art journal

{The Art Journal}

I was scouring Pinterest and Etsy for Thanksgiving craft ideas when this one hit me. See, my family has this notebook that we pull out every Thanksgiving called the Thankful Journal, but its just a boring old black and white speckled notebook that looks similar to this:

Whoever was spending the holiday with us that year would take time to write a little about what they were thankful for. I thought it would be nice to share this tradition with other families, in a more artistic way. I found a few ideas on how to make my own little journals, instead of buying one. 

These pins helped inspire me:

 Left: As seen on Maggie Holmes Design       Right: As seen on Wit & Whistle

Luckily I had a few things just laying around out house that I could put together. I used regular white and colored paper for the inside, a card-stock style paper for the outside, pen, sharpie, colored pencils, needle, think white thread, hemp, glue gun, and buttons. There are so many other designs that can be created. I think thats what made it so much fun.

Supplies:

 Each book is about 5.5x4.5"  

and has 16 pages

 

We'll have a few available to buy in our Etsy store soon, so don't forget to check back.  

daily doodle

"People are friends.....best friends....not food."

Drawing by Brad B, avid shark activist. Promoting shark and human harmony across the globe.

all the rowboats

I just ran across this today while watching this other video (which is art in itself... kinda).

Love Regina Spektor

Love street art

Love this

Artist, Garry Donnellan, spent 12 hours drawing this portrait of Regina to celebrate the release of her album "What We Saw From the Cheap Seats." What a creative way to promote and market her music.  

halloween town

My family decided to decorate for halloween with a twist this year. 

Painting pumpkins is a quicker and much less messy way to enjoy the Halloween season. 

 Grey Roof & Purple with Moon: Shaunessy (little sister) 
Blue House: McKae (me) 
Purple & Green Houses: Jaki (my mom) 

daily doodle

"Mike Wazowski" (Said in Boo's voice) by Shaunessy Joyner

I recruited my little sister, Shaunessy, and her friends to help out a bit with the blog. Here is the first of many daily doodles from these aspiring artists. So stay tuned for more. 

This particular piece was expertly done with a broken wrist. Now that's talent. 

kape't gatas mona lisa

I'm not quite sure where this is or who created it but it's the Mona Lisa made out of cups of coffee and milk, or as it's called in the Philippines, "kape't gatas" (I thought that was appropriate to include seeing as RJ sent me this picture). 

Anyways this is legit and I feel it deserves recognition.

So kudos to you, coffee-mona-lisa-maker. 

daily doodle

  

Turphin

Turtle + shark fin = Turphin

australian dot art

Last summer I visited a friend in Seattle. 

While he gave me with an awesome tour around the city, 

we went to an art museum. 

I realized it was my first time ever being in one. 

I loved it all, but there was one piece that really caught my attention. 

It was Australian Dot Art painted by whole groups of people

on huge animal hides. 

The one I saw looked similar to this one.

I loved the idea so much, I decided to come home and try it myself. 

Here are a few pieces I was able to finish during that summer. 

 "When the Stars Go Blue"

 "Star-Spangled Banner"                   "Just Keep Swimming"

spotlight

{RJ Gualberto}

Our dear friend, RJ Gualberto, is one very talented person and we are so grateful that he was gracious enough to accept our request to spotlight him here on Art in Circulation. And we couldn’t be more excited about him being the first one.

RJ is a student here at BYU-Hawaii from the Philippines. He is double majoring in Painting (2D Fine Arts) and Graphic Design.

RJ started crafting his artistic skills when he was just in grade school, he had his first sketchbook by the time he had graduated elementary school. Back in fourth grade he noticed that his uncle had a secret sketchbook hidden away but RJ didn’t let that deter him, he snuck in and studied that coveted sketchbook and tried to imitate what his uncle created. It was his uncle’s works of art that first inspired RJ to be what he is today.

The inspiration didn’t stop there; today there are many artists that inspire him. Mainly the ones that come up with new ideas and new ways to paint, he likes to try and incorporate some of their ideas into his own works of art. One of those artists is, the painter, Carl Heinrich Bloch, who creates Renaissance themed depictions of Christ (Pictured Right: Bloch's Gethsemane). Although Bloch is not a member of the LDS church, many of his pieces are used by the church. RJ actually first discovered Bloch's work in an LDS Church magazine. 

Just as Bloch has a particular style, medium, and topic, RJ is particular as well. He loves to draw and paint the expressions of the human face, mainly with the use of oil paints.  His works are inspired by the traditional process of drawing and painting of the old masters and he is now, still exploring that technique along with contemporary concepts of hyperrealism. Jeremy Geddes and Brad Kunkl are two contemporary realist artists who have also inspired RJ to pursue his talents. He states that he feels more confident painting on large scale canvases and claims it's more fun as well. He likes to challenge himself in each painting by trying something new or working on aspects that are difficult for him. Constantly moving toward improvement.

When asked what one part of his craft he would like to one-day master, he promptly responded, “Drawing.” Out of every aspect of art he feels it is the most important, for it is the skeleton of every painting. (Below: The Iron Rod [charcoal on paper]).

Everyone who has seen RJ and what he has created thus far, knows that he is certainly going places. In the future, RJ wants to use his talents to teach kids who want to fulfill their dreams of being an artist. He mainly wants to focus on kids that are high school aged.  He feels that this is the time when we decide to stick to, or neglect, our gifts. Creative outlets for art study are, at times, hard to find and pressures on these youth make it harder. He wants to inspire his students to pursue their talents, not lay them by the wayside for something the world deems more profitable.

Along with this inspiration, we asked RJ what other advice he might have for aspiring artists. He told us that if you truly want to be a full time artist you can’t expect 100% success right after high school, but he encourages them not to give up. Keep practicing. Keep learning.

For kicks and giggles we asked RJ one last question: “If you could master any other type of art form what would it be? (Ex. Dance, Photography, Clothing Design, Music)” He stated that he would like to learn more about the Multi Media aspects of art. Such as Animation, Video, and Graphic Design (which goes perfectly with his major). We at Art in Circulation believe that he will succeed in this goal as well as every other goal he may set for himself.

RJ, without a doubt, is going to go on and do great things with his talents and his life. Just like his uncle, RJ will inspire many with his breathtaking gifts and wonderful personality.

                                                     Mahi (work in progress)                                       To This End Was I Born (Oil on Canvas 30x40")

night market

A few weeks back a group of us took a 6+ hour trip to Siem Reap. Our first night there we got to walk around the Night Market and it was such a blast. There’s nothing better than a little shopping when everything’s super cheap. While we were there, little Li Nah, (one of the darling, 6yr old, girls from the orphanage) got a hold my camera and started taking pictures of everything. I found this one later and think it’s absolutely beautiful. Look at all the colors!!!

Here's a little self portrait of the there artist as well.

She's a born photographer for sure.