The light within

This page started out with a background I really liked - the way the shapes and colours were blending I was really happy with. And I felt drawn to drawing a large face, so pulled out some magazines to find something to guide me. I was uncertain in drawing a profile, so I tried the trick of using my non-dominant hand and a permanent pen. I find that it seems to turn my critical brain off - it's as if putting the pen in my left hand means that I don't expect to produce anything that looks like anything, and the pressure is then off.

So with pen in (non-dominant) hand I drew the face. And I was pleased with it. The lower level of co-ordination I have with my left hand means that I just do line drawings, no attempt at shading - although perhaps some day I should try that as well - and somehow that makes the lines more sure.

Anyway, there was the face in the middle of the page, and I liked the face and I liked the background. But I needed to make the face stand out more. I was going to have to sacrifice the background. Now, I find it hard to cover up parts of a page that I like, but sometimes you just have to give it a go. So I took the plunge and wielded a paintbrush to cover up my lovely circles.

And I learned that sometimes we have to sacrifice the good to get to the best. Once the bits of background were covered, the face looked strong and glowing. Which led me to the words - let the light within you shine. 

And the way to shine is to be the best me I can be. Letting go of some of the things which might be good, to make sure I say yes to the best. 

(Linking to Paint Party Friday)

Inspiration in gardening

I find that working in the garden is always a source of inspiration for me. Not that I'm a keen gardener. I do what has to be done. I water anything that will feed me. The rest has to fend for itself.

So I was sweeping up the leaves. It's autumn here and some of the trees are shedding. I don't really know why I bother; I looked out of the window this morning and the garden looks as if I didn't do a thing.

But…

Sweeping the leaves made me realise something. I brush all the dead leaves under the fruit trees where they can rot down and enrich the soil. In the same way I need to use all of the stuff in my life that is cut away, pruned, shed, to feed my life and help me to produce fruit. Just because the dead stuff is cut away it doesn't mean that I can't learn from it and use the experience.

Lost for words

I find at the moment that there are lots of colours, patterns, and layers in me, but not many words. My pages are different. My usual 'headline and thoughts' format has all but disappeared. So I continue to put down the colour and just scribble a few words as they occur to me. I guess it's just a different season.

A stream of words

Having fun with some new pigment inks that hubby bought for me.

things other than journals

I usually only post journal pages on this blog, or the occasional tag for a swap, but I work in other media, too. This silver ring is for a friend's 40th birthday. The band isn't joined at both ends so it's adjustable.

And sometimes I work in cake - this is for my daughter's 16th. Each year she requests something particular for her cake - I've done cats, an ark, a standing elephant, a dragon. She likes to test my creativity :)

up, down, out

More work in my flourish journal. The background is a piece of clean-off paper - you know, where you clean off your brayer, stencils etc. - so this was a very quick page. I just added a stamp, a tiny bit of doodling, and a few thoughts.

I need to flourish in three directions:
     Reaching UP in praise.
     Digging DOWN deep to stay rooted.
     Reaching OUT in community.

Blooming

I haven't played along in any challenges just lately because things have been so busy around here over Easter. But there's a new theme over at Art Journal Journey (see the button in the sidebar) - quotes and poems.

At first I thought this page would be about wheels, but a sunflower was crying out to be made. And that suggested the quote. Of course, it also fits in with my word for the year - flourish. Blooming where you are planted is to do with making the best of your situation, no matter what it is. To be your very best in any place you find yourself.

It's not always easy. It can be hard work. But it's worth it.

Looking at a different angle

Sometimes we can get caught up in looking at things the same way all the time. We can only see one solution to a problem or only one side to an argument. When the situation doesn't resolve in the way we expect, it can be puzzling. We can feel as if we've hit a brick wall.

Why not try looking at a different angle. See things from a different perspective. Turn that problem around and see it from all sides. Put yourself in the other person's shoes.

Looking at something from a new angle can reveal all sorts of interesting things that we might not otherwise consider.

a quick post

Just a quick post of a new stamp carved in a lull during the Easter busy-ness.

the many layers of life

This page went through a lot to get to this. To start with, I decided to do the opposite of everything that I thought of. I wanted to put gesso through a flower stencil in the top right corner, so instead I put black paint through it on the bottom left. You might be able to see a pale green flower shape in the centre. My tendency when I have a partial pattern from the gelli-print - i.e. where a mask has gone off the edge of the plate - is to put it on one of the edges of the page. So this time I put it in the middle. You get the idea.

Anyway, as you can imagine, this resulted in a background that was one hot mess. I'm sure on another day it might give me something amazing, but this wasn't that day.

What to do?

White acrylic brayered over the whole lot, of course. And some of the surface must still have been damp because the brayer picked up small bits of paper and redistributed them elsewhere. Now the surface was a bit grungy. I could work with that.

Now I worked the way I wanted to. But the bits of the previous play still show through. This page wouldn't be the same without all that went before.

Much the same as our lives.

The many layers of life build on one another. Some may become obscured as others come into focus, but each contributes to the final picture.