I have started another art journal project. Like DLP, this one also has an amazing community of like-minded artists. Every week you get new prompts. We'll see if I make more than one page! LOL!
Check it out here: www.getmessyartjournal.com
I have wanted to add more meaning to my art and telling stories on my pages for a long time. Ummm...might my blog name suggest my intentions too, perhaps? ;) I enjoy creating pretty pages, but often they don't have a story. That's why I got interested in this project.
The first prompt really stretched me creatively and mentally. Get Messy works on six week seasons, with this season's theme bring introspection.
The dictionary defines it like this:
So that's what I'll be trying to do. Communicate thought via art journal pages. Maybe they'll be pretty, but they might not be. ;)
So back to my page I completed.
I go ahead and do the art prompt, make ink blots, and then it sits, me staring at it for a day.
What do I see?
I see layers of hearts.
I see two pink hearts on each side.
I see a white one in middle.
I see a teal arrow pointing down.
What am I thinking when I look at those blots?
Layers of hearts make me think of things I feel deeply, but keep a lot of it inside.
Layers of hearts also make me think of all the friendships I cherish.
The two hearts make me think of my marriage.
Two hearts combined into one.
Which makes me think of our center: God the Creator. Jesus. The Holy Spirit.
The mystery of all this that I can't fathom most of the time, but keeps me on my knees, and always evaluating life from that worldview.
So the teal shape in the middle represents Christ in me, in us, in my relationship to everything.
As I play, adding textures and paint and words, more things pop into my head.
Then I start to play, getting MESSY. Just playing. Play. Get messy. Repeat. :)
I cut out a laser copy of a photo of myself, and glue it to the heart on right. Then I paint it over with the same pink, as I want to keep the pink heart shape for the overall look. I don't want my vision to "stop" on the photo of me, as I don't want this to be the center.
I peruse the first poem in the altered book I am using and find neat phrases that speak of looking back through my life, which is what I also want to do in this project.
The poem is called The People, Yes by Carl Sandburg.
I spy a cool stencil lying around of the earth encircled by the planets, a StencilGirl club stencil:
and it gives me the idea of Christ as my center in all things, so I stencil with pink paint on the white center heart and the surrounding book page.
Born with bones and heart fused in deep.
Hugging the little ball of Earth
Mixed from a bowl of sky blue dreams
Shimmering with phantoms
Out of joybells and headaches
mortgages, house rent, groceries
new generations with names
The living flowing breath of the history
Flicker in the mirrors a few moments
Not sure if my newly "found" poem makes any sense, but each phrase speaks to me, as it gives me the feel of my present life as a mom with young kids and of my generally happy past.
The mesh-like texture on the hearts is white paint through a different stencil, symbolizing loosening the grip of my heart on the things that are inside - a cage, so to speak. Does that make sense to you like it does to me? heehee
April 2016 club stencil by Mary Beth Shaw Private Collection 16.2
I see teal-coloured paint on the under paper (deli paper) dried up and it's peeling off the paper, which makes me think of peeling back the layers of my brain and heart. That'll work! I need to add that to my page! So I brush on matte medium in the teal area above and adhere it. This is FUN!!
I add extra layers around each shape with lots of paint. The pink paint is quite transparent, but I want it opaque and heavier, so I add 3D Matte Gel medium by Prima to it, and hand-paint around the hearts, adding white gesso to create more depth of colour.
Lastly I add white dots around each shape with a white paint pen.
As I was blogging this, all the while looking at my page, and after I took the pictures, I decide that the center teal needs to be an arrow, so I go in to add lines in a diagonal fashion with an Imagine Crafts Brushtix chisel tipped sponge. Cool tool!
The arrow symbolizes pointing down, into my heart, and read what is there. See after picture, below.
I'm very pleased with how this all turned out. What a great exercise of INTROSPECTION. :)
And here some shots of my altered book cover in progress. It isn't finished yet!
The coolest product. You blurp it on, then put your heat gun to it, making it puff up. :)
And there you have it. I enjoyed writing this post as much as I did creating the page. :)
Until next time!
♥♥♥ Anna ♥♥♥
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