I most always forget to take photos of what I make, especially during the making, but check this out:
At this point I see many faces in this, but I didn’t stop…
…And, now there are MORE faces…and even B & W is something I don’t even hate…
Hmmm…need to get painty again…
They met:
It was magic in a coffee shop.
He charmed her…woo’d her…
Made her care…
…until New Year’s Eve, when he ghosted her.
January 1, 2018, she made him look her in the eye…
There is nothing else to say, I suppose.
We were so happy…until he turned off like he was on a switch.
Happy New Year.
I started a mini planner.
So. Many. Photos.
At 8 x 10, this journal is bigger than any I’ve finished in the past (only as big as 5.5 x 8 until now), and it’s good for me to pay attention to this event…
The oldest date in this journal is 2013, so here we are.
I worked on this during women-only meetings in Imperial County, CA…
….during interminable meetings while working for CDCR…
….while paying attention in library staff meetings, cuz making these keeps me from fidgeting…
….waiting at doctors’ offices…
….not during radiation treatment, tho…
…..in fact, there was a stretch of time…9 months or more….when I made very little art at all…
…but…after surgery, and rads…
….trips to Kansas for love…
…and to Oklahoma to see my Bestie…
….trips to trainings and conferences…
…sitting in coffee shops, drinking coffee while pouring myself onto these pages…
…the colors and the textures of the acrylics…
….the freedom to play…
…I could never regret my experiences…
…as the sum of them all makes ME…
…and the time I spend, with a brush, or a pen, or a brush-tipped pen…
…possibly considered to be wasted time by others…
…would…nah…COULD NEVER be thought of that way by me.
The repetitive motion, combined with the creativity inherent in all of this…
…is meditative and grounding for me.
…there is no “purpose” or goal at the end…
…I’m not selling any of the journals I make…
…they are precious to me only…
…I have nobody to will these to…
…so they are for me.
And after the books are beat to hell in my backpack…
…and I’ve bled all over the pages…
…they sit on a shelf…
…amongst my books…
…and written journals from 1985…
…until I pull them down…
…to show them to someone…
…or just to pore over the pages…
…amazed at the things that I have made…
…revelling in my own awesomeness…
…knowing that ANYONE can do this…
…but nobody can copy me…
…and while anyone CAN do this….
…I am the one who has been making this, this WHOLE time….
…and it turns out that these are all love letters…
…made by me…
…TO me…
…FROM me…
…FOR me…
….sometimes about me…
…sometimes a collection spot for love from others…
…like this picture that my dear friend, Judy, made to wrap a present she gave to me…
…and how could I not save this forever?
The pages that go here are in process…there is an envelope that needs its inner flap arted…
And then there’s something about my previously mentoned Bestie…
…and…others as well…
…and about nothing at all…
In the end, it doesn’t matter if I tell fiction…
or non-fiction…
…the important thing is telling the story…
…saying something…
…even a story about nothing…
…about everywhere…
…somewhere…
…or nowhere at all…
No matter what you’ve done…
…or left, tragically, undone…
…there are always things to say…
…and things to see…
…places to go…
…people to be…
…and Art journals to fill…
That’s it. That’s the whole thing. The last picture is the back cover…
So, now what am I supposed to do with my life? HAHAHA…
Week 23: Small Success
I was on vacation from 6/6 to 6/24 so just getting anything done (while thoroughly enjoying my visits with my very best friends) in my journal was a real accomplishment.
Random ephemera, sharpees, gel pens, and stickers.
Week 24: Silly Zoo Animals.
Totally phoned this one in, but I’m OK with it since I PLAY and I do NOT have to be “perfect”.
Watercolors, sharpees and gel pens, and magazine clippings.
Week 25: Questions & Answers. I really like this spread because I feel like I successfully captured some of the gorgeous colors of the Kansas hills where I was able to visit and camp. As I presently reside in the desert (it’s practically a cartoon, how the desert looks) the colors of the Kansas country were positively saturated by comparison.
