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.