Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Effys Book of Days-Mosaic Spread

The cover of my Art Journal
is still almost blank.
I'm really surprised 
that the muse has not shown up
yet to tell me whats what.
She is a fickle one...
All in good time...
The next spread in 
Art Journal project is 
Mosaics!
At the start of this journal,
I spent a lot of time 
gessoing out artwork
I didn't think I would 
use as collage elements.
 I covered most of the
images in white gesso
but used transparent gesso 
for the images I was 
pretty sure I was gonna keep.
Below you can see
the next pages in the calendar.
Ironically, we've got a 
mosiac theme going!!
Coincidence? 
I think not.
This proves this calendar 
is meant to be the vehicle
for the project.
So I was going through the book
gessoing in advance
of the assignment and prompts.
When I saw this page I thought
ohhhhh, what a perfect
page for my 
1970's porn star inchies!!
Pic below.
Handy tip:
I got 2 boxes of this deli paper
for $20 bucks two years ago.
And I just opened the second box! 
I highly recommend leaving 
the paper in between your pages.
Even if you think they are dry.
They will still stick together.
Prevention is better than
um, fixing it???


   Below you can see 
I've added some drips
and some acrylic paint I've run
a texture rake through.
The green is my fav
green of all time
By the time I lay down the color
I've seen Effy's video.
She journals about 
feelings of rejection
and about not taking 
it personally.
How people come and go 
in our lives and the 
importance of learning
to let them come and go
graciously, with love.
Oh, I'm not supposed 
to grab his leg
and let him drag me across
the room as he's leaving?
 stupid flashbacks.
teehee.
I only did that in my mind.
Thank God I'm on the path
to enlightenment
and I don't own 
a hand gun.
Back to Art.....

 I was so lucky
to attend 
two day Portrait workshop
in Virginia.
I had never drawn a face let alone
a portrait before,
but A and S
is a growing experience for me.
Hell, driving 7 hours in one day
alone is a lot of growth for me..
And pushing myself to grow
artistically in such 
a safe and positive
atmosphere is heaven on earth.
It is unfortunate that the retreats
are no longer in my budget.
Even dogs know that I can't
afford it, thats how
obvious it is that 
I can't afford it.
Feel me?
I knew that you could.
ok back on track....
I was so lucky that besides
sharing musical tastes
and getting the thrill of 
turning Misty onto 
she is an extremely 
generous and patient teacher.
And oh so freakin talented.

As I was pondering on what to journal,
I remembered this piece I did.
I love the poetry
so I incorporated his words into 
my self portrait at the retreat.
I am frightened
not frightened
Powerful words, no?
I printed a copy of the original
and journaled on the back.
I wrote about my fear of death.
My fear of aging, getting sick,
and dying.
Of losing my "beauty". 
Of becoming invisible.
Of walking next to my teenage
daughter in the mall and
the 50 year old guy
looks at her and not me.
Again, I am grateful I do not have 
a hand gun.
teehee.
So I purged it all out,
and cut the print into strips,
then 1 inch blocks to cover
the exsisting inches
in the spread.


 

 
I said good by to all that 
 bad habit energy, and
  glued the blocks down with
Goldens Heavy gel medium.

On the facing page
I glued down a flower 
I've used billions of times
as a mask and stencil
ala Traci Bautista.
This one is actually
the one I used in her class.
Altho stamped with Fear,
its a symbol of the growth
I experienced at Art and Soul,
and the growth I am experiencing
on my path to Buddhism.
I put a little pic of the 
original photo used to 
represent wholeness.
and because I look hot.
teehee.
I did some journalling on the page,
and left room to add thoughts
about experiences that occur
that frighten me.



So that's the whole shebang so far.
I have a feeling that I will not feel 
the "decoration" for the cover 
of this journal until it is complete.
But thats ok.
Effy taught me that! 
My next spread will be for a 
week of days, 
and then Mondays spread!
Which is about
Excepting Where You Are 
In Your Artistic Journey!!
Amen, I'll take Acceptance
for 500 Alex!
Until next time!
xoS

6 comments:

  1. You had me at porn star inchies. ;)

    Seriously, wonderful, gorgeous stuff going on here.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Julie!!! I like to put 10 of them together,....wink wink

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  2. this is great- thanks for sharing your thoughts as well as your process. i'm looking forward to seeing how the cover manifests.

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    Replies
    1. thanks mk, I'm loving your heart work these days and you have me seriously coveting that new little printer you have....xoS

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  3. Susan- I have not stopped by because I wanted to try to get my BOD started first (I can be so intimidated once I look at what someone else is doing-like mine's not good enough or I didn't put enough thought into it,you know?) but I came to peek today. Your mosiac page is fabulous!! I love the thoughts that are behind your page- and using your self portrait- fantastic! Love the energy of the colors in this spread too ♥

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    Replies
    1. Thanks so much for your kind comments Kim! It can be overwhelming looking at the work of over 1000 artists participating in BoD's! carry on and be true to your own emerging style. Compare your work only to your previous work, and as long as you are pleased with your own artful evolution, be proud of your work! looking forward to seeing your book when you are ready to share! xoS

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