PaperArtsy Blog - 2023 Year in Review {Quarter 1, Topics 1 to 3}

Season's Greetings from PaperArtsy HQ,

We hope you are relaxing after the crazy-busy lead up to this holiday period, and perhaps now is the time you get to chill a bit. For us, it is a chance to look back at the year that was, and remind you of some of the wonderful posts our bloggers have shared over the year!

This year, we changed up the blog structure a little, we added a theme to arch over the 3 topics of each quarter. We try to offer 3 types of topics: they might be project, colour or designer focused.

Dounia has selected some posts from Topics #1: Shrines, #2: Tetradic colours, & #3: Designer Focus on Seth Apter. It's agony choosing just a couple of posts to showcase each topic; there are just so many that really are incredible creative offerings! If you want to seek the entire topic, then she has included links to the topic intro, and you can go from there to look back at each of the posts, you might even like to leave a comment.

Get ready for a bit of bling, brightness, and blooming good fun as we look back on the first 3 topics of 2023!

Leandra

As mentioned above, we added quarterly themes as a 'red thread' across the topics for an additional layer of fun! It is a new tool for us (and you) to guide the creative process and spark inspiration. We hope they may prompt you, and our bloggers to try new things.

For Quarter one the theme was 'Tracks' which can be interpreted many ways: mark-making, eg. the tracks your tools leave in your art; paths, trails or perhaps maps; in a more literal sense it could be following railroad tracks; it could also relate to travel and adventure. Let's not forget more abstract meanings: following in someone’s tracks, or creating your own, going off the beaten track… The possibilities are vast! You can discover a few more, and a lot of eye-candy in the theme intro post. Our amazing bloggers did not disappoint in coming up with their own version of tracks, here are few examples:

Claire Snowdon's set of altered cards is a great example of tracks as mark-making. They are sprinkled in all the layers of the beautiful background. Be sure to check her original blog post to learn about her process and management of colour. I love the contrast between the grungy background and the simple and sharp focal elements. Her chosen sentiments can also be interpreted as building a path for yourself and reminding yourself to keep on track!

Jenny Maples took 'following a track' literally with a journal illustrating the buildings and birds seen along a walk in her town. She also added some mark making for good measure! These elements really help bring interest to the quiet areas of her pages to balance the focals. I love the contrasting mix of textured background, sharp buildings and whimsical birds. She makes it all work together! All the other beautiful pages are also shown in her original blog post

Renata Peley chose to go with 'tracking'. It could be an animal, a celebrity or your progress but in her case, it is fairies! She made a beautiful fairy tracker kit with all you might need in your search for the elusive magical creatures: reference portraits, instructions and even a vial of fairy dust! The creativity and attention to detail in her project is amazing! Discover all the elements of this intricate project in her original blog post.

Celebrating the new year, the first topic of 2023 was SHRINES here on the PaperArtsy Blog! Shrines are present in most cultures and religions, in an incredible range of size, styles and uses to honour gods, saints, ancestors. From pagan offering boxes crafted from natural materials to the intricate and bejewelled or metal embossed catholic reliquaries, everything is possible. 

Nowadays, personal shrines are popular among makers, a way to honour, preserve and display crucial pieces of our life. This topic was an opportunity to explore what we deem sacred or significant enough to be worthy of a special artistic display. For more artistic and crafty inspiration, check the Topic intro post!

Let's start with this modern and funky triptych by Etsuko Noguchi, inspired by Japanese spirit shrines and her history with PaperArtsy. That substrate certainly immediately brings 'shrine' to mind. Perfect for bird royalty! And how fun and fresh is this colour palette, playing on the complementary purple and yellow to make the birds pop! This shrine is intricately embellished on both sides so be sure to visit her original post to see al the details.

Perhaps you missed this series of matchbox mini shrines by Riikka Kovasin? A very personal piece inspired by Finnish mythology while also celebrating the members of her family. I love how she experimented with polymer clay to create these amazing half-erased stone icons partially hidden by greenery. So evocative! Her original blog post is certainly worth a read as the Finnish folklore tale is fascinating, plus a chance to peek inside the shrines - quite a surprise!

Let's not forget this beautiful fabric shrine by Victoria Wildings. She was inspired by Catholic pocket shrines to make to remember her mum with a deeply personal project, using mainly upcycled materials. To decorate it, she beautifully translated JoFY stamps into embroidered flowers contrasting nicely with the denim. It is such a labour of love so be sure to check her original blog post to see all her work.

