Messy Journaling

I have been spending some time in the studio but certainly not as much as I would like.  Still working along with Misty's class-slowly but surely.  Our last journal assignment was "messy journaling" using a lot of the techniques we have learned and a prompt of "On my journey I will need".  I really enjoyed this journaling method and am looking forward to using it more.  Was it messy?  Oh yeah!

First I gathered my favorite papers-old book pages, sheet music, ledger paper, dictionary pages, etc.  Also chose some materials for texture making-stencils, sequin waste, stamps, etc. and and decided on some colors.  I'm usually not so organized when I journal-tend to just grab and go but this was an assignment so got everything together first.

The first step was to glue down the selected papers randomly not paying to much attention to composition at this point.  Fun.  I also pulled some of the paper off while the gel medium was still wet to get a little texture. Next step-scrape some paint over papers which I did with an old credit card letting some papers show through-more fun.  Then added some more paint and started making marks with the texture materials. This step was the most fun for me.  I both layed down paint, and ragged paint off with the stencils and used paint anf ink with the stamps-lots of layers-just kept going 'till I liked what I saw.


             









Added some more collage elements and papers and then did some journaling  and finished it off with some water soluble crayons.

I enjoyed the process so much that I decided to do another page and was very influenced by the fresh snow on the trees after our midwest snowstorm.

Hope you all had a great weekend.  I'm going to repeat the class starting with week one. Hopefully I'll get up to the treehouse studio each day if only for a quick sketch or journal page.  We'll see.

An unwanted visitor

One of the reasons I started this blog was to be held accountable for showing up in the studio and sharing my art.  And why have I not done that lately?.....

An unwanted visitor has been residing in my treehouse studio.  See her over there in the chair?  No?  Let me describe her.  She sits perfectly straight-no slouching for her-legs crossed,wearing a perfectly pressed matching outfit.  Her perfectly coifed hairdo has not one streak of gray and her fingernails are pristine clean and filed to perfect ovals with clear nailpolish.  She is turning the pages of an art history book and looks over the reading glasses perched on her upturned nose  and with perfectly pursed lips says to me, "You call yourself an artist?!?".  Yes friends, my INNER CRITIC has arrived and taken up residence.  I didn't invite her, never do, but she shows up quite often, unannounced.  She does her best to bring any insecurities and doubts about being an artist to the surface.  Often she tries to drown my artful spirit with comparisons to the work of artists I admire, reminding me of what I should be doing instead of "wasting time" in the studio and looking for perfection in whatever I attempt.

Oh she's a tough one allright, but what she forgets is that I am tougher because my desire to simply "make art" is stronger than her criticism.  She may set me back a little but she doesn"t win because just as I have to breathe, I have to make art- not perfect, not like others, not art history book ready, but mine, mistakes and all.

So Ms. INNER CRITIC get your sorry ass out of my studio.... because today I'm going to be sloppy, messy, paint with abandon, make mistakes, and learn from my mistakes.  I'm going to show up each day whether you like it or not.  Oh yes ma'am, I'm going to show up and I'm going to be happy!