Mixed Media Mayhem - The Taj Mahal - Three Views/Three Viewpoints

When I need a journal fix, and I have no plan, I like to gesso the pages and smoosh them together for a ridged texture.  That's how this spread began.  I sprayed with Dylusions and scribbled on some Gelatos.  And, since pink is the basic black of India, I began thinking of images and papers in my stash from my trip to Rajasthan.  I chose one of my zillion photos I took of the Taj Mahal and printed it in several versions.

I used one of the images to draw, cut, and emboss kid foam to make a stamp and impressed it onto the page.

I printed the image several times in different versions to place around the page.  I found some swirly pink and gold paper in my scrapbook file and a cute elephant from a World Market purchase.

Now that I had three vesions of the Taj I looked for quotations that would suit the page...Voila...three views...from romantic to cynical...

Mixed Media Mayhem - Time: A Continuum or Cycle

I have had this beautiful cover from Smithsonian Magazine forever thinking some day I could use it. I had a journaling week during which I wanted to use up what I have hanging around...this cover, scrapbook paper with clocks, a Crafters' Workshop stencil, clip art of clocks, magazine cuts.  As I began building the layers the question, time - continuum or cycle?, popped up.  As I searched different dictionaries for text I found different answers to this question, time a circle or a line.  This final journal page presents this question for you to ponder.

Mixed Media Mayhem - She Walks in Beauty

I was so excited to see the sparkly iridescent effects from Pebeo acrylics...had to order them right away on Amazon Prime for instant gratification.  Used them to print a background then the decision- what next?  I had been cutting out profiles and making foam stamps from images in People Magazine.  I embellished the stamps with marks to give texture and delineation and used a stencil and Gelli plate to add the features and scrolls.  When I was finished I saw night and beauty and recalled the poem I had recited in 10th grade poetry reading-- by Lord Byron

"SHE walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies,
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meets in her aspect and her eyes;
Thus mellow'd to that tender light Which Heaven to gaudy day denies.

   I don't really love this journal spread, but I wanted to share these paints.  They are delightful on the Gelli plate.

Mixed Media Mayhem - Don't Worry, Be Happy

A journal entry to remind myself of an important message.  I started with gesso and gelatos and added images with stencil from Crafters' Workshop.  I used Faber Castell markers to add and enhance color.

Mixed Media Mayhem - Burn Bright

Gelli printing artists know that one could pull prints all day trying masks and stencils to get unique images.  For this journal page I was inspired by a post by Julie Fei Fan Balzer (http://balzerdesigns.typepad.com/) post.  I tore several random masks from deli paper leaving a stencil in the negative shape.  I used these to print orange and yellows on the page spread then I over printed with blue using a small circle stencil.  The shapes produced suggested necks, shoulders, and hair.  I copied two of my faces from my sketch book then lightly painted the faces in, drew and colored the eyes.  The orange and the bright eyes implied the text - Burn Bright

In the close-up pics you can see the background layering process.

Mixed Media Mayhem - Deep in the Forest

I submitted this journal page to Art Journal Journey for the October theme, Deep in the Forest. Printing of the Gelli plate with stencils from Crafters Workshop Aspen Trees and deli paper I ended up with several "rejects" to paste in my journal.

Mixed Media Mayhem - Because I Want To...

The joy of art journaling is in the freedom from pre-conceived results...from even having a result...sometimes I just want to gesso over everything and close the page.  This journal page began as a love affair with gelatoes and modeling paste.  Once I had a highly textured surface of green and purple paisley shapes, I just didn't want to cover it up.  Weeks later an dried hibiscus flower fell out of a book where I had stashed it to dry.  The tissue thin, translucent petals needed a permanent home encased in gel medium...so I impulsively glued them to my pages.  The color of the bloom faded so I amped it up with a sheen of Lumiere halo pink paint and added the contrast of the dried painted fern... so by now I was down the rabbit hole, adding shading with pencil and light with gilding paste. Enough.  The perfect text for this overly embellished journal entry sprung to mind so I found some Gelli printed deli paper and wrote the quotation with gold pen.  Thus the gold is gilded and the lily (hibiscus) is painted.