I'm travelling into a new way of working, a new country, a new language, and a new hobby which I'm passionate about. Come with me for some of the journey...

Tuesday 22 January 2019

Create what you need

Hello all!  I've been busy in the art journal, and surprised myself with a little touch of spring appearing.  It all started out in the neutral zone, and then the page itself demanded some fresh leafy green colour - minimal colour, but still definitely colour!  This page spread was done in the altered book created as part of a workshop with France Papillon, back in November 2014. 


That greenish-blue mesh at the foot of the right-hand page was already there as part of the alteration, as was the lacy fringe down the right hand side, so maybe that influenced what appeared on the page spread.  You can see details of the full book alteration in this Ancient History post.








I was influenced by the Geometric Shapes theme being hosted by Alison (a.k.a. Craftytrog) over at Art Journal Journey this month.  Having played along so often in December with my Winter Journal, I want to try to join in at least once a month from now on.














Geometric shapes didn't seem, at first sight, to be a theme I would find very easy, but then it occurred to me that I often use geometric shapes... they're just not usually the "point" of a project, but rather built into the background, creating architecture and structure.














So my collaging is built here of rectangular pieces of T.H. design paper, snipped to suit.













The two pieces of rusty mesh, though frayed and roughened along the edges, are also essentially rectangular.














As, of course, is the photobooth photo, taken from Finnabair's new Art Daily collection.














And there are plenty of circles around too - from the Muse Token celebrating the young woman's courage...















... to the inky lid-stamping here and there (some done with Distress Paint lids, and the tiny ones with the lid of one of my water-brushes)...














... to the tiny mica-esque sequins catching the light across the spread.
















I notice from the close up that those sequins have actually got a hexagon at their centre - another geometric shape for you there.






I was pretty happy with all that in place - a slightly spare composition, with wintry bleak neutrals, suitable to my mood (as we learned in Hoping for some light), and I could have left it there.


But somehow the page didn't want to stop yet, so I kept fiddling with extra possibilities - metal gears, or clocks, but they were all just a bit heavy and full-on.  I'm not often one for the paper flowers, so you won't be surprised to learn that it took a while before I came up with that as an alternative.








But once I did try a couple of (still pretty neutral-toned) flowers by the photo, I knew there was no going back.

I'm much more at home with greenery, of course, so along with the flowers I added some tiny leafy branches.













They're punched with a Tim Holtz punch from some more of the inky card I made for the greenery on some of the Winter Journal pages.  It's finally almost all used up now.













And once those stems were in place, I found myself adding some watery washes of Peeled Paint Distress Stain to the brown inky spatter already in place.















The fresh green surrounds the words (some of the new Art Daily stickers), highlighting their positivity.













The brighter colour echoes the energy of the ideas in the words.  And clearly this was exactly what I needed right now.








I'm very pleased to have succeeded in keeping some more white space than I usually manage.   Whenever I do leave breathing space around the composition it makes me happy, so it's something I'm going to aim for more often.


And given my "white space" has plenty of book text showing through, that's a double bonus as far as I'm concerned!








So there are geometrical shapes galore within this page spread, but my organic, asymmetric, wilder heart breaks through in the end - with the misshapen cheesecloth (it was originally cut in rectangles, believe it or not) tangled amongst the rusty wire...














... and of course with the natural elements of flowers and leaves, not to mention lots of spontaneous, organic, random spatter in various colours.  I'm simply not a regular kind of woman!






I enjoyed this a lot, and I think there are probably some more variations on this theme to come.  Who knows?  We may be in for another journalling series...

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  As always, it's a joy and an honour to have your company on this crafty journey... especially as we make our way through the January doldrums.  I hope you're wrapped up warm (in one hemisphere) or surviving the heat (in the other).

If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant.
Anne Bradstreet

With the rectangular collage pieces, and the circular ink-prints, Muse Token and sequins, I'd like to share this spread over at Art Journal Journey, where the lovely Alison (a.k.a. Craftytrog) is hosting a theme of Geometric Shapes

37 comments:

Valerie-Jael said...

Beautiful page, the touch of colour gives it a great touch. Hugs, Valerie

froebelsternchen said...

Wow - this is an inspiring post and I love to see how you built all up! My gosh it is so beautiful with all it's details! Gorgeous! I think the coloured touches made it all special and even a bit more interesting. You are a pro! I am so happy to hear that you will be more often with us at AJJ this year! That makes me so happy! And I say thank you very much for supporting Craftytrog's Art Journal Journey theme of geometric shapes with such a fantastic entry! Have a grat week Alison!
Big hugs,
Susi

Let's Art Journal said...

Beautiful pages! The composition looks so elegant and I love all the layers and the delicacy of the background texture 😁. The layers and images are beautiful with the pop of colour from the flowers and foliage too! Wishing you a wonderful week! J 😊 x

Lenie said...

It doesn't matter what you create, it's all beautiful! Great page!
Lenie xx

Helen said...

what a beautiful page! I sit here reading it as it is snowing... looking forward to spring for sure! (some more goodies arrived today, shh!)

Craft Addicts - Tracy Evans said...

Beautiful textural pages. I done the tiny pop,of colour from the flower. Gorgeous. Tracy ❤️❤️

Meggymay said...

A beautiful journal spread Alison . The touches with the delicate flowers you added did make me hope that spring would be here soon.
Yvonne xx

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

What an impressive and awe inspiring entry for Art Journal Journey. I was delighted to read how many wonderful images you were able to pull out that were geometric. I adore the step out photos, too. This is incredible, and of course, so INSPIRING. My sincere apologies for not visiting sooner, but my electricity went out about 4ish this morning.