This was done with my little travel watercolor set and waterbrushes, and the writing was done with gel pen.
My best friend’s 5 year old daughter quizzed me and I HAD to document some small aspect of the awesomeness that is Jane.
WINGS!
I HAVE to say that I really like how this one turned out!
I really, truly had that moment that the big Art Journal creators talk about…where I worked on an idea, got to the point of HATING it, but kept going until I ended up with something I LOVE!
(seriously…I DREW a book.)
That’s a BIG deal for me…cuz I don’t draw…wait…I can’t say that anymore.
What! I KNOW it’s just a book, but I. DREW. IT.
That’s not a stencil. Or a stamp.
YAY ME!
I seriously HAVE caught up on Journal 52.
Week 17 – Treasure – The usual, acrylic, paint and gel pens, stencils and a random piece of junk mail.
Week 19 – Outside in. This is a random photocopy of a sci-fi illustration that I colored with gel pens and too much imagination, I think.
Week 21 – Top 10 Lists. Acrylic, gel and paint pens, stencils and glitter paint.
It’s pretty cool what I can get done while binge-watching Dr. Who!
I finished four (4!) pages for Journal 52 over the weekend!
Week 6 – Windows.
I was playing with some Folkart glitter paint I found on clearance and then went with it on this one.
Week 13 – Spring Cleaning.
No matter how many times I told myself that I didn’t have to ACTUALLY clean to get this page done, I was still stumped until I came up with this mess. It IS fun to play with watercolors though…
Week 18 – Observations
I picked up this Balzer Designs stencil on my trip to Fresno and HAD to use it. It inspired my page for this prompt so well, I think. I DO love to watch people wherever I go…
Week 20 – Good Advice.
This is some of the BEST advice I have ever taken to heart, and I had fun with watercolors again!
So…If I can finish two (2) more pages before the new prompt comes out on Friday, I will be caught up.
I won’t know how to act, of course…
.I just got home from a road trip to Fresno (8+ hours each way) and I’m wiped, but I wanted to post the pages I finished last week.
Week 8 – Aromatherapy. BIG surprise…It’s coffee! The smell of coffee is one of the BEST scents in all the land.
It seemed like it would be too easy to put a nose on the page, so I messed with my own head a bit and here we are…
Week 15 – Cards. I had thought of using lotteria card for this but that would involve locating them in my stash…heh.
Both of these pages were finished during my monthly day-long-boring-as-hell training at work. I do what I can to keep from fidgeting all day (and stabbing people out of boredom).
I am getting close to being caught up with the Journal 52 prompts and I hope to get to some more by next weekend when I go up to a cabin near Julian with some friends. No interwebs & no cells for 2 DAYS!
I’m putting together little art bags for both of them so they can play too!
Off to bed…
Finished 2 more pages over the weekend… I had sprayed two pages with walnut and java ink a few weeks ago and planned to extend this “conversation” page. The background ended up being darker than I had anticipated. It was difficult to add color on top of the spray. Live and learn in Art Journaling!
Week 3 – Conversation Starters
Stencils, paint, gel and sharpie pens over walnut and java spray inks.
I DO love using my favorite beverage(s) as MY journaling subject…
Did discover an art supply that I DO NOT like for Week 5 – Television.
I used Folkart stencil crème with stencils to add the tree branch and the bird in the cage and, over a week later, that black is STILL not dry. I picked this stuff up on sale, thinking that it would be more portable and useful when I journal out in the wild, as I am wont to do.
NOPE.
This has a an acrylic paint background, a picture from an advertisement, stencils and CRAPPY paint, rub-ons, and gel & paint pens.
The subject matter, television. is something I had struggled with until I had my cable turned off…now it bothers me not at all. I have Netflix and such for whenever I want to watch something but it’s never on as “background noise” and I don’t get sucked into crap I don’t care about. I don’t really miss it.
Yay me! More time to get artsy and that makes me happier than the “idiot box” ever could.
Horatio and Emily 