Mixed Media Mayhem - Post & Postage - A Note from the Sea

In my "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without" phase I sorted out piles of postage ephemera including stamps and photocopies. I tried to use them in a variety of journal entries.  I was happy to see the Post and Postage challenge on the Art Journal Journey blog.

 It was the end of the school year and I wanted to make a thank you note to my students at Indian River Academy where we had worked on a literacy/art project based on the work of James Prosek whose Ocean Fishes are on exhibition at VBMA.  In addition to the postage with fish images, I had several fish prints that I had generated for samples for the Japanese Gyotaku lesson and the brochure for Prosek's show.

After building a base coat of acrylic paints applied with a palette knife I was ready to layer on the imagery.  My fish print was on deli paper.  Adding this print provided a translucent top layer for a watery effect. Using postage stamps and rubber stamps of postal marks, I composed my note.  The bright yellow title from the museum brochure was added for contrast.

Mixed Media Mayhem - Rise Above

Documented Life Project Week of May 16

Art Challenge:  Modeling Paste

Journal Prompt:  Rising to the Occasion

The beauty of art journaling is in the opportunity to work out my ideas and feelings concretely while protecting my vulnerability.  I can vent and celebrate but do not have to explicitly express these intimacies.  My journal entry tells my story, but only to myself.  I have the genuine key to the secret diary, but I can invite others to look for their own meaning.

I was really inspired by this challenge - texture - modeling paste.  I have been in a whirlwind of art making.  Bins of paper everywhere.  I am determined to use what's at hand and make this part of my problem solving.  I had some beautiful deli paper left over from a printing session.  I was excited about the color, the crinkle, and the translucency.

I also have drawers and bins of alphabet stamps, stencils, masks, grungeboard, and lazer cuts.  I used a sheet where after punching out the letters, I could use the leftover as a stencil.

I glued the letters and numbers randomly to the background, then used the stencil first to spray dylusions and then, to apply a layer of modeling/molding paste.

To add variety while sticking to the theme, I used some of my large lettering stencils choosing the "A" for "above."  I was able to use the stencil two ways, first as a stencil, then as an image.  

To extend the graphic and the message, I used punched letters to spell "above," traced them with graphite pencil. 

To set off the square stencil I added tiny copper brads to attach it to the background.

To make the message more explicit I stamped "Seek Clarity" on a piece of Braille paper.

Now I have the composition to tell my story.

Mixed Media Mayhem - In Stitches

Documented Life Week of May 9 - Theme - Texture

Art Challenge:  Stitching

Journal Prompt:  "All that I'm after is life full of laughter."

Considering the Documented Life Project theme for May 9, texture through stitching, and the prompt of "a life full of laughter" I pondered how I could use these challenges to document a contemporary event in my life.  To begin I followed my usual pattern of diving through stash or product to see what speaks to me.  In my wicker trunk of fabric snippets, I found a crazy quilt square I had made by hand in an Art Chix gathering where we learned quilting methods and practiced our embroidery stitches.  Of no use to me except as a memory, the quilt piece became the ideal centerpiece for this entry.  Thinking about our meeting at Liza'a house working together sharing fabric swatches and helping each other recall our basic stitches of the sampler, I was struck again by the warm camaraderie and non-judgmental support provided by this group of women artists who gather monthly to create art.  The friendship provided by members of this group provide me a life full of laughter - keeping me stitches.

To set the stage for the crazy quilt I used the most favorite tool, a credit card, to scrape black acrylic paint over the two pages and auditioned the placement of the quilt.  Once I had determined to leave the quilt whole, it was obviously out of balance so I glued some trimmings to the left hand page.

To tell the story I adhered some dyed, ripped tags with journaling and wrote around the edges with a white gel pen.  I let my stitches be the detail on page 2.