In 2023, we are continuing our exploration of the colour wheel and all the possibilities it offers. As a reminder, in 2022, we had already covered:

2022 Topic #1: Opposites Attract

2022 Topic #8: Split Complementary

2022 Topic #14: Triads

Source: Alex Guzman

After exploring 2-colour and 3-colour schemes last year, it was time to discover 4 colour combinations within the realm of Tetrads. These are composed of two pairs of complementary (opposite) colours. You can see below this creates 3 different types of schemes, with varying levels of contrast and harmony: 

Source: Alex Guzman

This allows for endless possibilities, especially when using a non traditional colour wheel. However tetrads can be a bit troublesome to balance than with 4 colours to juggle, so be sure to check the Topic intro post for a lot of tips and tricks and some picture inspiration.

Ellie Knol chose rather classic starting colours: Yellow Submarine, Blueberry and Claret for her red. She then selected a 'skinny rectangle' scheme. In a skinny rectangle, there are the 2 pairs of complementary, and therefore contrasting colours, but they are right next to one another, allowing for subtle variations. The contrast is then between the warm and cool groups, rather than between the individual colours.

Ellie kicked off her project with a gel printing session. Be sure to check her process in her original blog post! The resulting prints were elevated in these notebooks covers. The colour contrast between the mainly warm warm print and the cool background is quite characteristic of tetradic colours in general and the skinny rectangle in particular. I love how she used the blue of her palette to create shadow and depth in her print and focal images.

Liesbeth Fidder-de Vos extracted a classic rectangle scheme from her wheel, made unique by her choice of muted non-primary starting colours: Key Lime (greenish yellow), Wisteria (purple) and Butternut (orange). The whole wheel is full of subtle, original tones! The rectangle is the most classic (and easy to use) tetrad; the four colours are quite distinct and contrasting but will still harmonise well.

Liesbeth used her colours to bring to life this very dimensional tunnel card. Each layer is mainly one of her chosen colours. This separation by layers is a good way to avoid clashing colours.  Her use of little touches of additional colour then brings everything together. The more you look at it, the more you notice all the textures and subtle details! Pictures of all the layers and, technical details and more are in her original blog post, so give it a read!

Martha Ponsanesi went a step further in wheel-customisation and chose a neutral, Nougat, as one of her starting colours, adding Berry Nice (purple) and Coral. Look at that wheel! She then chose a balanced square scheme full of soft and delicate colours! Among the tetrads, the square has the most colour contrast, with two spaces between all the colours. It creates palettes with a lot of 'pep', softened here by the creamy opaque Frescos that the Nougat creates.

With this beautiful palette, Martha built pages for a mini photo album. She went full production chain so be sure to check be sure her original blog post to see all the elements and pages! I love how she played with the different colour combinations inside her square scheme. She used one main colour per page with the others as accents. It is another great way to balance tetradic colours without your project looking gaudy or too busy.

Another new development on the blog for 2023 was to shine a spotlight on our amazing designers and their unique and varied styles. It was a chance to share with you more about their backgrounds, discuss their crafting philosophies and discover their design process. We invited our bloggers to explore the designers, and asked them to put their twist on the collection.

Already a confirmed artist, Seth Apter entered the PaperArtsy designing family in August 2016 and now has more than 35 A5 stamp sets, 30 minis and 30 paint colours, with 4 more coming early 2024. His grungy style is loaded with abstract elements, inspirational quotes and versatile textures - instantly recognisable. Learn all about his artistic start, his inspiration, and his creative process in the topic intro post as well as his live interview with Mrs PaperArtsy. Now let's see our bloggers' interpretation of his products!

We love this assemblage by Renata Peley. It was a project outside of her comfort zone, exciting to see our bloggers try a new groove! The 3D aspect caused her quite a bit of trouble but she prevailed! I love the attention to detail: every element is beautifully planned and finished. Go check her original post for a better look at all the amazing layers!

Going in a different direction, and proving Seth's products can be colourful and very feminine, what about this scrapbook layout by Asia Marquet? She certainly shares Seth's love of circles! I love how she manages to combine soft colours with bold designs and grungy elements with glitter. Keeping white space helps the striking portrait integrate with the rest of layout. Be sure to learn all of Asia's composition tricks in her original post.

