Flying Forward

Continuing my Summer Journaling Play

  This page came together in many layers and different media. I began by covering both sides of my journal with free writing in magenta ink- I created this page just before Solstice so my journaling was all about releasing the pain and struggles of 2018 and there was quite a bit to release I chose the magenta on a whim but it suited my passionate wording. 

Next, I used some colour shine spray in sea foam, I love this soothing cooling colour and as I sprayed I was intentionally calming those emotions and used a couple of discrete but symbolic stencils. Green means water and growth and abundance and calm to me -

 I am welcoming all of that into my new year.

As its all about the sun right now I also wanted to bring in that energy and burn off and release anything still hanging around so I covered the page with more colour shine sprays in the orange and yellow tones and added sun rays in white gesso across the entire spread.

Next, I turned to my collage bits and found some garden photo strip pics in suitable colours, I kept looking through the collage and found a photocopied sun so I did a transfer in the middle of my gessoed sunburst, once she had a face she needed a full and abundant body.  I painted her with a little bit of gesso and using my paintbrush in the colour shine bottles.

Once she was dry I got out my trusty black pens- a posca and a signo and doodled and journalled another layer. The bird is symbolic of me and I am at a point where I am very much flying forward into my own life, burning off the ties of who I was before and embracing my new. 

Summer Journal Play

The three birds is a recurrent theme in my artwork, they have often appeared in my art journal and also in my paintings and my eldest son has requested I design him a tattoo for his 21st birthday that is based on a fig tree and the three birds, I have a year to come up with it and we will collaborate on the design together. My 15yo son has also expressed interest in having the same tattoo. Personally, I am not overly keen on tattoos but they are very popular with the younger generation.  

I have been pondering the passing of time a lot as we navigated this past Solstice. It is the second Solstice since the passing of my boys' father and although we were separated and I really did raise the boys as a single mum most of the time he was still a very loved family member and his absence is always felt- particularly at this time of the year. 

I feel this page that was created with intuition and spontaneity is symbolic of the privilege of watching them grow and sharing that part of their life journeys.  In many ways that part is finished but they will always be my little chicks.

Approaching Solstice 2018

There is something about summer that finds me breaking out a new art journal every year and playing in it every chance I get. I don't know if it is the heat or the end of the year. the beginning of a new one or the energy of solstice but here I am again. 

I welcome this creative and cleansing burst.

It is a great opportunity to reflect on the year that was and begin setting some intentions for the new one arriving. I Shared this as a prompt on the Australian Art Swap group as well.

As we approach 2019 

I would love you to do a double page spread 

focussing on the year we just had and the one we are about to begin.
Some things to ponder -
What were the highlights/ lessons learned/ major events?
What do you want to change/ leave behind/ let go of?
What do you want as your focus for the new year?
Do you have a word for the year?
What do you want to nurture in yourself/ your family/ your home?

My page quickly filled up in cathartic release and whilst my journalling is not really earth-shattering, it has been a really tough year and I am not open to sharing this page. Plus there are some really cool photo apps out there.

May the brightest of blessings shine on you and your loved ones this solstice,
what ever side of our beautiful planet you are on .

Playing In Janie's Exotic journal.

Janie's Exotic arrived the other day and I was determined to get to it early this month, so I had thought about the spice markets and wonderful tiles and colours of Morocco as being about the most exotic thing I could imagine- however the lovely Lisa Jones already took Janie's journal to Morocco so the pondering continued.

Thinking back over my life - what have I done that is exotic, I mean I love gardening and herbs and trees and art and making compost-  There was that time the circus came to town and I raced down there as they were leaving to collect the elephant poo to make my most exotic compost heap ever!

Hmm - maybe not- there are already elephants in Janie's journal and the other images, well nothing exotic came to mind, however the kaffir lime tree and the lemongrass that eventually got that compost loved it. 

Oh well, I had some time to play today so bugger it I will just jump in and let it unfold.  

I started with a magenta oil pastel - that is pretty exotic, right?

and I scrawled the word exotic across the double page.

Looking around my desk I spied the stencil I used for Alice so I grabbed 2 warm and 2 cool 'exotic' colours. I love pink and orange together, it makes me think of Indian sari's and teal is very exotic, as well as my favourite colour, next I picked ultramarine.  I played with the stencil to cover the page and my word.

It was wonderfully vivid, but all those blank spaces! Grab another exotic stencil and some black paint and work in strips to cover some of those spaces and I am loving it.

 Then I scratched off the acrylic paint from the oil pastel to re-expose my word and outlined it in a white posca paint pen.  And in all of that exotic- maybe even chaotic background what would be more exotic than a calm white egret.  He looks like the page was built around him- pulling the whole thing together.

 So I went in without any idea of where I would end up simply following my impulses and intuition and I am very happy with how it turned out and it was lots of fun.