A Piece From Heaven

This page is for TGIF and was the first page that I created using the extreme visual journaling techniques from Juliana Cole's "Empty Raw Creations" booklet. This is actually just the warm-up activity, but I took it a few steps further, adding extra ephemera at the end, simply because it was hard to stop! Today I'm going to spend the entire day in my studio for my own Extreme Journaling Retreat. I hope to finish several pages, and I also want to get a lot of work done on a big painting I'm doing for my son. I've planned to spend a day alone painting all week, but I've had so many unexpected errands, trying to get caught up after our trip, things to select and pick up for the house we're renovating, but today is going to be all mine!

How Can You Mend This Broken Heart?

If you want to know how, visit Luisa's wonderful blog here to see the best cure ever!



for Creative Therapy, Mixed Media Monday, and Created By Hand.

IF: Unfold

un·fold: to open the folds of : spread or straighten out : expand; to remove from the folds : unwrap; to open to the view : reveal ; to make clear by gradual disclosure; to open from a folded state : open out : expand b: blossom; develop, evolve; to open out gradually to the view or understanding : become known

You can see that I am still fascinated by the work of Juliana Coles. In fact, I ordered one of her visual journal workshop booklets, and I can't wait to get started. In the meantime, I've been studying her work online and trying to use her method of journaling. Here's what she says about Extreme Visual Journaling: "In an Extreme Visual Journal, we are after the rich interior. We are concerned with our own and unique inner, ancient wisdom. We want to find our voice, our style, and our flair for life by documenting our past, present and future in a book. We are NOT concerned with making art. We are NOT concerned with a product or pretty picture. We want to know how to unfold and in that moment, there is remarkable beauty on the page we did not know we possessed." This will be quite a stretch for me.

New Journaling Approach

for Theme Thursday's Flourish Challenge

I don't know if you have noticed a change in my journal pages, but recently my approach has been much less controlled and I'm working a lot faster. I've become fascinated with the work of Juliana Coles, whose Exreme Visual Journals I first heard of in Sparkleface's inspiring Flickr galleries (here) and ran across again in Lynne Perrella's book, Artists' Journals and Sketchbooks while I was reading and journaling at the pool. I still love to create intricate borders with many layers of elements, but I also like to concentrate on color and energy, as I did on this page, Obedient Wreckage, Dare to Dream, and Letting Go. I'm writing less self-consciously and actually using my pages as an outlet for my feelings and responses to my life. Today's page started with the central image; the face is from the miost recent cover of Rolling Stone, and the flowers came from an English rose catalog. I used a rubber stamp that I got at Michael's so long ago that I'm not sure of the brand. The background and hair were done by layering a little molding paste, inks and acrylic paint, using my fingers, brushes, a crumpled grocery bag, and an old rag. After I glued all the pieces on my background, I went over everything, except the face, with a very watery wash of magenta paint, and then I journaled using my trusty black Pilot pen. All in all, I spent about 2 hours on this page. That might not sound very fast to you, but a journal page often takes me a whole day and then some!

Obedient Wreckage

A little something different (and darker) for one of my favorite art challenge sites Creative Therapy and a wonderful brand new challenge site hosted by three amazing artists The Three Muses.