Mixed Media Mayhem - Live in the Layers - DLP - February 7

As usual I am behind by a couple of weeks in the Documented Life Project.    

February Theme

Layers You Will Love!

February 7

Art Challenge:  When Not To Stop

Journal Prompt:  "Don't Stop Til You Get Enough!" (Ooh)

I really enjoy their challenges and the opportunity to view hundreds of responses from people all over the world, but sometimes I work on my own impulses.  This particular challenge was especially appealing for its emphasis on layers.  I love layers - in art, in photoshop, in decor, in food... Also I have a poem,"The Layers," given to me by fellow artist and former student, Billye Miralgia written by 

Stanley Kunitz, Poet Laureate of the United States, 2000.  I kept the poem under glass on my desktop for years and this challenge represented an opportunity to use it in my work.

I began this challenge digging through all my scrap Gelli prints which in themselves represent the joys of spontaneous layers.  I choose one made with papyrus and other plants from my garden (which when viewed in any direction is a mystery of layers) and glued it into my journal.

Because the pages had a wide border I got out the Gelli plate (well one of them is always on my desktop) and printed some other foliage to fill in the gaps.

I printed directly on the pages and on some deli paper which i glued on top.  Is deli paper the most wonderful material for so little money?  If it is discovered as an art paper it will surely rise in price.  For the next layer (6) I added some previously printed deli paper that repeated the image of the papyrus.

I had a big decision on how to incorporate the poem...at first I thought of printing it on transparency sheets.  But to capture more personal meaning I hand wrote it on deli paper with a Faber Castel pen thus requiring a word by word relationship.  I hate my handwriting but went with recommendations of other artists to use it anyway.  Then I took the big plunge, handwriting my captions.

Just for translation, a photoshop rendering of what I wrote

For layers 9 and 10 I added stems of papyrus dried in my Microfleur and a coat of Golden Self-Leveling Gel to further preserve the fragility of the dried material.

Mixed Media Mayhem - What Lies Beneath- Documented Life Project

This journal entry was prompted by the January 31 challenge in the Documented Life Project which suggested using "under papers," those messy scraps from the desktop, as a starting point to work the theme, "What Lies Beneath."  

Getting started was easy because I always have papers to catch spills, clean brushes, to save my workspace from disaster.  I chose a favorite material, dyed paper towels.  Before I could go on to the next step I had to seal this mess.  First I tried a spray fix then went to a quick coat of matte medium to keep the dye from running.

 This happy, gaudy hodge podge sat on my workspace while I pondered and pondered the journal prompt, "what lies beneath."  When the news broke of the three college students murdered in North Carolina, I was saddened by the loss of young people full of promise, smart and beautiful.  Hearing their story begged the question, what's behind this, what lies beneath.  Online I found photos including one of Yusor Mohammed on her wedding day.  Another photo showed the signs carried by people at the vigil to honor the three.

I wrote the captions with my new gel pen and highlighted the text.  I was unhappy with the way the glue/matte medium blurred the bride's face.  I reprinted her image on a transparency for a top layer. There is nothing pretty about these pages, but that's how it should be.  I wanted to have a sense of beauty underneath, with a dark mood and obscure images to represent the mystery, the horror, and the sadness.

Mixed Media Mayhem - Words With Friends - DLP 2015

Having prompts for journaling provides inspiration, but I often steer off course into my own interpretation.  Each week I look at several web sites and google groups for a word, a concept, a medium, a technique, or a tool that will give me some parameters for journal pages.

In this journal page to respond to THE DOCUMENTED LIFE PROJECT/ FRIENDS WITH WORDS prompt I thought about words gathered with friends instead of words between friends. To face the blank page with words I dug through my boxes of Chinese newspapers gathered during my teaching stint in Xian.  As I traveled around China with my cohort in adventure, I saved paper of all sorts including some I scraped from walls.  My friend became especially adept at spotting a scrap of treasure from street litter to tissue thin receipts.  I used some of these papers to lay down beginning layers.  To add some color to the page I used my red good luck paper from Spring Holiday/Chinese New Year which I spent in Yunnan province.  This paper is infused with dye which has to be tamed with matte medium to keep it from running all over the place, but it is a deep transparent layer when dry. 

To add more words I turned to my collection of silkscreens.  These too were gathered with the help of friends, especially the teacher, Gwen Gibson.  I attended her workshop in the South of France where I learned to make and use EZ Screens.  At the end of the week each student picked screens to keep.  I chose several with Chinese calligraphy which I used on this paper.  Hence, words with friends.

