Friday, January 27, 2012

Book Of Days-Is This Art?

I do journal in my Book of Days
after making a page, I 
usually just don't 
post a pic, due to the
personal nature of my writing.
Here's two pics to prove it:

Some of it I blurred out.
I really had a hard time
finding a pen to write over 
all the texture on the 
fear flower page. I think I
ended up using a Pitt brush
marker. not quite sure.

So The Universe provides.

So, I've been playing
around with my blog. In bed.
God bless the lap top. 
What do you think so far?
I couldn't change it back 
if I tried. It took hours
and hours to get to this point.
Opinions?
Moving on to....
Our prompt for this spread was
becoming comfortable where 
your are in your skill level,
not comparing yourself to others,
embracing the need to just keep
making art, even if it's not 
"good" even if it doesn't feel 
"right" or "your style". 
Just keep doing it. You have to 
make a lot of art before your 
style reveals itself to you. 
This video by Ira Glass tells all:
I began with a partially gesso'd
out spread from my Book of Days,
which is an upcycled 2004
Art Journal Calendar from
Somerset Studios. I could
never throw it away due to the
gorgeous collages within, but
for this project I was able to
gesso through the book, leave some
elements that spoke to me and white out the others. It's been
really interesting how the images 
I retained without any prior 
knowledge about the upcoming 
prompts have been so perfect
for the subjects that come up.
blah blah blah.
Time for pics, no??

I really liked the horoscope 
circle thing this page had going
for it. My first thought about this page and combining it with the subject, is that I feel splintered like pieces of a pie,
when it comes to knowing what 
my "style" is. 
My wheels started turning.
I painted the gesso'd out rectangle with silver dab on paint.I was thinking of a mirror or reflection of my style symbolism....

Brayered on some color,
thought I would lay down a stencil
inside my pie shape...not really
sure where I was going....
I purchased this stencil a while ago. I assume every artist questions whether or not their work is "art".




I don't like how the flower stencil looks. I'm not feeling it or the silver paint.


I'm liking the spread below for the This is Art, This is not Art,
bits, but really nothing else appeals to me. 



Since I've been living in bed
for the last four weeks, I have paper everywhere. A little less than two years ago I decided not to use anyone elses art in my art.
So I have lots of copies of my own
work that I use as collage
elements. 
Oh, I do use copyright free vintage images, and images of  vintage fine art...but I don't buy
collage sheets anymore. 





So I see this pile and I think slices. They are all slices of my style as its evolved. I cut them up to make pie shapes and represent all the parts of me.
On the outside ring, I've written names of artists that inspire me,
or I've taken workshops with.





I do use junk mail in my art.
The lady's face was from a 
house cleaning brochure. 
Her red hair and green eyes match me as does her look of horror. 
teehee.

The underlining is white-out
correction tape. I've journaled
about my feelings on style below.
and separated the days of the 
week for future journalling 
with a question mark stamp.
I am having a really hard time
writing over top all these layers.
So far no pen is "the one".
Here is my finished spread.


Thanks for looking.
And thank you to 
The Sisterhood Of The Book
for giving me something to 
look forward to. 
In Bed.
xoS

13 comments:

  1. Wow! Your page really tells a story. I really like how you "fixed" what you didn't like and made it work for you. I love this page for all the meaning you put into and for all of your creativity and contrasting colors.

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    1. Thank you Diana for taking the time to pop over to my blog and for your kind comments! I am having a wonderful time meeting my talented sisters!! xoS

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  2. Thank you so much for this very detailed post about your process! Get well soon!

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    1. Thank you Rita! The Sisters of the Book have kept me sane during this stinky time! I am so enjoying seeing all the amazing art for each BoDer!!Thank you for visiting and commenting, my friend! xoS

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  3. Love love love it and really enjoyed the description or commentary of your process. Very inspiring. thanks for sharing.

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    1. Thank you Kay for visiting and for your kind words! I am really enjoying The Sisters of The Book!! This subject holds a lot of meaning to me and I'm glad it resonated with you as well!! xoS

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  4. Love what your doing and thank you for the great video by Ira Glass. Something we all need to hear regardless of how long we've been creating.
    I do hope you are feeling better soon. Seems things always happen in two's or three's.....perhaps that's what makes us stronger in life.
    Get well wishes, Amy jo

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    1. If it's in threes AmyJ , I hope the third thing is winning the lottery! I can't take any other physical stuff right now....
      That video is great isn't it, I got it from Effy Wild and our Book of Days project. Why don't you join us?? I think I'm going to start 2012 over February 1! Heres to becoming stronger every day!! xoS

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  5. Love all your pages, they are wonderful. I do hope that 2012 improves very rapidly. x

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  6. Oh I love the way you did the "pie chart" with all your pages cut up...all I can say is I hear ya on the style thing, I'm never sure where I'm going ...EVER. And you know what, I kinda love that. Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts and the whole process with us!

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  7. I do hope you will be feeling better soon. I'm new to your blog, but love the way it (your blog) and your pages in your journal look. I too will only be using my own work (or copies of) in my journal...I think it adds another dimension, and I'm not really a mixed media artist, so it feels kind of strange to me to use other folks images and papers in my collage stuff...So nice to have found you through BOD.
    Creative Blessings, Maggie

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  8. Gorgeous artwork, I loved reading the story behind it and seeing the transition of the pages. So much thought and love went into creating it. I adore your colours too.

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  9. Thank for the step-by-step sharing of your spread. I know see all the layers of meaning which make it even more rich. Love the colours and how vibrant it feels - it IS art!

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