional blurb I would love to invite you to hop over to SanDee&amelie's Steampunk Challenge blog to take a look at the makes of my teamies, who have prepared another bundle of inspiration for you.

And of course I hope you will play along and enter a project soon!
Thanks for stopping by (and for listening too ;)

Hugs and happy crafting,
Claudia xxx



19 comments:

  1. This is a master piece. It is gorgeous.
    So much to see and everything fits perfectly .
    Very inspiring and vintage.
    Thanks for showing love it Anneke

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  2. Absolutely stunning love this Claudia, your composition and colours are brilliant every time you look you see more. The story behind it is very true how we tend to forget to stop and watch and think. x

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  3. Nicht nur deine Journal Card ist unheimlich künstlerisch gekonnt, absolut beeindruckend und faszinierend, sondern auch der emotionale Klappentext dahinter!! In der Tat, wir nehmen uns meistens zu wenig Zeit und Aufmerksamkeit, um auf die Dinge hinter den Kulissen zu achten, dabei würden sie vieles erleichtern und verständlicher machen. Vielen Dank für deine wunderschöne Inspiration!! Hab ein schönes Wochenende in England :-) LG Kerstin xxx

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  4. Ein wundervolles kleines Kunststückchen hast du da geschaffen, liebe Claudia. Besonders, wenn man deine Worte vom Anfang mit einbezieht. Gefällt mir ausnehmend gut!
    Ich wünsche ein schönes Wochenende nach Wien!
    xxx Evelyn

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  5. How I share your thought about having a step back and taking time to look and feel and think... And how I love the way you dived into yourself with this AJ card! Great layers and beautiful composition right in the theme.

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  6. Claudia, this is a wonderful piece! I love how it took you on a journey, and that journey, I can relate to.i am intrigued with how you made the glasses-love them, and have to try that out myself! Love the overall design!! My eyes are wide open!

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  7. I like to read the meaning behind your art, to better understand and see it as you do!

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  8. That is so true. The finished piece of a is sometimes a revelation, sometimes a shock and at other times it's just pretty without any deeper meaning. I don't know you well enough how this reveals your inner self, but I know the feeling. Nevertheless, even not knowing you I know this is a well made, deep and intentional piece. Thank you for sharing it with us today.

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  9. Amazing piece Claudia! I love every little detail , color palette is so beautiful and I love to read your words! BArbarayaya

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  10. .... wieder ein spitzenwerk, liebe Claudia. einfach toll und kreativ...
    glg
    margit

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  11. Absolutely stunning, Claudia!! There's so much meaning here for me, too! It's true, there seems to be less available time, and we're all rushing rushing rushing to go nowhere fast, not seeing what's going on around us. You've made time stand still for me with this aj card, Claudia. It's beautiful and edgy and definitely speaks volumes to me!! I Do See!! :) :) OH...I love what you do with your white sharpie pen, too :) :) XOXO-Shari

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  12. Absolutely love this ATC and I can't believe you've got all that detail on a card, it's just wonderful and as usual your colours are sublime. Wonderful inspiration. Ruth x

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  13. Wow. I just can't find the words that would describe my feelings while I'm looking at your art. It is so whelming.
    Claudia, you rock!

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  14. Claudia, I love this! Do you mind my asking what company the eye glass stamp came from?

    Thanks for sharing!

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    1. The eye glass stamp is from one of the Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous sets, Cecile! Mwah! x

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  15. Was für ein "Outing", liebe Claudia... Fast war ich versucht, Dir nicht hier so öffentlich meinen Kommentar zu hinterlassen, sondern Dir ein kleines, feines, emotionales Briefchen per Schneckenpost zukommen zu lassen. Aber dann... Die Zeit, die Zeit... Vieles bleibt nur ein hehres Vorhaben, ein Kommentar ist schnell geschrieben (und trotzdem herzlich gemeint!).
    Zuerst bin ich an Deinen Worten hängen geblieben. Eine Mischung aus "Hut ab vor soviel Mut, sich zu zeigen" bis zu "Hut ab, ANDEREN so viel Mut zu machen, etwas von sich zu geben" machte sich in mir breit. Das Internet ist eine delikate Angelegenheit, schnell versteigt man sich dazu, so einsam und allein vor dem PC die Tastatur zum Stift eines Tagebuches zu machen, sich in Reflektionen über sich selbst zu ergehen im Schutz der Anonymität. Aber warum nicht? Ist dies nicht auch ein Weg, in den Spiegel zu sehen, sich von sich zu distanzieren um besser sehen zu können? Und auch andere daran teilhaben zu lassen, andere, von denen man annimmt, dass sie eine ähnliche Reise, ähnliche Empfindungen haben? Ich jedenfalls freue mich sehr, unter Oberflächen gucken zu dürfen, Strukturen, Linien, innere und äußere Falten erkennen zu dürfen. Auch mich selbst zu erkennen und zu wissen, ich bin nicht allein! Danke dafür, meine liebe Claudia!!!
    Deine Kunst entspricht dem natürlich. Die Vielzahl an Facetten, Interpretationsmöglichkeiten, "Reiserouten" für die Augen, die in Deinen Werken enthalten sind, sind überwältigend und machen Dich (für mich) wiedererkennbar. (Wenn das mal nicht anmaßend ist...)
    Jedenfalls, kurz und bündig: Der Besuch bei Dir hat sich mal wieder hundertprozentig gelohnt! (Und mein Kommentar hätte sich vom Umfang her doch für ein Blatt Papier geeignet...)
    Ich drücke Dich ganz herzlich! Bis bald, Deine Manu

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  16. This is stunning and very cleverly done. Love it.

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