Wendy's page in Monika's journal - channel connection

This page is all about how to connect your intuitive channel. My intuitive channel helps me to paint freely and without having to worry about the end result.  By trusting the information being given to me, it allows the painting to take all the twist's and turn's it needs, to be what it must.

I have shown in my page the importance of also being grounded while connected to your channel. If you are not grounded, then you won't finish your work and will also be off with the fairies, so to speak.

I have enclosed a copy in the pocket in the back of Monika's journal, bigger than the writing you see here. You might need a magnifying glass to read this.  It was hard keeping it this small, but you can actually read it after all.

I used acrylic paint, because that's what I love.

Janene's pages in The Music in You

Janene has done a gorgeous spread with a lovely vintage feel in Pam's journal.

The title of this journal is

The Music in You

Using a soft and moody monochromatic colour scheme,

she has beautifully captured a past era.

Keep it Simple

Here is my spread in Jan's journal, Just Three Words

I used  one of the suggestions that Jan has in the journal - Keep it Simple.

I hope this isn't too 'scrapbooky.' These are vintage images that I printed out - the left hand side is coloured by hand with distress markers and some copic marker as well. The lettering is stamped, embossed and cut out by hand. I did a little decoupage in the right hand image and the background is coloured with watercolour inks and stamped.

Reniets page in The Art of Transformation

Well I'm done in Louise's journal. There were so many possibilties with this topic. As Lou explains in the front everything around us is constantly in the state of transformation.

As my art supplies are very limited I've kept my spread basic. I have always loved Cicadas and decided to put them in somehow. I chose a page that had a flap so i could put the cicada shell on it and then open up to the Cicada that we see above ground.
I used oil pastels for the pictures and was happy with how it turned out considering i haven;t drawn anything since i was a child.
The background colour behind the shell is done with ink pads and behind the Cicada with chalks and set with hairspray (didn't have fixative lol).

On the right hand page i layered two different coloured acrylic paints and then wrote the meaning of transformation from the dictionary. I had used white chalk behind writing to make it stand out but when i sprayed it with fixative (finally bought some) the chalk basically disappeared.
I used crackle medium between the layers of paint as i had it lying around.
This spread was also the first time i used Gesso.

Just One More

Having Janene's lovely journal here and it having plenty of pages, I just had to have another play.

Janene's journal is themed

"What Makes You Truly Happy"

Art makes me happy-

I can usually lose all of my worries and cares in the play with colour and pattern.
 It is my own personal therapy at times and it is just an expression of joy at other times. 

Natura entry by Sharon Williams

"This is where I live"

Waiting for the arrival of my first journal was excruciating.  With the exception of anticipating the birth of my children, it was the longest wait ever.  I checked the post every day and finally went home on the Friday with this little beauty.  It took a lot of will power not to rip it open in the car.  

Natura arrives!

What I love most of all is watching the page develop.  I went in with a vague idea that there should be a hill in the middle with a house on top and my home environment surrounding it.  That was it!  It took several false starts to get further than gesso on the page, then all of a sudden I was off.

I have a 'go-to' book that I often use for image transfers in the background of my pages.  I found it on a art retreat that I did with my friend a few years ago in New Norcia.  It is Australia's only monastic town.  On our last day we found the library and it was fantastic but most wonderful of all was they were selling off some of their old stock for very little.  I came home with two old text books.  One from 1915 in Latin and this one from 1910.  It is a textbook on botany and the image I have chosen is a cross section of the cell structure of a fern.  It seemed appropriate some how as everything is essentially made up from the same elements and that seemed to resonate with this spread.  

I wanted to portray how much the environment is apart of my life.  I am surrounded by the most beautiful landscapes.  I have a quiet beach on one side and a RAMSAR wetland and national park on the other.  All of it is topped off by the vast West Australian sky.

I love using Derwent Inktense blocks.  It gives me the opportunity to put down a background colour - fast!  And because I gesso the paper before I start, it allows me to spread, smudge and play with the colour blends.  

 left hand page

I decided against being too figurative and used my wooden stamps to label the areas instead.  Then I added some sprayed circles using the packaging from some cup cakes I was given for christmas.  The final touches went in in text and white pen.  I think It gives a bit of an idea of where I'm living.  I hope you enjoy it. 

Sharon Williams  

centre

Jan does ‘Out of the Box’!

It was a privilege to be the first one to add to Nicole’s Box of pages.

I had decided that the current situation I found myself in would be perfect for a journal page. I had just come from NZ helping Mum and Dad pack up and move to OZ. Out of the Box so to speak.

I did some spray stencil layers and random colours in acrylic and then got down to my design. I had looked through a few of my previous journals and found a page I thought would lend itself to the theme.

I did some collage and stamping (some bits from NZ and some from Oz). Added some journaling and shading and felt happy with that side, then moved to the reverse.

I decided to incorporate a few elements from my own journal front page and when I’d finished it I photographed the page and thought the bottom half looked awful. So painted it all over and tore off of the stuff and redid it with stencils and finger painting. Much Better!

Roz's Oriental Journal.

I have completed a page in Roz's beautiful Oriental Journal.  I only did one page because I thought if I did two the pages might run out before the journal completed it's circle.
I was really scary for me as I have never before worked in a journal belonging to another person.
I was inspired by an article in Somerset Studio's Art Journaling magazine about Artist Bebe Butler.  Her work looked oriental and I tried my hand at following her methods.

And the beautiful journal itself:

Monika's entry in Reniet's journal

Reniet's journal has been challenging for me not least because of the (for me) difficult theme of  "Laughter in spite of pain". 

 

I had an idea for starters which promptly went away as I dove in with wild abandon first by sewing a mask then with collage and then layer upon layer of water soluble crayons, acrylic paint, markers, and gel pen. 

I did not let my lack of direction worry me but rather trusting myself that it would all work out in the end and enjoy myself.

 

 It was a wild journey with many twists and turns and layers but after several days all the disparate pieces finally fit together yesterday.

 

I have added some more bling to the already gorgeously colourful spine.

 

So thank you Reniet for challenging me and helping me grow and think outside the box and trusting the journey rather than a plan. I hope you will like the page.

xoxo

Truly Happy - Louise's page

I have had a play in Janene's journal.
What Makes you Truly Happy.

Its funny how the different themes can really challenge us, I am going through a period of darkness in my life and being truly happy seems almost impossible but there are always those little moments when happiness finds you- moments of laughter or beauty or joy or love- these do make me truly happy so thank you Janene for helping me remember. 

I worked in layers on this spread, layers work well in moments.

A moment to tear the old book pages in readiness, a moment to do the collage.The next day when it is dry and beckoning I can do some washes of joyful inspiring colours and keep fiddling with washes when ever the moment strikes. Then a layer of journalling about what being truly happy means to me, but in a tonal pen, so I can leave my heart and soul right there but it wont be very easy for anyone else to read. Another moment on another day and I sketched in the flowers  then later that day I added a bit of white for its opacity  and to bring the flowers forward also covering up a little more of my journalling. Finally another moment with some spray inks and some inktense pencils to finish the page and bring it all together. 

This is the first month our journals are out in the big wide world, they are collecting their first input from our fellow artists- I can't wait to see what everyone else shares in our blog and look forward to some feed back on this spread. 

As I have a fortnight before our next mailing day and Janene has lots of pages I might even find another moment or 2 to play on another spread and I do know that art play does indeed make me truly happy, as does connection with like minded people and working collaboratively with my fellow artists in these travelling art journals.