Saturday, September 1, 2012

Art Journal Pages

Participating in Dina Wakely's out of the journal challenge has been amazing and also so freeing.  I have definitely conquered my fear of painting on canvas, and am proud of what I've been creating.  My canvas this week memorializes this journey.

Also, creating canvases has helped me return to my art journal for what it it's meant to be - a journal of experiences, experiments, and where I can embrace my creative self without judgment.  Here are some of my pages from the last few days:
Last weekend, I was feeling in such a funk.  It was hard to see the sunshine and feel the beauty of my life.  We had a very busy weekend with too many "to dos" for my liking, and that was part of it.  Also, I was very aware of it being the second to last weekend of the summer.  The thought of packing up and closing our little summer cottage weighed me down.   Even though I could identify the sources of my mood -- stress and genuine sadness, it was hard to kick it.  I had to accept the fact that some days are just blue.  Even though I wasn't in a great mood, I loved the colors of this page.  Here's a close up that captures it more.

I think most moms will be able to identify with the "fly like a butterfly" side of this spread.   As much as we love our kids, sometimes it would be nice to just fly into the sky with no one to be responsible for but ourselves.  I guess it might get a little lonely after a while...  The butterfly page was done with 3 stamps, keeping with Julie and Nathalie's Second Floor Challenge to make a layout using 3 stamps.  First, I stamped the page all over with a Michelle Ward rubber stamp called Graphic Details.  I stamped Artists' Butterfly stamp several times on white copy paper on which I had scraped a pale blue background, painted the butterflies with fluid acrylics, cut 3 out, and pasted them on the page.  Then I used alphabet stamps (don't remember the brand but from Michael's) for the printed lettering.  I hope that still counts as 1 stamp! 
After several days of being blue and snippy to everyone around me, I woke up yesterday and decided: today I will be sweet.  I will not say a mean or grumpy word to anyone.  I will not gossip or be catty or cranky or cross.  And I'm happy to say I went to sleep last night having succeeded in keeping true to my affirmation.  I felt pretty pleased with myself!

Linking up to Dina Wakely's Out of the JournalArtists in Blogland, and Paint Party Friday Please visit those blogs and spread some love to the amazing artists there.

Also, A Year in the Life of An Art Journal has just posted a very cool prompt to do a layout where you're speaking to your younger self. I'm definitely going to participate!  And Creative Every Day's theme for September is "Time."  I can't wait to see what people do...

Thank you for visiting! If you are so moved, please leave a comment.  Hearing from you means the world to me. 

18 comments:

  1. Hi Jessica! Do you teach classes? Your work is so creative and amazing!!! I love these pages. And I want to say "welcome" to the Scrapping the Music design team. We are very honored to have you with us!!!!!!

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    1. Thanks Sharon! I am going to be teaching a class at my local crafts store in October but am still finalizing the dates. I hope to be doing more teaching as time goes on. Thanks for the warm welcome. I'm excited to be joining you!

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  2. your canvas is fantastic and i love your art journal pages. x

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  3. Amazing, Jessica! I believe art is truly a blessing that can help us soar as we deal with life's issues. Blessings!

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  4. Hiya Jessica, wow I love your blog ^.^ Great work, I'm your new follower, I blog about my Arts too
    Welcome to Follow me back:
    http://purelyenchanted.blogspot.com/
    Thanks
    XoXo

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  5. Love your canvas, Jessica. Your journal is amazing too! Thank you for your sweet comment on my blog.

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  6. What a great affirmation. I am adopting it as mine for today. Love your work.

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  7. that blue page is my favourite though they are all great... xx

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  8. Your canvas is terrific- use of color and composition hits all the right notes for me. I like that you included some of your journal pages. I've been back to mine as well...haven't been brave enough to post them. Yours are fun.

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  9. oh, and I can DEFINITELY relate to the butterfly... and wanting to just be responsible for me and not my three kiddos and big kid (hubby) for just a little while! Been blue all week- thanks for sharing your thoughts!

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  10. Your so called "blue page" looks rather happy to me.
    I do remember the days of wishing I could "fly away" and let someone else take care of them. S'okay, just be sure to enjoy the days you have them...these times will fly away faster than you can ever imagine once you are on the other side of it. Now we wait for visits from grand kids and relish every minute we get them to ourselves. LOL

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  11. With your wonderful lake cabin winding down I can see why you would be blue- it sounds like the greatest artist retreat! Love the art you've got here- the canvas & all the journal pages! So many fabulous layers working together!

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  12. Beautiful work Jessica! I love everything you've shared here and look forward to seeing more! I am a beginning artist and am so inspired by you! Thank you!

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  13. your canvas turned out beautifully! Love your full and creative journal pages too! I'd feel blue about closing up a summer cottage too, yet you produced something very creative with your thoughts. Thanks for shring!

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  14. you're making me crazy giddy with happy paintings!

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  15. Fab, I love the message of it!

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  16. Love your work Jessica.I love your use of stamps in your background. And your canvas is beautiful!

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  17. Beautiful canvases and art journal pages as usual!Brilliant details and I love the texture your stamping added!your work is really creative!

    I am a twelve year old and I would love if you would drop by and visit my blog!

    http://ibreatheit.blogspot.com/

    Hoping to see more canvases and art pieces soon!
    Duaa

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