Home Page: written down

I stuttered with this one. I started out humorously, since that’s my first line of defense. It was really cute and very shallow. Totally not what I wanted. So I started over.
I was thinking about risk as it relates to my faith, how when I am strong in faith, I feel less fearful of taking risks.
I have a favorite quote, which I printed on transparency:
“I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year, Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown. And he replied, go out into the darkness and put thy hand into the hand of God. That shall be to thee safer than light and better than any known way.”

The bottom corner is a prayer one of my college professors said at the beginning of a semester. I have never before or since heard anyone pray for courage. The opening of the journal section says, “In faith, there is no risk. Only courage.”
The whole thing just kind of flowed from there.
I used my new alcohol inks, painted on a book page, and glued some magazine cutouts. The letter stickers across the top say Darkness, I don’t know if you can read them.

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Here’s a quick page I did in response to the Weekend Spark. A quick and easy one. Turned up the contrast on the photo and posterized it in ps…otherwise, just basic cardstock and stickers! Glad I had a place to “home” this image.
Nieka

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first i used gesso. then i added crumbled up tissue paper and filled in the blank white spaces with either a pink or a gold acrylic paint. i did that bleach think to my photo which was kinda fun and i glued that down and added more gold acrylic around the photo. the little pink folder i added the word “risk” twice with transfers and the folder opens and talks about the only risk i could think of and that was meeting and starting a relationship with my now husband. doesnt sound like much of a risk but i was ending a bad 7 year relationship. not the best timing but it worked out for us. then i added an ansis nin saying and a flower sticker. it was fun ive never done stuff like this before and im really enjoying it.

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This was hard for me again…why is that? Does this get easier? Come on…I went to art school! Why is this hard!? But it is!!...crazy… Anyway…this week I struggled with the whole concept of risk. It kinda means nothing to me. My friends and family were laughing at that because I take huge risks (drop out of High School then go back and do things my way…start my own business, etc.) and think nothing of it…but I stay up at night and worry about teeny tiny things… who knows. In the end, after sorting through piles of materials (read stalling) I decided to go with the theme of “Risk taking more bad photos”...cuz it’s something I need to do…
here’s what I came up with-

text says “Sometimes they are fuzzy. Sometimes they are out of focus. Sometimes they’re grainy. Sometimes the whole rule of thirds and all thought of composition go out the door. They have cluttered backgrounds. The lighting is too harsh. They are too bright or too dark. They are bad photos. But I love them. And they are good for me. They are real. And honest. As a professional photographer I spend so much time in studio…trying to get that perfect shot. Clean perfect backdrop. Clean clothes, clean face, combed hair. THIS IS NOT REAL LIFE. Looking back at old photographs my favorites are the ones that would never be a “wall portrait”…would never be carried in the mom’s purse or displayed prominently on dad’s desk. I love the bad photos. I NEED TO REMEMBER THIS. The dirty shirts and messy hair. The flurry of puppy dog kisses on a sticky baby face. The blurry head thrown back laughing. The day he wouldn’t take off those silly blue goggles. The propensity for small children to randomly show their belly buttons. I love this THIS IS REAL LIFE. CAPTURE THIS. RISK TAKING BAD PHOTOS.

and it over flowed onto another page…

Thanks for looking!

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This week’s prompt totally spoke to me. I have been wanting to work with a cool butterfly image that is in the current issue of Real Simple magazine. I scanned it in, removed the text, changed it to black and white, used the charcoal filter, upped the contrast, and then changed it to a duotone using a dark green before printing.

One thing I love about working on this journal is the evolution it takes from my initial starting point. I am definitely working on the fly for most of these pages…adding until it feels done enough.

At first I imagined this page to be about the circle of life – using the butterflies as representation of that theme. But as I played I kept thinking of the saying, “what goes around comes around.” And that is pretty much where I ended up.

Lots of layering. Matte medium for adhesive and over top of the images. After that was dry I stamped and wrote around the edges. I am using a Pen-Touch white fine tip paint pen from Sakura for my white writing. The large white writing in around the butterfly is a font I created for Two Peas called “enjoy life” (actually comes in the circle format with an initial in the middle).

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Finally I have completed the week 2 assignment. I am glad however that I am able to finish off the weekend with this grounding task. Sometimes I can let things get the better of me and everything is then pushed out of perspective. Getting out my paints and brushes and journaling what is important to me helps with the ongoing personal therapy.

The medium I have used, is acrylic on bazzill and stamping. The letter stickers are from Basic Grey and the gaffer tape is 7 gypsies.

The journaling reads: With risk comes reward. I have taken so many chances in my life. Some turn out great, while others… well lets just say I have learnt greatly from them. I have always loved to travel. For me that is my passion. Curious. Always curious. Always wondering what is out there. My eyes absorb the beauty, my ears listen to the sounds, voices, conversations. My chance to grow, to explore. One venture I took lead me to the greatest reward of all. I met my soul mate, my love, my rock. From that perfect union a child was born, my shining star, my flesh and blood, my angel. Because I have embraced the world, the world has given me the finest gifts and for that I love you.

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So I finished week two (about risk) and I’m really excited about it and really pleased with how it came out (who would have known when earlier today I was about to throw the whole journal out the window! ger! starting is hard!) But- I don’t have time to photograph and upload it now, cuz I have a back rub from my guy waiting…and if I spend too long puttering on the computer that offer will be gone… SO! tomorrow after work I will post. But know that I am done, and, again- just in the nick of time.

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This is my first entry – my first post. I’ve always loved looking at art journals. Have a couple books on them. Even tried keeping them in the past with little success (meaning I didn’t actually do any entries beyond the first). The journal’s been sitting on my desk for days now. Blank. No lines. Intimidating for me, since I usually journal in a comp book. Trying to keep away from the whole scrapbooking thing like I’m used to. Trying something new. So I got out a bunch of stuff and made a mess creating this. Working on being less inhibited by things like that—messes. ;) So here it is. Thanks for looking

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I tried to show a close up view

Thanks for looking!

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