Gail works in Rose's Bird Journal

This is my entry in Rose's bird Journal,

 I had to force myself to stop, hope you like it Rose.

Lisa J - Working in Rose's 'Birds' Journal

After now having made entries in two other people's journals, my trepidation has disappeared!  It's such a thrill to receive each book in the mail, see what's already been done, and then think about what I can  add to the journal.  I think of it as a huge gift we're all making each other, and what a delight it will be for all to receive the completed journals back after 12 or so months!

Rose's journal is a lovely size; a touch smaller than A4, with pages that open out flat to make a nice spread.

We live near a nature reserve with a creek running through it, and apart from kangaroos, foxes and the odd bunny, it's full of kookaburras, magpies, lorikeets, cockatoos, galahs, and the occasional rosella.  So I decided to do my spread on a couple of natives - the cockatoo and galah.

Noisy buggers they both are, but to me the sound is quintessentially Australian.  An old Aunty had a cocky in a cage for years, but I much prefer to see them in the bush, alighting from an old gum.

 I gessoed, then did a simple background with watercolour overlaid with a repeating leaf stencil.

This pic on the left isn't very clear, but he's my galah, done in acrylics.  Growing up in country South Australia we lived next door to a park with a huge population of cackling galahs.  We used to delight in clapping our hands loudly to get them to disperse.

Next to him is my sulfur crested cockatoo.  Being predominantly white, I had to do about 26 coats so you couldn't see the background underneath!  Eye rolling stuff because in Joan's journal I did the background afterwards because I hadn't decided what to do - maybe next journal I'll get it right...

Then on to a bit of journalling.  Interestingly, google tried to tell me that a group of cockatoos was known as a cockfest.  I don't think so!  Didn't think Rose would appreciate that in her journal, so I went with "There is nothing more Australian than the clatter of cockatoos and galahs in the bush!"

I hope you like this page Rose!  I really enjoyed doing it!

'Birds' journal by Rose

Well, here goes, my first blog entry! My name is Rose and I’m taking part in the Round Robin Art Journal project for the first time. I’m pretty new to art journaling as a creative activity, so I haven’t got many pages of my own to show you yet. This should change soon, as I’m hoping to learn more techniques and to find lots of creative inspiration throughout the year with this and other art projects that I’m committing to.

So why did I choose birds as my theme for this particular journal? Ever since I was a young girl I have loved birds. It sounds so clichéd, but it’s true! As a 7 year old I filled all my sketchbooks with drawings of birds that I copied from a little bird book given to me by my dear Nanna. Her maiden name, in fact, had been Sparrow, hence the little fellow on the front of the journal! Those childhood drawings were given away to many friends and family members.

Throughout my life my love of birds has endured and developed. Nowadays I ‘capture’ many of them with my digital camera, but always, I am watching them wherever I can: in my garden, in nature reserves and at the many wonderful locations that we holiday to. Birds are full of beauty, with their gorgeous varieties of feathers and plumes; their melodious songs and vocalisations (who can resist the sound of a Lyre bird in full throat!); and their wonderful ability to soar and fly with the wind! Yes, I would like to be a bird in my next life! Perhaps I have already done so!

So, here is my first handmade journal, all set to go around Australia, for you to express anything about the wonderful birds that you see near you. It might be a collage of a favourite bird? Or perhaps you’ll focus on their little ‘nurseries’, the nest and eggs? Feathers. Colours. Whatever is right for you. Feel free to text on your page too, if you’d like to write about the bird you have shown, or just about your feelings for birds. It’s all good and, I appreciate that you have taken the time to do it.

My journal was made very simply: I folded watercolour pages and bound them together with some masking tape. The collection of pages were them attached to a folded manila folder. With a little acrylic paint applied (I tried using my Gelli plate, with mixed results!). I’ve gessoed onto this paper with good results in the past, if you need to do that. If the journal gets ‘bulked up’ and distorted with paint and collages, so much the better! And I’ve included a ‘Sign in’ page, where you might like to leave your name, or you could sign your page if you prefer?

Lastly, I want to say ‘thank you’ to Louise for inviting me to take part in this wonderful, artful event. I’ll admit that I’m pretty terrified at the idea of working in someone else’s journal but I’m not one to shy from a challenge, so I’ll give it my best! So, let’s fly!