Finally, I hope you did not miss Keren's sewing experminets: dyeing and paper-casting. what an eye opener to the possibilities! I know she was not a fan of the final colour of her dyed fabric but I personally love this colour palette with its soft contrasts and pops of colour. Each of her tags is a mini project with its own journey and techniques making her original blog post well worth a read!

Well, wasn't that a fabulous array of wonderful creativity!? We are so spoiled by our blogging team and the lengths they go to creating their projects. I hope you can appreciate the time they put into each piece, but more importantly, how much they enjoy what they do while creating.

We'll be back in a few days with more highlights from the PaperArtsy Blog, hope to see you again!

2023 PaperArtsy Blog Quarter 1 Theme: Tracks

Hello, Dounia here to present a new feature on the blog for 2023: quarterly themes! And as you can see our first theme is TRACKS.

We will still have monthly changing Topics as usual; a mix of projects, colour and designer focus. However, to mix things up a bit, we are introducing an overarching theme to span 3 topics. These themes are keep purposefully very open, so they are compatible with all manner of projects and styles. The theme will be incorporated, along with the topic, by each of our bloggers in their posts. This will be an underlying 'red thread' adding an extra layer! It is a new tool for us (and you) to guide our process and spark inspiration. Hopefully this will create new unexpected combinations and inventive solutions! We can't wait to see what you make of it! Here is a glimpse of the year we have planned for the PA Blog.

For this first quarter, our theme is : TRACKS. It evokes a lot of different ideas that we will explore in this post, but as a first taste, here is the word cloud our bloggers were given for insipration.

This theme will apply across the 3 topics of the quarter (Shrines, Tetradic colours, and Seth Apter) and our original idea when choosing this theme was mark-making, as we recognise this is a big part of Seth's art, but also has been a strong trend in the mixed media community for a number of years, so it was a good fit for Quarter One.

Tracks are present in all form of recorded art from the beginning of records, even cave paintings and portable Palaeolithic art. The Cosquer Cave, for example, is know for its hand stencils dating from 27000 BP (as well as its underwater entrance, and paintings of penguins!).

Sipa /Patrick Aventurier

Mark-making is a personal way of recording touch, and leaving a trace of oneself. One of its truest and timeless expressions is graffiti, found from the ruins of Pompei to our modern cities! It continues on our journal pages, when writing also becomes a pattern.

Ofir Abramovich

Many modern and contemporary artists have made mark-making the centre of their practice. Exploring the contrast between precise imagery and hand drawn signs can create your own symbolism, in  the movement of Richard Texier:

Source: Artprecium

Inspired by Jackson Pollock, movement, and the marks it leaves, can become your expression - mixing planning and happy accidents. For more artistic inspiration, you can follow this simple and beautifully illustrated Mark Making course by the Tate Museum.

Source: niood

Mark-making is becoming more and more prevalent in mixed media ant journaling as it is easy, fun and intuitive, as explained in this Quick Guide by InStitches. It consequently is a recurring topic on the PaperArtsy blog:

2020 Topic 5: Mark Making

2016 Topic 17: Making Marks

2016 Topic 10: Scribbles and Doodles

In project, marks can fill the page, be the focus, do most of the talking, creating layers between themselves using colour and values. Here is a useful video on How to use mark making to create tone by The art of teaching art.

Roxanne Coble

However, they can also be more discrete and form a complex and significant background  for a different main focal.

Etsuko Noguchi

Mark-making is also a great occasion to invent and explore new tools, to better reflect your own touch and feelings. Check for example this video on Mark Making with homemade brushes by Michiardi Alexandra.

Angela Terris

For some more inspiration, here is An exploration of Mark Making, including textiles, in four parts by Maria Walker. You can also enjoy some eye-candy and maybe start you creative process thanks to this Pinterest Collection by Blandine Campion

Tracks as a theme also evokes movement and travel: rail road tracks, mysterious tracks in the snow, the mud or the forest, or machine tracks over wood or stone. A great representation of those are maps and plans. Already full of their own colours, writings and symbols, they are a marvellous material, ready to be revealed.

Claire Brewster

Maps are instantly recognisable, making them great elements in a composition, bringing meaning at a glance. We already featured them on the PaperArtsy blog:

2019 Topic 05: Maps and Plans

Emma Godfrey

Their texture is also a fabulous background, to strategically peak through the top layers. You can imagine in their outlines your own  paint by number project!

Matthew Cusik

Maps were originally very precious and expensive resources. They were made to be informative and striking and often embellished and illustrated.

