A Few More Journal Pages in Progress

 Y'all know that I'm kind of a Jill of all trades and master of none, and I can't stick to just one thing at a time. I also tend to do things in spurts, which accounts for the posts about several unrelated projects that I happen to be working on simultaneously. I often wire wrap a fabric bead, or two, stitch a meditation, stitch a bit in my fabric journal, and add a layer or two to an art journal, all in the same day, as ideas occur to me. I can not enjoy working on one thing from start to finish before starting another, although I admire those of you who can. Of course, I have many half-finished projects laying around that will probably still be unfinished when I die, because I have reached my 71st birthday if I live one more week, and time is moving faster all the time. Anyway, for now, my creative efforts help keep my mind working, they're good for my nerves, and they help keep me sane in this chaotic present world.

So, besides the last posts, I've been adding to my Wandering Muse Wire/Plaster journal (see sidebar for link). I've laid the foundations on a few more pages in the last several days. None of the pages in the journal are completed yet, but I have a start on most of them now. Still very much works in progress!

I painted these pages with acrylic pyrole red for an undertone and stenciled the harlequin pattern with burnt umber, but I loved the harlequin and hated the red, so I tried to remove it, which left bare strips down to the gesso/marble dust mix. Since I didn't want to spend all day trying to get the paint off, I painted a layer of transparent nickel azo gold, I think, over all of it, which warmed it up, and I left it for a few days. It called for blue, so I hand painted the pears and glued down the eggs/nest, which I had been wanting to use for a long time. Waiting to see what comes next! I like it so far...

This is another mess-up. I tried to use the three alcohol inks, thinking they would mingle together into something pretty and interesting for a background. Only, they didn't. They sank immediately into the gesso/marble dust mix and stayed big mis-shapen blobs. Not pretty, or interesting, so I painted a layer of cad red lt over the pages to cover it, but the ink bled through. Then I painted a landscape over the red in acrylic open media paints, but the inks still bled through, so this is where it is for now. Not sure whether to try to fix it, or leave it as is. It does give the landscape kind of a magical look. We'll see what happens!

Another imaginary, but familiar, landscape painted with acrylics over a pyrole red undercoat. I'm not loving it at this point, but can't wait to see how it evolves from here!

These pages are kind of a mish mash of random paint marks, collaged rabbits, stenciling, and an ink/pencil imaginary portrait in progress.

The first page, which I've collaged a black and white printed off old photo of myself. A selfie the old fashioned way, with a camera on a tripod, because I'm that many years old! The quote is torn from an old magazine, because it fit!

These pages started out with a layer of black gesso, over which I glued down a napkin with gel medium, then added some rings with a bottle dipped in red paint. I didn't like it, which explains the turquoise layer of paint over everything, and I added a printed off photo of me, as a child, with my doll, Suzy, whom I got for Christmas that year. I cut the figures out of the photo before pasting them down, and I know I'm going to add a bit of color to them, but I'm not sure yet about the rest of the journey for this story!

So, as I was applying the gesso/marble dust mix to these pages, I adhered the face sketched on a teabag to the bottom left corner, and she sat alone until last week, I added the long girl teabag on the right and sketched her dress over the page. I had about twelve of the sketched faces on teabags from a Jeanne Marie Webb class (see sidebar) a couple of years ago that I never got around to painting, so I thought, why not use them here? Since this photo, made over the weekend, I have adhered the teabags to the pages, drawn their clothes out onto the pages, and added a layer of paint to all of the girl faces and a layer of paint to all of the clothes, except the two in the middle on the left page. That was at the first of this week, and though I've been wanting to get back to them, I haven't yet. But I will!

As you can see, I don't have a particular theme for my journals, or anything else, for that matter. My husband says I fly by the seat of my pants about everything! There might be a theme when it's finished. There might not. But it's all good! It's about the journey! 

Stay safe and creative, and do something that makes you happy at least once a day! It's good for your soul!