Journal Pages

 Zentangles with a poem by E.B. White.

The Spider's Web

The spider, dropping down from twig,

Unfolds a plan of her devising,

A thin premeditated rig

To use in rising.

And all that journey down through space,

In cool descent and loyal hearted,

She spins a ladder to the place

From where she started.

Thus I, gone forth as spiders do

In spider's web a truth discerning,

Attach one silken thread to you

For my returning.

Heart Upon Sleeve

February's theme is 'hearts' of course.  I chose this line from Othello as my prompt....  "But I will wear my heart upon my sleeve for daws to peck at: I am not what I am."
The bird Shakespeare referred to is a Jackdaw, an annoying species of black bird.   Here it looms larger than life, ready and no doubt eager to take a peck at the heart in question.
Love is in the air.....

Prediction

Our theme this month was 'Predictions' and my thoughts turned to the little slips of paper in fortune cookies.   For years I have collected these whenever we get together with friends at our favorite Chinese restaurant.  I have a whole jar full.   As I went through them, this one stood out, and the photo of 'Frank' seemed to connect with it.  He looks like the patient type.  The photo is from my extensive collection of 'lost people' that end up in a shoebox at some antique store for $2.
Here's hoping that Frank is rewarded for his 'everlasting patience.'

Become Who You Are

Thoughts about diversity and uniqueness were the prompts for these journal pages.
It takes courage to become who you really are.

Journal Play

Remember to play often.

A visual journal is the perfect place to play with ideas, color, materials, words, whatever you want. You are not obligated to make a masterpiece. You might even paint over the whole page if you don't like it.

Here are some recent 'play pages' in my journal. None of them are really noteworthy, but they each represent a moment in time and document what I was thinking about.

Compare this to the concept of writing down your thoughts in a diary...... it's very related to that, only more visual.

The prompt for the above pages: A co-worker's birthday celebration and remembering the importance of celebrating life each day.

The prompt: A friend gave me a piece of vintage ephemera and said "here's something for your journal." I had also recently listed all of the daily expectations of teaching in a large public school. The two items merged on these pages very spontaneously.

The prompt: Recalling a time in my childhood when I wanted to become invisible. Not a happy time, but something that later helped me grow. Making these pages allowed me to revisit and remember a significant event in my life.

There is power in putting images and words on paper. If you have not tried visual journalling, it might be a new adventure for the new year! There are so many resources online to inspire and get you started.

What would you like to journal about? Silence your inner critic and have fun.

Vincent

Images of Vincent and his work were used in this month's journal page and ATC exchange. The theme was 'gifts' and instead of a holiday theme, the muse took me in another direction.

With photoshop I placed his tragic self portrait on the painting of poppies for color effect. The quote is from Emerson.

There is a new theory about how Vincent lost his ear in 1888. For more than a century, Vincent Van Gogh has been known as the tortured genius who sliced off his own ear in a fit of madness. But a new study claims that Paul Gauguin lopped it off with a sword as the two artist's argued. It is contended that Van Gogh let everyone think he had mutilated himself in order to protect Gauguin from prosecution. We may never know the true story but it's an interesting speculation.

Below, I used a rare photograph of Vincent and one of his own quotes.

Time

With the old year drawing to a close and 2010 approaching, I chose the prompt for this visual journal entry: time.

Again, the composition expands from an existing image, in this case the photograph of a colorful bird's head.

Henry David Thoreau's words are at the top: "The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it."

A quote from Omar Khayyam seemed to be the appropriate text: "The bird of time has but a little way to fly.... and the bird is on the wing!"

Journal Page / Friends

This page is from one of my 8 x 10 hand made journals. I make these with my students and work along with them each semester.

The prompt was to begin with an existing image, then go beyond its borders and 'tell the rest of the story.' In this case, the image was the small rectangle that includes the faces of these 4 friends. It was applied to a background and their bodies were drawn and painted with acrylics. Text was added with marker and the line of music seemed to complete the story. "A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you forget the words."