Smithsonian Design Museum

This is a great idea to celebrate your travels or places of meaning, adding significant vignettes and writing to  illustrate your journey and feelings. Emily Ref explains how in these often difficult times Maps provide a sense of direction in artistic creation.

Sara Drake

But maps are not limited to real places! Why not make up you own planet, country or town? You can then create your own symbols and colour coding for an imaginary journey.

Emily Garfield

And let's not stop at physical places! Like the Map of Tendre illustrating the path to love, can chart the road to success, serenity or creativity!

National Museum of American History

To see more map inspiration, in a lot of different styles, go check these Artistic Street Maps collected by Guide to Camden (the whole blog is about creating an interactive map).

From tracks, paths and roads, then we logically follow them on a journey! Travel journals, written and illustrated, have been around since we first learned how to travel.

Brenda Swenson

If recording your days is already a mindful practice, preserving the memory of your adventures, making them in preparation of a trip or vacation is a step further in creating a personal and beautiful object.

Jennie Atkinson

Travels are not the only journeys you can keep track of... Before going anywhere, you had to get here! A family tree maps your careful path to life, from relative to relative through the generations.

National Museum of American History

If family trees were once the main way to record the main events of the generations, nowadays they are also a way to remember where we come from. You could broaden the concept to include the lore and beliefs of your homeland for example. 

The Craft Patch

After keeping track of the past, let's focus on the present. Diaries are certainly nothing new, even ones involving art, as illustrated by this video about 5 Famous Visual Diaries by Lilian Gray. They are however coming back into our busy modern life in the form of planner and bullet journals.

Scrapcosy

They are a great way to record and celebrate day to day life, helping us be more present in our lives for better balance. For more inspiration, here is beautifully curated Bullet Journal collection by Randy Hylton.

Autumn Clark

While mood trackers are common in journal, the temperature blanket, a project tracking the weather during a year, is taking the crochet world by storm. What other every day data could you colourfully follow? Perhaps this concept could work in a paper journal too?

Willow Crochet

Freeing itself of the day to day aspect, Art Journaling is one of the main artistic practises nowadays, mixing creativity and self reflection. If you are interested, check How to start an art journal step by step by artjournalist. The possibilities are infinite, get a taste thanks to Trish W's The Art of Journaling Collection. We also have many examples on the blog, including:

2021 Topic 15: Journaling Gratitude

In this section, I focus on an abstract interpretation of 'Tracks'. For example, following in somebody's tracks. We are not creating in a vacuum. Many great works of art are part of our creative framework. We can certainly have fun with them, like the dozens of quarantined people who have re-created famous scenes using household items.

eleganthistory

They are so full of imagination! To enjoy more of them, go here and here also! You can also check this humorous Appropriation Art collection by Agnes Kwok. 

A great identifier of an artist or artistic movement is of course style. Have you ever wondered what different subjects would look like painted by Picasso, Van Gogh or Monet? Well, wonder no more!

Gene Kogan

These images are computer generated and you can enjoy more of them exploring Style Transfer. Being inspired and influenced by other creators is a natural part of artistic practice. As long we are honest and transformative about it, it can also often be an essential part of our development as makers. 

Centered more around illustration, this NY Times lesson is a great concept Exploring the creative process by Amy Charleroy, touching on researching, references and experimenting with materials.

Sarah's Craft Shed

Lots of us also want to find our own way. Make pieces that are 'us', create our own track. Let's remember that it takes time and practice and that one's style generally evolves during their creative life. Sure, Picasso is an extreme example but this series of self-portraits is quite telling!

Rare Historical Photos

Maybe Ten steps to creating original art by Deborah Wirsu can help you start, or improve, personalising your creations. But do not forget:

Claire Snowdon

Another interesting practice is Revisiting and Transforming your Art by Carolyn Mehlomakulu, which helps you keep track of your progress and evolution. Facing old projects is not always easy so:

Corrie Herriman

Finally, some of our bloggers already embarked on this journey, so they might inspire or comfort you with their own tribulations and experimentations in:

2021 Topic 5: Find your Vibe

I hope this has given you plenty of food for thought as to a range of ways we can interpret this theme TRACKS. As our bloggers create over the coming 3 months, their posts will touch on this theme alongside the posts they create specific to each topic.

Perhaps you might like to join us over in our friendly Facebook community 'PaperArtsy People' to see what others are up to with their PaperArtsy products, and maybe also using the content we share on the blog as inspiration.