Winter Growth

Hello all, and welcome.  I'm here with some more wintry journalling today (after a frosty page over at PaperArtsy), and for the first time in months it's something that just happened as opposed to having to fulfil a theme or deadline for a Design Team.

Furthermore, it grew from something that's been itching under my fingers and in my imaginings for an age.  It suddenly found its way out in a wintry way, and it's opened up a channel to a series.  This is the first of a trio at the moment, but I think there are probably more on the way up from wherever they're coming from!

The colours are not going to be a surprise to regulars here, but these particular shades speak strongly to me.  I've used Golden paints - Raw Umber and the most glorious not-quite-blue called Smalt Hue.







There's a sense of roots reaching down into the earth...
















... and old growth still reaching up into the sky.











Somewhere in between, we hope, are the seeds for new growth.














There are certainly bubbles of hope...















... and an energy in the splatters and blots.

I got these large Canson books (9x12 inch pages) in Blick's in New York, very reduced.  It's good thick paper, but I still started with white gesso across the page.








I'm just going to add some "creation jottings" to remind myself of the journey.  Feel free to skip to the end...

Layering up ephemera and paper scraps.

Pastel pencil to create the horizon line.

Coffee Archival stencilling.













Lots of Raw Umber drippage.













Smalt Hue painted onto the sky in a thin wash.















And more Smalt Hue added into the earth to create reflected colour tones...












... and washed onto the paper layers to distress them and tie them into the colour world.














Stamping in Coffee Archival - the branches...














... and the ink blots.

Cobalt Archival and some lids to create the bubbles.












Lots of shading with pastel pencils to create depth and dimension around the papers.

Some indecision about the final layer, but none about the words needed.














Rusty wire tied through the tag...










... and around the end.  (I'm so thankful to have found a new source of rusty wire at It's Crafting Time in Shepreth.)















Spatter with Dylusions, dark and light.











I'm already thinking of creating a version of this series on canvas.

And I'll leave you with the quote which is already at the heart of another page in the series.  That one will be along soon... 

Winter is a season of recovery and preparation.
Paul Theroux







I'd like to share this at Art Journal Journey where they are playing a theme of Collage this month.
And it's months since I've managed to join in at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge, but it's Anything Goes so I'm in!
It's also an Anything Goes theme over at the That's Crafty Challenge Blog - the first time I've had a chance to play along there, I think.