Joan's page in Pam's "Teesha Moore style" journal

Pam's journal is a lovely almost square journal made from good quality watercolour paper.  It already has some great pages done by Pam and the other artists participating in Round 3 of the circle/travelling journal event.

Pam has chosen the theme of "Teesha Moore Inspired".  When I first got it last month and I was talking to Lisa Jones, I flippantly said to her, that it was my worse nightmare to have to do a layout in this style.  Don't get me wrong, I like Teesha's art journal pages, and have since she first started using Zettiology in her art. It is just that it is not my "goto at anytime" style.   I read the information that Pam included on Zettiology and oohed and aahed over the layouts already in the journal, but I was still not feeling it.  Now I know I could have gone to Pinterest or the web and downloaded some digital sheets to do the layouts but in my mind that is cheating and taking the easy way out and besides I did not want to be unduly influenced by the the examples.

I started by going through magazines and pulling out pages with colourful backgrounds to be cut into strips to make the borders around the two and half pages. Pam's journal has flaps on every other page and the next blank page had the flap. I cut up about five different pages with some repeating colours.
Then I flipped through the magazines to find some interesting faces, legs, arms,and clothes that could be used for putting together some weird creatures. I also remembered I had some great wrapping paper that I have shared with a few of you in the group early in the year that had lots of doodling and colour and some animals, so I got the sheet and cut out some bits and pieces from there.

I still had no idea of what I was going to do, but I put some gesso, followed by dylusions paints in  various colours down on the page.  It was a mistake putting different colours, I should have used only one colour on each page, but I did not realise this till after I had started to collage and by then it was too late to change it. I then stenciled using stencils from Mike Deakin and Tim Hotze and white and gold paint. Anyway now as forecasted the nightmare began.  I must have had about twenty bodies and heads and loose limbs on the table by now and (A) I still had no idea how to begin, and (B) I constantly kept losing the cutout I was looking for on my crowded untidy table and everytime I could not find a piece, I had to turn it upside down even further.  After two hours I had managed to stick a border using the pieces around two sides of all the pages.  Did I like it, was I happy with it?
No, but it was a start.  Five days and nights later, after changing my mind a few times, I actually ended up with most of the pages done.  Now came the second part of the nightmare, I hate my writing and I had to actually write on the pages.  For this I apologise to Pam in advance.  I should have just left the pages with no phrases it would have been better. Unfortunately once I wrote with a black posca pen, it was too late to change it.  I tried going over it a few times with alternating between white and black paint, but I just made it considerable worse, so again I am sorry for the terrible job Pam.  You can always paint over the top when you get it home.  Anyway I managed to invoke my inner Teesha Moore, but maybe it would have been better if she stayed hidden. LOL.