Angela Porter

Wanderlust

As I’m pretty much an introvert, I’m usually happy in my own company and happy at home. There are times when even I get and a huge desire to visit somewhere else, where the feeling of wanderlust becomes so strong I have to act on it, even if it’s just a drive in my car.

I, like us all, have no idea when I’ll be able to do this again, just like us all. The Covid19 crisis has changed everything and liberties I took for granted are not not available now and shows how much I enjoyed them even if I didn’t use them all the time. I had the choice.

Yesterday was one of those days where wanderlust overwhelmed me. With it came a huge dose of frustration and sadness, as well as a loneliness I rarely feel.

Also, I was over-tired. I know that when I’m over-tired, my emotional resilience is low. So, all of these things bubbled up and I ended up in bed in the afternoon. I felt a bit better on waking, and my attention went to creating some art.

As I couldn’t indulge my wanderlust physically, I thought I’d try to find a way to express it artistically, and the above is the result.

Words always interest me, and their meanings and origins too. So, I wanted to include the definition of wanderlust in my art. I wanted to make it look like torn paper, or a rip in the background, so I created a messy edge for the typography panel. I actually like how this turned out; I felt like I was being torn apart, emotionally, by the feeling of wanderlust, and a darkness was welling up from that tear.

I used one of my Distress Oxide background textures and drew an entangled art design on a layer above it.

Once I was happy with the design, I coloured the line art, created a copy of it, and applied various effects to these two layers.

I’m really happy with this artwork. It made me smile inwardly and helped to lift my mood some more.

ATC Card backgrounds

I’m still tired today, over-tired, exhausted. I woke up, however, with the idea of creating some ATC card backgrounds using Distress Oxide inks, and these are the results.

Except for the middle and right cards in the bottom row. I wanted to try out using Distress Microglaze to see if it brings out the colours and layers of colour and texture. It does, though it’s not easy to see on the scan. I do need to do before and after scans. I also need to see if I can draw on the panels treated this way too.

So, ATC cards are 2½” x 3½” in size and were started as a collaborative art project where artists and crafters could swap the cards with others, sharing inspiration and creativity in the process.

I just think they could be a lovely size to work on and mount on greeting cards.

All of these cards were cut from 300gsm watercolour paper, which is very thick and sturdy.

I’m still playing around with Distress Oxide Inks to get a feel of how I can get them to work for me as well as creating backgrounds for my traditional and digital art.

My mind is ticking over various things I’d like to do with these, both traditionally and digitally.

If you have any suggestions what I could do, leave a comment!