Personal Art Maps with Map Art Series stencils

I am happy to share with you today the latest stencils released by Artistcellar called the Map Art Series by Jill K. Berry.  I happen to be a fan of Jill's work and have read her book Personal Geographies~Explorations in Mixed-Media Mapmaking several times now.  The stencils she has designed go hand in hand with the ideas she has shared in her book.  When I received the stencils I decided to do a map described in her book as a "map of experience".  My map is one that has charted my artistic journey which began for me in 2004 when Ink About It opened in Westford, MA.  My husband and I had moved to New England from California in 2001.    I was retiring and  I had a list of things I wanted to learn how to do that I had been putting off for decades, like most of us.  My map shows my personal journey.....I learned how to garden, made a quilt, baked pies for the Fair to earn ribbons, went snowshoeing, etc.  Then in 2004 I visited Ink About It and started making cards.  I won a small contest there which convinced me I should send my cards into Stampington magazines.  I was really surprised when they published the first cards I mailed in.  That encouraged me to stay on this artistic path, something I never anticipated.  Over the years I have been on several Design Teams and have made wonderful friends all over the world.  So this is my personal art journey.  You might think about your own journey and how you could map it out.

To make my personal art journey map I started with an old map street atlas that shows the town we live in, Bolton.  I used a Jane Davenport face stencil to draw the face with permanent ink.  I used the Angel Cartouche in the Map Art Series collection in the upper left corner as a frame for my title.

 I applied white gesso through the stencil, allowed it to dry and then wrote my title. ( I do believe Calligraphy lessons need to be on that bucket list!)  Even if you don't like your writing don't let that hold you back.

Next I wrote briefly about all the activities I've engaged in during the past twelve years and sometimes the things that caused me to stop doing them, like bears on my snowshoeing trails.  I then used the Sunny Compass Rose stencil with Memento markers to make a design at her throat.

I added details with the Global Compass Rose stencil using clear modeling paste.  The rose in her hair is from that stencil, too.  First I drew the design using the stencil with a red Memento pen and then stenciled over the color using Distress Stickles.

I added the tiny sun to show that we feel we've had enough of the cold, long winters here and are seriously considering moving south where the sun shines more often.

If you would like to try your hand at this type of art Jill's book gives you many different ideas.  The Map Art Series of stencils can be combined in many different ways to enhance that personal map.  There is a blog hop taking place right now that offers you an opportunity to win a set of these stencils.  I have posted the blog hop list here and all you have to do is leave a comment for a chance to win.

Thanks for stopping by, see you next Tuesday with more stenciling ideas ~ Renee

• May 10th – Chris Cozen http://www.chriscozenartist.com/blog.html
• May 11th – Jane Davenport  http://janedavenport.com/
• May 12th – Orly Avineri  http://oneartistjournal.com/
• May 13th – Rachel Peterson Urista  http://rachelurista.wordpress.com
• May 14th – Jill K. Berry  http://jillberrydesign.com

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