Done in my altered dictionary art journal:
Before:
Stepping out of the Darkness…
After:
Shining brightly in the Light…
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Category: Art
The Ledger Journal
Recently, I’ve been talking about this journal and the way working in it has changed my life…changed my heart…
It started with my learning about flow journals…and watching tons of flowish journal videos online.
When I joined the Get Messy Art Journal community, one of the first things I did was find several gallon bags of paper scraps, as well as some envelopes (I’m talking 9 inch by 12 inch envelopes here) that I had gotten years ago in a paper swap…and I tucked those into a plastic storage container…and now whenever I step up to my ledger journal, the first thing that I do is pull out at least three, but usually four, pieces of ephemera and I glue them down.
Then, I have to walk away–which can be the hardest part of all. Letting glue dry when I want to start creating and painting and whatever…it is so outside of my comfort zone. But I am learning…and this whole process is helping.
When I come back to the page, I add stuff–acrylic paint, marker, scribble sticks, water-soluble wax pastels, watercolor. Whatever strikes me on that day.
I come to the page with questions, concerns, worries…and I lay it into the collage. I use glue to put it down on the page. Then my subconscious comes back with the answers. All I have to do is learn to hear what she is saying.
That is what this journal is about.
Here are some finished pieces:
(Please forgive the quality of the shots–they were taken at night, with my phone, because my scanner is not speaking to anyone these days…so…some of them are not the best…I apologize..)
Working this way has spilled over into my other journal work as well…and I really like that.
I like drawing faces, but I have long wanted to expand my repertoire. Imagine my surprise when I figured out I started out in the wrong place to get to where I now want to go…although I seriously would not have it any other way…
Word Of The Year Check-In
It’s August. Time for another word of the year check-in here.
I have to admit–it has felt so good to pull back from everything. To not worry about blogging, or writing, or much of anything else. Add into it this is my year of health issues…and that pulling back and resting has meant the world to me.
My word of the year is : Settle In.
It’s been a year.
I’ve had surgery…and that has come with a new learning to be in my body and to work with my body on different levels.
I am settling into this house…and what’s in it…and as I am able, I am slowly moving things out…and not replacing them…it’s an old lesson that I am learning again…
I am settling into a rhythm for school and appointments, knitting and crocheting, medication, food, books…and art.
I was going to show you some of the new work that I have been doing, because lately, the most obvious place I am changing is in my art journal…but the scanner has decided it will talk to no computer and no person (at least none that are currently awake) and I rarely post finished pieces on Instagram…so here are the beginnings of a few pieces I have done recently:
It was about here when it hit me that this journal was going to be about more than the Get Messy Season of Seasons…that’s when I decided that this is my journal for me…a whole other realm of Grimoire…this is something else entirely…
You might be thinking that this doesn’t have a lot to do with ‘settling in’–but it does. I am settling in to my bones, into my place of power, into my soul…and this work is what is breaking up an entirely new level within me…and if that isn’t settling in to my own self…I don’t know what else is…
I have a long way to go, I know–but this is the first time this year where I genuinely feel as if I am finally moving forward and slowly starting to find my footing again–I may not have that footing yet, but it is coming.
Grimoire: From A Dream
ATC: Non-Dominant Hand
Artwork: Grimoire
Journal page: computer paper, crayon, colored pencil, acrylic paints, watercolor, Stabilo, texture paste, adhesive, Lyra water soluble graphite stick
I love this piece. It’s the first one I did on a burlap page. When we took my oldest to get her first tattoo, my youngest and I sat and doodled and drew. On one piece, I drew this girl–and I wanted to keep her. And I wanted to keep, 1 the texture of the burlap and 2 as much nof my youngest’s scribbles as possible.
Art Card
This was actually done on a Project Life card (R)
Art card: gesso, acrylic paints, charcoal pencil, watercolors, colored pencils, black ink pen
It’s funny; she didn’t look so tired until after I sprayed her with sealant. The sealant moved around, taking some colored pencil with it…and voila.
