I've challenged myself to incorporate text into each of my sketches in some way.

29/29 Let Go. In pencil crayon.

Using My Words - image 1 - student project

28/29 So much sky. Sorting through stamps and pads again and everything becomes a landscape.

Using My Words - image 2 - student project

27/29 The growth of little yeasties is what makes bread so wonderful. They leaven it and make it better than the sum of its parts (although flatbread’s pretty awesome too!)

Using My Words - image 3 - student project

26/29 Pondering the magic that happens when people draw together for a creative effort. Magic in groups.

Using My Words - image 4 - student project

25/29 As an exercise for an arts group I was in a few years ago, we were to create a sort of Venn diagram to sort out areas of our lives that were more open and areas that needed protection. The second step was to write down the names of people in our lives in the areas that were safe for discussion with them. It was a quick visual reminder because I tend to just open my mouth and talk about whatever with whoever, even when it’s not wise.

Using My Words - image 5 - student project

24/29 Part of a quilted piece that I did based on a moment from the book The Unlikely Ones. A goldfish about to swallow a pearl. So many details went into each layer of that piece.

Using My Words - image 6 - student project

23/29 I do love to free play but I crave structure almost as much as I crave space. Having time that's sacrosanct for working. I'm not saying I get it! But I do need it.

Using My Words - image 7 - student project

22/29 I know these look like angels but they’re actually Furies from Greek mythology. This was the best analogy I’ve ever come up with for what my inner critic and fear is like. They were a form of punishment in mythology, haranguing and screaming and tearing away your food. In the version I read as a child, their feathers were made out of brass and created a huge chaotic din with every flap.
When I’m not working on my art, especially when I let it sit for a long time, and when I get caught up in the comings and goings around me, they shriek the word Focus at me and it takes forever to escape.

Using My Words - image 8 - student project

21/29 I pondered long about the word dream because I have many. If I had the means and the wherewithal though, I would cook an open meal for everyone that I know and whoever they wanted to bring every week and people could come and go as they pleased for the entire night, they could rush in alone after work on their way to something, or linger with friends for the entire night… musicians would be welcome to play (because I know some of you won’t be stopped anyway),.. not a potluck but some people feel the need and they would be welcome to bring what they wanted… I have to confess that part of it is the idea of doing all of my socializing in one big burst for the week and then disappearing into my studio until it was time to come out and cook for the next Friday… my tiny apartment and limited budget mean that I can’t realistically do this but I still like it!

I’m noticing that I am a lot less exacting with my sketches when I use colored pencils, I spend time getting really dark and saturated colors so everything else just gets roughed in and I don’t get into the details.

Using My Words - image 9 - student project

20/29 It’s based on a ~17 year old photo but definitely that which is most precious to me.

Using My Words - image 10 - student project

19/29 I always find my way to “character” apartments. Hidden in terrible neighborhoods and in old buildings that can be described most generously as quirky. But the beautiful old bathtubs… which takes an hour and a half to fill because the hot water runs at a trickle. And I don’t care.

Using My Words - image 11 - student project

18/29 I've been cake decorating since I was a child. My mother did it for a living and I grew up with a piping bag in my hand. I've been avoiding it because I wanted to put all of my energy into other directions but I have to admit that I miss it. I've been playing around with it again and putting together something that could possibly maybe become a potential skillshare class if I work up the nerve to actualy post a video.

Using My Words - image 12 - student project

17/29 Playing catchup today. There’s a pretty complex connection between my blanket fort bed and nurturing myself.

Using My Words - image 13 - student project

16/29 I cooked on a charter catamaran in Florida so long ago and loved best that I could see so much uninterrupted sky when we were blue water. Once I started thinking about how deep the water was below us, I wasn’t as comfortable out there. It’s a lot to process for a girl raised on the Canadian Shield. We’re used to the ground staying put beneath our feet!

Using My Words - image 14 - student project

15/29 Balancing on clock hands trying to fit everything in. 24 hours a day, just like everyone else.

