Dog Lady Out for a Walk

This is the first spread for the Book of the Night online class that I am taking.  We had to create "The Bride of Frankenstein" in our own way.  So mine is called Dog Lady Out for a Walk.  We altered a magazine photo, wrote a letter to someone we admire but dead, created a night forest and then reconciled by adding. The next activity is a haunted house!

Dog Lady Out for a Walk

Memory Wall

In Juliana Coles online workshop Book of the Night we were tasked to create a spread about a body scar. My piece Memory Wall commemorates an experience I had when I was a little boy.  I was playing with a new toy airplane when I "flew" it into my head.  The gash with blood flowing everywhere was enough of a concern that I was bundled into the car and taken to the hospital where I received several stitches.

We all have memories, some not forgotten and others lost to us at the moment.  Occasionally forgotten ones seep through the memory wall and we relive an experience from long ago.

Indian Festival

                     Indian Festival                                   

Since this summer I have been involved in a round robin journal exchange.  This is my fifth and final spread in the journals.  I am particularly fascinated by the colors of India.  They are so vivid and when I found an ad in a travel magazine I thought that I needed to do a spread to capture the flavor of those colors.  I also had a conversation with a friend Christmas Day about orange.  My friend has a strong dislike for the color. Perhaps I took that as a challenge or maybe subconsciously I was driven to create something with a dominant orange.

Palm Reader

Palm Reader

This is my second assignment for the Juliana Coles Book of the Night class.  I tried so many things in this piece.  I kind of prefer the pages as separates rather than a two page spread.  The photo of the fortune teller and the client and my Photoshopped portrait are two things I really like about the piece.  The heart above my head looks like a hat to me.  I don't think it does so much in the journal.  The Signo pens did not work too well as they diluted with the addition of matte varnish.  The white Sharpie worked so much better.  I like the texture that the black masking tape provided.

Moroccan Stencils

Yesterday I went to the Bellevue Art Museum to see the exhibition A World of Paper, A world of Fashion, Isabelle de Borchgrave Meets Mariano Fortuny.  I was enthralled.  The patterns on the paper fabrics and backgrounds for the paper dresses was absolutely unbelievably beautiful.  If I could have taken photos I would have.  Instead I am going to return to the museum with my sketchbook and colored pencils to catch the color choices for the "fabrics".  If you do not know Isabelle de Borchgrave, do a  Google search.  You will be rewarded.

My mind will not turn off since.  It was one of those exhibitions where one walks away with motivation and stimulation to create.  So today I researched Moroccan designs and found one that I liked and thought would be good to start.  In Photoshop I uploaded the tile design and duplicated it to create ......

 I then created the design below.

After most of the morning I had three stencils for my journal background

stencil (cut) #1

stencil (cut) #2

stencil (cut) #3

After using the three stencils I had the following background in my journal.  I really liked it and was pretty satisfied.  Then I tried little blue punch-outs in the center of each main design and WOW!

Here is the final background.....

The blue makes it pop even more.  Now the next issue is to somehow incorporate my design into my barn series.  Yes, Ingrid, this is coming to you next month.

Survivor

Since posting the photos and information below, I have worked on my piece for the 'Night' class.  Here is today's work.  It has taken on a title as well, Survivor.  I added a portrait that I did last year or the year before entitled Navajo Woman.

I am taking a journaling class from Juliana Cole's called Book of the Night.  I am a bit behind but decided to document my process this morning.  There is more to go and I will show that in the next few days when I get it done and the holidays allow.

 I have taken classes from Juliana before and the process has been similar  in the steps up until reconciliation which is where I ended today.  We painted a light color on the spread and we added glossy and not so glossy magazine photos ripped or cut.

Then we wrote and wrote and wrote across the spread.

We added color using a device of choice that left sharp lines.  The words asked for were poetic in nature, but mine come from an NY Times article

I added a step in the reconciliation part because my inner voice told me to sand and paint using a baby wipe dipped in liquid acrylic.

I tore paper off during the reconciliation process and add more color after the decollage process.

I added line using a white Signo pen and finally...

I added white writing.....I have not read ahead but I think this will be covered with paint.  We shall see.

Syd and Blue #3

Syd and Blue #3

Syd and Blue #3 is the cover of the signature that I just finished and will put in the mail to Sweden to my friend, Ingrid, but will return to me once Ingrid's spreads are complete.  As you can see the word BARN is spelled out in letters which came from puzzle pieces that I got at a flea market.  The barn photo was taken not far from the Stillaguamish river north of Everett, Washington.  The fabric lines are leftovers from my friend, Maggie, who lives on Orcas Island

Syd and Blue #2

Syd and Blue Barn

Syd and Blue #2

Syd and Blue #2 is almost ready for a transatlantic flight to Sweden.  Within the signature the barn doors open to reveal Syd and Blue #2.  As you can see when closed, S and B are totally hidden from view.

I collaged Syd differently than Syd and Blue #1 and the background is similar and yet different.  I added the stenciled fleur de lis pattern.  I also tried a new stamp from the foam where one can leave impressions.  I taped toothpicks together and impressed them into the foam to make the grass.  This piece has been sitting around just waiting for today to be complete.  A good night's sleep and a sleeping brain solved the issues and within a short couple of hours I was able to complete it.

Barn on the Plains

Barn on the Plains

This piece has been waiting and waiting and waiting to be completed.  This morning while looking for a brownie recipe in one of my mother's women's magazines I found the barn and silo.  Within minutes it was cut out and adhered to the waiting background.

This past week during my workshop at the Orcas Senior Center I was given a baggie full of narrow fabric scraps by one of the participants, Maggie.  The fabric lines that you see sure came in handy.  Once the pieces fell into place this spread came to a quick closure.

It is a windy day on this farm and the dust is arising!

Elephant Walk

Elephant Walk

In this piece I experimented a great deal.  First, I used bleeding tissue paper in the background and I sanded gesso.  I used ink sprays to add color and I wiped color away.  I really like the muted colors that resulted.  I added some polka dot fabric that came in the mail with something I ordered online.  Jane Davies had a video on using hot glue to make stencils.  So after I tried the process I had colored stencils which I cut up to use as collage material.  I added mica over some of the hot glue stencils.  I also learned how to use "replace color" in Photoshop as I wanted the baby elephant to be more in color line to the adults.  Let's go to Africa!

Monkey See

Monkey See

Monkey See is the cover for my second signature in a journal that will have three signatures.....one completed this summer in Orly Avineri's workshop on Whidbey Island; an RR journal making the rounds; and this signature that is almost completed.

The light is a bit dark on this scan.  When the signature is closed and bound the monkeys will no longer be together.  The one on the right will be the front monkey.

A student of mine gave me a napkin with peacock feathers on it which finished this spread.  I am kind of excited to complete this journal as I know how the cover will be finished.  I found some plywood strips...veneer....on the beach during the Whidbey Island class which will be perfect and a remembrance of one very cool and foggy excursion with the class one afternoon.

Cloth Journals

If you have not taken a Mary Ann Moss online class you are missing out on a hoot of a time.   Please visit her blog and check out her classes if you are interested..... http://dispatchfromla.typepad.com/

I have a bunch of fabric scraps from my 95 year old mother who is a quilter.  I sewed the scraps a la MAM and now I am three journals done.  Too much fun!