home again!

I have just spent the last five days on Kangaroo Island. KI is a smallish island about 16km off the coast of South Australia. It is one of those places that still has a wilderness feel. There are very few tarmac roads and no traffic lights on the entire island.
Lovely as it was - blue skies, sunshine, seeing koalas and goannas in their natural habitat, beautiful beaches, clear sea - I am glad to be home. It is only when we go away that I realise how central to my prayer life my art room is. Of course, I took a journal with me. Well, two actually. But it just isn't the same. My art room is my sanctuary in so many ways. So I'm glad to be back!

This is the double-page spread in my diary-journal that I did while on KI. I prepped the page before we went away, just adding the words and the small daisy stamps to separate the entries.

This is the what I left on my desk to dry before we went:

The image of the door is a postcard of a painting by Kim Nelson. 

I started to think about doors both open and closed. 

If the door is closed, who closed it? Is it a lost opportunity? Or an end to something completed? Is it a challenge, daring you to open it? Should you pass it by or stop and grab hold of the handle?

If the door is open, you can peer through, catching a glimpse of what could be. Will you step through? Will you take the chance and start on a new path? Or is this a temptation you should resist?

What door stands before you at the moment?

A work progresses

 I thought it would be fun to see how my pages progress. Sometimes when I'm finished I can't remember all the layers that went in, so here is one photographed along the way.

I started out with a page covered with brown paper tape - the sort you use to stretch watercolour paper. On top of this I applied some gesso with a plastic card.

A layer of acrylic paint was applied with a baby wipe. 

Collage on a few pieces of paper and tape. 

Add some more paint.

The bit you can't see is that this is the stage where I decided what the page was going to be about. In this case it is a quote by Helen Keller based around a heart, so I put one on the page.

The quote was then stamped on with two different sets of alphabet stamps, edged, and coloured in.

The best and most beautiful things cannot be seen or even touched, they must be felt with the heart.      Helen Keller

A few small hearts were stamped on.

I placed a few winding leaves to fill in what felt like empty and unfinished space with a Copic marker. 

So there you have it - journal page from start to finish.

What's your process?

recycling

I like to make my own journals. I also like ones that are not standard sizes and have a decent number of pages in them. This is my latest. It is 11½ x 8½ x 4in and covered using an old denim jacket. I liked using the jacket because it has allowed me to put a pocket on the front, one on the back, and utilise the buttons as a closure. Also I don't like to let anything go to waste. 

Psalm 23

I've started on a book on Psalm 23 to try to remove some 'sameness' from my pages. Here I've used colours that are not usual for me and hand lettering rather than stamps. The background is made with masking tape laid on in torn strips and then painted over.

I like the shape of the pages, too. It's funny how something as simple as a different shape or dimension can break you out of a rut.

I've also been busy making hand-bound journals for the women's retreat I'm leading on Saturday.