Which comes first, the picture or the page?

When I approach a journal page it is usually with no image in  mind.....I like to just start on a background and let it go from there.  But in Judy's class I have learned that a whole spread can be determined by one picture.  I have a copy of this picture, which I love, sitting around since I took my first online class with Misty Mawn.  So this time I chose some complementary colors and painted the background and did some stencilling with the picture in mind.

After playing around with the placement I decided it needed to be torn apart and some more paint elements were needed, so I ended up with this.....

I'll eventually do some written journalling when the mood strikes or I find a quote I like.  My other pages in this journal are pretty much backgrounds waiting for the right picture, quote, or inspiration.

This background was done a few days ago and ended up looking like this yesterday.....

 

And I never really liked this background page that I did earlier in the class so decided to add some watered down Gesso, some fun collage from an old pattern book I found in a thrift store, so it made quite a transformation.

 

And here are a few more WIP's (work in progress).........

So as you can see I'm all over the place with  this-which is why I love mixed media and art journaling.  I can try new things and do a little of everything.  Now I'm going to go work a bit on my abstract class.

Have a great week and go do something you love!

And now for something completely different.....

Hope everyone had a great Easter or Passover celebration.  I was lucky enough to spend mine with my son,daughter-in-law and two of my grandsons so it was full of joy!  I love this time of year and all it symbolizes to me-new beginnings, growth, hope.  So for new beginnings I'm taking a class online from Julie Prichard.  I've taken classes from her before and loved them.  And I think they are a bargain!  Lot's of videos with tons of information and great PDFs.  Also lot's of online support and encouragement from the instructor and other students.  I highly recommend them if you get a chance.



So this class is a little more abstract and first assignment was to journal with vintage papers and rip and tear with abandon.  I thought it was going to be easy for me because I love old paper, vintage look and tearing and pasting.  Well it was a lot harder than I thought and I'm still trying to let go and embrace imperfection.

Spring Break

Spring break for me was a break from my studio and a break from my three different online classes- a break I really didn't want to take.  But with four grandchildren here on their spring break other activities took priority-and my time and energy!  It was wonderful to have them here and play and now it's catch up time.  So yesterday I did some journal assignments from Judy's class,http://judywise.typepad.com/.a/6a0133f2045333970b015393eae4ee970b-pi. The first was a fun upside down "Picasso"face with fingerpainted background and the other a trace of my hands on fingerpainted and stamped background.  The process on both was freeing ans fun and it felt so good to be back in the studio.  Both need to be written on which hopefully I'll get to today and show you later.

 This was one of the firsts spreads I did in response to one of the first lessons.  We were to take some paper and write a list of what would make a perfect day.  I was a little too detailed and when I went to paste in my list it wouldn't fit on the 2 page spread.  I really didn't want to do it over or shorten it-I enjoyed being in the moment when I wrote it and it was free flowing and captured my feelings at the time.  So  I accordian folded the list and glued them to the page.  Of course then there was the problem of the journal closing or being able to flip to other pages.

So I decided to tie some thin pieces of jute from the back of the pages to the front to hold down the list pieces, but they can be easily opened and read if I want and then be put back in place.  Just poked holes with an awl and then pulled the jute through with a darning needle.  And I don't mind the length of jute on the back of the pages-adds some interesting texture.

 This is another page in progress that needs some journaling.  The face was drawn with india ink on the decorative paper we made which I showed you in the last post.  And not sure if I showed you the actual hand bound journal - here it is. 2 canvas boards that I painted are the front and back cover and it's filled with three 6 page signatures.  I'm going to keep adding to the cover as I go and hopefully bead  the hanging strings from the stitched binding.

I'm really learning a lot of fun techniques in this class and look forward to filling the pages.  Going up to the treehouse now to do some catching up although it is such a beautiful day here, this is where I really want to be.