Journal Pages

These are a few pages from a visual journal I have been carrying around and playing with recently. Inspired by artist Teesha Moore, I have been exploring her ideas and color use to stretch my own boundaries a bit.

The text is inspired by a book I love, Art and Fear by David Bayles and Ted Orland.
On her website and on YouTube, Teesha Moore has generously shared a series of videos about how she creates her journal pages. They are definitely fun and inspiring and worth a look. After watching them, I made this little book so I could play too.
What I love most about visual journaling is the freedom it gives us to play and explore.

You don't have to create a masterpiece, just get out the paint, markers, glue sticks and pens and see where it takes you. Use whatever inspires you and have unstructured fun.

Free Spin

Sometimes you just get lucky.

This month's theme is "Games" and who can resist a free spin, especially with this character as your host...

The Best Way to Travel

The theme for this month's ATC exchange was 'travel'. This song from my youth kept playing in my head as I was contemplating what to do with the theme, so I took it for a gift and played along.

The Best Way to Travel

And you can fly

High as a kite if you want to

Faster than light if you want to

Speeding through the universe

Thinking is the best way to travel

It's all a dream

Light passing by on the screen

And there's you and I on the beam

Speeding through the universe

Thinking is the best way to travel

We ride the waves

Distance is gone, will we find out?

How life began, will be find out?

Speeding through the universe

Thinking is the best way to travel

The Moody Blues

Vision

Being extremely near sighted, I am constantly grateful for the ability of modern science to correct vision.

My inspiration for this was a series of recent eye exams and an antique anatomy chart.

Home Shelters the Dreamer

I readily admit to being somewhat of a hermit, especially during the summer months. I am content to work in my studio, putter around in the gardens, sit on the deck and watch Nature's big show and enjoy the unstructured time at home.

This illustration was made with that theme in mind.

Untold Story

When beginning an illustration, I usually have no preconceived idea where it will go or what the finished work will look like. The story unfolds as layers are created and often the end result is a total surprise. This is the way I like to work, implying an untold story that the viewer can participate in, leaving clues and evidence of what might have happened. There is no absolute answer and the story can change at any given moment.

I am reminded of an old Calvin and Hobbs cartoon in which Calvin is working on a paint-by-number painting. Hobbs, looking over his shoulder remarkes "Hey, that's not right.... you're supposed to follow the numbers!" Calvin's reply: "But then my picture would look just like the one on the box..... " Calvin gets it.

Color Play

One of the things I like about playing with images in photoshop is the ability to alter colors and textures. The above example started out as a random collection of post card stamps and writings scanned into the program and arranged in layers. The posterize filter was used, colors were altered, and various brushes were used as stamps to create additional texture. You can see the original image below for comparison.

I like the way this turned out and may use it as a backing on some of my ATCs.

Middle Life

A bit of reflection on getting older. Although I embrace this time of life and the sense of liberation it brings, the darkness comes from losses we also must accept in middle life.

I've included this quote from Henry David Thoreau: "Live each season as it passes. Breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit and resign yourself to the influence of each."

She Required No One's Permission to Fly

Don't you just love her attitude?

I have used this lady's photograph in several other mixed media pieces and never tire of her commanding pose. This time she has become larger than life... most likely a result of the science fiction movies I have been watching.

The background is composed from two different vintage post cards and the moths are from an antique nature guide.

Beverly in Springtime

Beverly just loves springtime!
I know this is her name because it is written carefully on the front and back of the original photograph posted below. Actually the script on the front reads "Love Bevy." Additional information on the back states that she is from Pennsylvania.
Today she has a new ensemble to wear as she greets the coming season.

A friend generously gave me a whole stack of vintage photos to play with and sweet Beverly was among them.

Playing With Fire

Last summer we made our annual trip to the big flea market and antique show in Oronoco, Minnesota. There I found a wonderful old catalog full of images of men's and women's clothing, household items and, yes, heating stoves. Somehow the menswear models and the stoves got together and before I could stop the inevitable, they were playing with fire. Fortunately no one was hurt.

Continental Breakfast

Playing with words again, and the images they sometimes evoke. Continental breakfast with a side of ocean. Enjoy!