 

Mixed Media Mayhem - the Fabric of My Life - Documented Life Project

Documented LIfe Project
May Theme  Touchy Feely (Texture)

May 2

Art Challenge:  Fabric

Journal Prompt:  The Fabric of Your Life

I have always love fabrics.  As a young girl I drooled over the bolts of materials from which I could fashion my wardrobe making skirts and blouses, suits, and prom gowns.  As I have traveled the world I have collected textiles and needlecrafts that I have framed, stacked, and draped throughout the house.  I could never cut these up, but in my stash I had a stack of fabrics donated to me by an Art Chic friend.  Glued to the page with matte medium, they became a perfect background.

To tell the story of the love of textiles woven through my life, I chose a drawing I made of an older woman, transferring it and adding color.

In my "use it up, wear it out" theme, I found some of my beloved postage stamps depicting American quilts which I adhered to tags.  Journaling makes the page complete.

Mixed Media Mayhem - Before the Ink is Dry - Documented Life Project

Documented Life

April Theme - Color Safari

Art Challenge - Inks 

Journal Prompt - Before the Ink is Dry

The challenge of inks immediately provokes the responses of Dylusions and the transfer of printer inks. Because I prepped the page before beginning, the spray of Dylusion inks reveals the texture of the dried gesso.  Yummy but messy.

For my theme I chose of picture of my daughter the night she received her Emmy.  I had manipulated the pic in many ways, finally printing it on a transparency.  I used Purell hand gel to transfer the image to printmaking paper, tore it, and glued the main pieces to my page.

To complete the page I added pieces of photographs, washi tape, and journaling.

Mixed Media Mayhem - Documented Life - A lot on My Plate

April Theme   Color Safari (Exploring Inks and Paints)

April 18

Art Challenge:  Gelli Plate

Journal Prompt:  A Lot on my Plate

Yes, I know this is June...I do not respond well to deadlines unless I am held accountable in some way...so here is my post for "A lot on my plate."  I never liked the expression "full plate" especially when people use it to complain.  Who wouldn't want a full plate...as opposed to the empty one or the only half full?  My "plate" was full this spring with art activities in the various school programs I enjoy leading at the VBMA.  As the school year wound down, my activity also diminished leaving me saying goodbye to kids for another year.  To commemorate this happy experience, I made my entry for April 18, Gelli Plate Challenge.

I have a stash of Gelli plate printed papers that I made using hand made stamps to put on and take off ink to print images of carefree children at play.  Many of these were printed on deli paper making for layering of positive and negative images

To add more focus I stamped more of the child images on tissue paper with StazOn and glued them to the surface with matte medium.  This technique makes the tissue paper disappear leaving only the image.

I added more stamping with numbers for the dates 2014-2015.

For dimension I added a tag with a tissue paper image of a child, scrabble letters for Artist in the Schools, and broken pen and pencil.

Journaling was the final commitment...making myself write on my page to tell the story lest I forget it at some future date.

Although the art challenge in this weeks prompt was to use the Gelli plate, one of my favorite art results is the crinkly texture produced by the layered deli papers.

Mixed Media Mayhem - Asian Aesthetic

The Feminine Beauty of the Asian Aesthetic

After reading several posts on Facebook about the virtues of reducing clutter and purging possessions, I took a critical look around.  An avid collector, I have amassed both valuables and detritus from everywhere.  Some of it is on display, some of it is stockpiled in labeled boxes, and some of it is strewn randomly about.  Serious winnowing will take some time, but I decided to commit a journal to "use it up."  I started with one of my boxes of paper collected during my many trips to China, and I looked for stamps and other elements that would coordinate.  After admiring the journal posts at Art Journal Journey, I decided to do a spread recognizing the feminine beauty in the Asian aesthetic.

I began these pages with a collage of Chinese newspapers relying heavily on the graphic text. A coat of gesso pushed back the intensity.  Next, To provide layers, I adhered "Lucky" papers, stenciled bamboo stalks,  and stamped tissue paper.  I like the effect of stamping on tissue paper because I can avoid messy errors on my page, and the tissue is transparent.  I used some stamps to add the text background layers and some to add focal images.

As a final stamp, I parted with some Asian themed postage stamps to move around the page.