Using My Words - image 15 - student project

14/29 I was pretty much pondered out after the last few days so I went with a happy elephant receiving a GIFT.

Using My Words - image 16 - student project

13/29 Contemplating hospitality and its costs. My Gran's door and mine. Open doors.

Using My Words - image 17 - student project

12/29 I'm feeling crowded lately with chaos around me and was pondering the idea of innerspace, carrying it with me.

Using My Words - image 18 - student project

11/29 I have apparently had double vision for my entire life without knowing it. My eyes are physically built that way but, because the effect was very subtle, it went undiagnosed well into my adult years. When I put glasses on for the first time, the world lined up properly and I saw in full three dimensions for the first time... with the added bonus of a rainbow aura around the edges of objects that lasted for about a week.

Using My Words - image 19 - student project

10/29 I spent some time waiting in a food court and pondered the way that time passes in that space, some people linger, some people rush through as fast as the crowd will let them. Moving fast and slow at the same time.

Using My Words - image 20 - student project

9/29 I was feeling rather blah today so I think I just went with the literal interpretation of the prompt and practiced my textures a little. I've never had a lot of luck with fur before but it's always good to have another run at it!

Using My Words - image 21 - student project

8/29 I grew up in the North and the winters were very long. The Northern lights were a big deal to me and I spent a lot of time out in the cold looking up at them. I find that I revisit that memory a lot, trying to figure out why they were so fascinating. This is a POV exploration of it with my mother's words.

Using My Words - image 22 - student project

7/29 I often throw a handful of dice and sketch them with an eye toward practicing composition of the image. I used my Boggle dice this time to accomodate text.

Using My Words - image 23 - student project

6/29 Wee watercolours painted with evening tea for water.Tea and Comfort.

Using My Words - image 24 - student project

5/29 I have a fascination with the ways that people entertained themselves pre-television and shadowgraphy used to be all the rage. Creating something out of the absence of light.

Using My Words - image 25 - student project

4/29 I used some transparent organza in layers of colors. I like working with it because you have to consider both the light shining on it but also the light that shines through it. The glow around candles, the shine of the moon, glistening water drops. All fascinating and wonderful.

Using My Words - image 26 - student project

3/29 There's a chance that I learned to read using album liner notes, that's what my family says anyway.

Using My Words - image 27 - student project

2/29 I've spent a good portion of my life looking up at the sky and I'm most at home when there is as much of it as possible over my head. The text in this picture is sort of hinted at with negative space but it ultimately spells out a theme that I've explored in countless pieces And Then One Day I Fell In Love With The Sky.

Using My Words - image 28 - student project

1/29 I come from a long line of Kitchen Folk. I left a Kitchen to pursue my visual arts and I continue to struggle with that decision. Roots are root vegetables to me so, mixing ink and beet juice, I tried my own version of Phil Hansen's technique and told my kitchen story as texture and turnips.

Using My Words - image 29 - student project

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So much fun! I love to learn new things but when left to my own devices, I tend to go back to the familiar techniques and materials so this was a great way to shake things up again.

I have pretty much all the art supplies, but I did want to incorporate a little more chance into the sketchbook so I used a jar of prompts that someone had made for me. Some of them are textile specific but most were adaptable. I just kept adding things as directed.

Using My Words - image 30 - student project

Going through boxes of supplies and finding stamp pads that may or may not still have, this was the colours that still worked, some random letters and part of my favourte Van Gogh quote. And treasure maps because why not.

Using My Words - image 31 - student project

Haven't collaged since I was a child and I stll tend toward the literal. Not a criticism, just an observation!

Using My Words - image 32 - student project

An unopened pack of markers in my desk produced the F*#& You Fairy giving her opinion to a butterfly (sorry, in real life I curse a lot)

Using My Words - image 33 - student project

And finished it up with the answer to how I was feeling today.

Using My Words - image 34 - student project

This was a lot of fun. Once I let go of the idea that everything I make has to be a masterpiece, things went a lot more smoothly for me.

Jody Linn

Artist, conservator, cake provider, insomniac.

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