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.