What's the point...

So what is the point of pretty pages and pretty images?
What is the point of painting some flowers?
What is the point of painting a cute face?

I am looking for meaning.

I want to surprise myself.
I want to let my unconscious self speak.
I want to create something meaningful.

In my art journal

                                                                   Show me the way

Embarrassed

                                                                  Daydreaming
                                                                   

Sometimes I feel embarrassed when I look at something I made.
It looks so simple and yet I like it.
I feel as if someone is about to tell me: 'Is that all? You really think that is good enough?'

Art journal every day

Yesterday I created this postcard. It's a size I haven't used for a while. I used left over bits of paper because I really needed to clean out the tray on my desk! Last week I cleaned and reorganized the rest of my desk. It looked wonderful - until I sat down and started working......

I sent the postcard to Jane Davies. She is trying to increase the volume of mail that comes through her little post office in Vermont, now the postal service will review their activity.
Here you can read more: http://janedavies-collagejourneys.blogspot.nl/2013/01/the-post-office.html


The post office in my hometown was closed years ago, I still miss it...

In my art journal this week

A poem:

high time                                                          concerned

restless                                                              feeling

a daughter
of the old woman
waiting

the uncertainty                                                  to control

how foolish                                                       in vain

Mixed media collage

 

I finished this mixed media collage today.
I used to old small collages, pastels, white acrylic paint, paper scraps, image transfer, glue, acrylic medium and a tea bag.
Because of the word 'index' I put it on top of the right column.
I love the colors. I noticed most of my collages recently have these vertical lines.
I am happy with it.

Old stuff

I have been scanning older pages in my art journals and some collages.
I didn't like these collages much at first, but after a few months now I find I do like them.
Sometimes it helps to forget about something and be able to have a fresh look.

 Soon I began to enjoy the freedom.

 leaning on me.  like a source of power. a pillar of strength.

 To start with it feels good to forget useless stuff

I was inspired by an exercise I read in Jane Davies' book Collage Journeys.
You start with creating an all over collage . Then use a viewfinder to select small compositions.
I cut these into ATC size collages. ( Artist Trading Card: 2.5 inches x 3.5 inches (6cm x 9 cm or 64mm x 89mm )
It has become one of my favorite ways to create backgrounds.

Simpel

Before I was properly diagnosed with a thyroid condition I didn’t have the energy to do the things I wanted to do.

So I improvised.

I  started to make simple collages. Very simple, but these are still my favorites.

This was the beginning of my love for abstract art.
These simple collages forced me to think about composition and color, and I began to learn about design.
Simple can be very difficult...

Here are some inspiring videos for creating abstract art:

 Free series on abstract art and painting

This week in my art journal

December colours

Opera

I didn't get to do much art journaling this week. My 86 year old father had to be taken to the hospital with an allergic reaction, so things have been chaotic.

He's fine now and things are slowly getting back to normal.

 I did notice a change in my use of color recently. Instead of bright blues, yellows and greens, my colors have  become darker, warmer. It must be the season, I guess.

Expressing myself through art journaling

I have always found it difficult to express myself through art.
I can paint a portrait, a landscape, a still life - that’s 'easy', but to actually express my feelings, my thoughts - that is not easy.

Two collage methods I found very helpful to become more open:
1 Combining text and images.
2 Soul Collage.

Combining text and images:

I simply collect images I like in one container and text in another.
And then I have fun combining the two.

I use a very basic background technique :

I glue down 3 or 4 bits of random paper.
I add diluted white acrylic paint or gesso.
Then paste the images and text
add some more white paint or gesso and finaly
add some details.

I need loneliness, even the painful aspects.

upwards, into the sky.

Soul Collage :

“Using intuition and imagination, you create your own deck of collaged cards, where each card reflects a different aspect of who you are.” 

link: http://www.kaleidosoul.com/soulcollage-cardmaking.html 

The intuitive method:

Find images that appeal to you.

Collect background images.

Categorize images and work with one category you find interesting.

Combine those images with the backgrounds you have collected: the right one will just ‘click’.

This is the very first card I made about two years ago. I found I had collected these images of hot airballoons. Why?

No idea. 

But put together with these high (and safe) castle walls, they tell a story.

(Sorry about the quality of the scan.) 

The outcome of these collages are always personal and often lead to more ideas for themes.

Collage