I had another silkscreen that I made from a old Japanese book given to me by yet another friend. I love this image and I use it over and over again.  Each time I am reminded of my artist friend who has slowed down her creative process as she has become older.

I added more Chinese papers and silkscreened calligraphy to give her a costume.

The image had become a little muddled from the overlayering of Chinese tissue papers and appeared too flat.  I wanted to add more depth and bring out more focus.  I went to my aging collection of polymer clay to create stamped plaques. I used my rubber stamps and authentic chops I had carved to order to add more words.  I fiddled with the placement of the tiles then adhered them to the page with extra strong gel medium.

Mixed Media Mayhem - #DPL2015 - The Color Wheel

Art Challenge:  The Color Wheel

Journal Prompt:  "I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way . . . “    - Georgia O’Keefe

Like any good hoarder, I have a supply of used gift wrap paper waiting its new mission. The rainbow striped piece forming the background of this journal spread was exactly what I needed to face the blank paper in the Week 3 DPL challenge - Color Wheel.  A massive pile of grocery ads arrived providing the abundance of images of fruits and vegetables.  The colors and shapes of the cut-outs reminded me of the delicious simplicity of eating healthy. In the post Christmas return to Weight Watchers, I needed some prompts to reenergize my commitment.  The calendar snippets signify how WW is one day at a time, and my journaling implies I can be what I define myself to be.
I was delightfully surprised at how colorful the newsprint clips became with a saturation of gell medium.  I chose the magazine pics to represent the healthy interaction between head and body.

Mixed Media Mayhem - The Beginning is Always Today / The Documented Life - Week 2

I was happy to see that the technique challenge for week 2 in The Documented Life  was "gesso" because I had begun something that I needed to cover up.

After watching several videos featuring Dylusions spray ink I tried them over gesso and over stenciled wax.

Ummmm...so gesso to the rescue covering up and adding texture.

Now I could add more dye spray and watch the images suggest themselves. Like finding faces in the clouds, I thought I saw two faces.  I used a Derwent charcoal pencils to bring them out.

Still struggling I decided to go with my philosophical reaction to the news of the terrorist murders in Paris.  I had just received a travel ad featuring the Eiffel Tower so I worked on the colors to make it blend in with my page.

 For lettering I embossed cut out letters from a pack I bought at TJ Maxx for $2.00. The letters had a nice metallic look but my work space was a mess.

Still not happy with my result, I decided to add back in some white space, painting my circles with gesso. Gesso over Dylusions always gives bleed through so it took several coats to get a surface to write on.

One of my friends on Facebook had posted about being satisfied with "good enough" not "perfect"...but my final result did not give me joy.  What did I learn?  Reserve white space/negative space. Think about the interaction of media.  Find a good journaling pen.  When I wrote the quotation from Mary Shelley that was the prompt for this week, my Pitt pen smeared.

Mixed Media Mayhem - Facing the Blank Page

As I went though the end of the year art magazines I culled the names of some bloggers and found an interesting group with all kinds of talent and a dedicated enthusiasm for journaling.  Several blogs propose weekly themes to keep members interested and challenged... One uses a weekly challenge (http://www.art5academy.com/the-studio/the-documented-life-project-free) to encourage you to document your life.  Another, Journal 52, http://journal52.com/start/, also provides weekly prompts. Loading your journal page to their archieves, facebook, Pinterest, Google 1gives you a chance to share and receive feedback from artists around the world.

This journal page is the first one and addresses the challenge of facing the blank page.  The journalists suggested covering the page with colored paper.

I loved the rich red provided by newspaper pics saturated with matte medium.  When the newsprint papers dried I was surprised at how intense the colors were.  To fill in the blank spots and to unify the pages I added gesso through a stencil to provide a resist for green and yellow gelatos.

Then, I began to find forms to fill in...I'm thinking green poinsettias.  I hand drew a calendar to set the scene.

I had a lot of deli paper around for clean up so I tried stenciling and printing to create leaves to collage in place. My theme is "the positive path" so this will be an affirmation journal.

Mixed Media Mayhem - Tranquility

When I was teaching in China, I fell in love with their delicate porcelain dolls. Depicted in flowing robes, flowered hair, serene smiles, and finely wrought hands, they represent the special delicacy of the Chinese aesthetic. I purchased about 10 variations, mailed them home where they keep harmony among the rest of the Chinese statuary.  I used watercolours and Inktense pencils over gesso.  I plan to add more to this entry....updated to add stamped sentiment.  I love carving stamps.