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

Guess I forgot to mention thank you for sharing this with us at Art Journal Journey. I got too excited reading how awesome this was!

My name is Erika. said...

Alison that little bit of color really makes a big difference. It isn't much, but it gives your spread so much more interest. Very pretty. Hugs-Erika

Tracey@Hotchpotchcreations said...

I adore this Alison, it's not an easy task to try and keep so much white space. I've been working on a piece in a new art journal that i'm finding hard to control for this very same reason. I keep closing the book to stop myself from adding more colour. You've found the perfect balance within your altered book, those words I could do with to control my inner embellishment demon..
Creative Hugs Tracey xx

Brenda Brown said...

Such beautiful pages with the most delicate touches of fabrics and the glorious promise of Spring with those teeny flowers and new shoots of greenery. So fresh and inspiring. Xxx

Anke said...

Wonderful pages, Alison. Fantastic art !

Hugs
Anke

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

I wanted to comment on the comment you made on my informal poll. Although I don't normally respond to these types of comments, I have to say, you took the words right out of my mouth. I have NEVER found a clear stamp that actually stuck long enough to give me a good impression. I also have some old clear stamps, one of which I used, then waited about a week to remove the Staz-on ink. When I did, it partially disintegrated. I was mortified, because it was a well known stamp company, not one of those cheap clear stamps the craft stores sell for next to nothing. Like you, I prefer red rubber, and, since I'm not a very good stamper, I prefer them wood mounted. I get better coverage, than if I put them on an acrylic block. I know lots of my friends have removed their wood mounts to save on storage, but I will never choose that option.

Just wanted you to know how much we think alike, although I probably have about 1/100th the amount of stamps you own.

chrissie said...

Such a wonderful spread Alison with lots of feeling put into it.

I guess Spring does seem good after winter with a bit more brightness and longer days

Have a great day

Love Chrissie xx

Sue said...

Wow this is a real beauty Alison, at first glance it appears simple, but there is so much going on and each element leads on from the other seamlesly. A really lovely piece of art xx

scrappergirl56 said...

Such beauty in complex simplicity...it is funny how a project tells you what it wants or that it is not done yet...guess that comes from being a maker...

Astrid Maclean said...

Lovely vintage style spread Alison, the touches of colour and bits of fabric give it life and indeed a feeling of Spring, - something we can all do with at this time of year.

Chrissy said...

What a beautiful page Alison..I love the delicate look, lovely photo and the sprigs of flowers just adds that touch of colour...so,so pretty..{ I love the sequins too...I'm just learning to use them myself.}

Luv CHRISSYxx

Dorthe said...

Such a lovely and romantic spread, dear Alison, like old pages in a diary , refound and added new love to them, with fresh flowers and twigs . so beautiful.
Hugs, Dorthe

Evelyn Walter said...

Hello dear Alison, sorry for being absent for such a long time! I noticed your projects, but I didn´t comment.
Now I want to say, I enjoyed your winter journal so very much! Fabulous pages, I love each and every single page!
Thes today´s page is gorgeous too - you are a master of using all the neutrals in such a lovely way!
Hugs
Evelyn

Sheryl said...

This is really lovely, I like the addition of delicate colours amongst the neutral tones.

Corrie Herriman said...

Beautiful !
Corrie x

experiments in paper said...

Wonderful composition and balance, Alison! And not only flowers, but yellow ! Nonetheless, absolutely perfect, and as Astrid said, evocative of the spring we all look forward to..... beautiful journal entry. xxx Lynn

Little Artbee said...

What wonderful nostalgic pages so soft coloured. I like the textures and decoration elements and the sprinkles. A wonderful composition. I like it much.
Dear Greetings
Sabine

Redanne said...

A stunning geometric art journal page Alison. I love how you built up your layers (the rusty mesh is fabulous) and those little touches of colour on the flowers are such a great touch - not too much colour, just enough! Anne xx

craftytrog said...

That was a great class with France, wasn't it Alison? My book is still waiting to be used.
You created a beautiful spread for my theme at AJJ! Thanks for linking it.
Alison xx

Julia Aston said...

These pages are so lovely Alison! wonderful balance of design, so many textures, splatters and soft colors! Julia xx

Neet said...

It is certainly a joy and an honour to read your blog post Alison and see the wonderful art work that you create. As soon as I saw this two page spread I was in love with it. The fact that it is minimal says a lot, sometimes I think it takes a lot more talent to create something like this than something which contains several pieces of ephemera.
As far as I am concerned this is a true winner - I am in love and now following the link you gave to see what Hoping for Light has to show me.
Hugs, Neet xx

Candy C said...

Alison, this page spread is nothing short of gorgeous! I so love your splatters, bits of this and that laid out so perfectly. Love the mesh underneath the vintage picture topped with little buttons and the sweet flowers topping the mesh. Delicate mixed with industrial-ish elements. LOVE that! As always, your art is so so lovely.

johanna said...

i enjoyed going through all the details of this beautiful spread, thanks for showing us all these close ups! and when it comes to cheesecloth... i just could use it always, such a great texture:)
xox, johanna

suzyb said...

Oh my Alison, these pages are amazing. Love the delicacy of them. :) I love them!

Craftyfield said...

I am thinking pink for the next page in the series.. no? The flowers, the colours and splatters are all essential to the finished page, Alison, quite lovely! xx

Amanda said...

How lovely to return to a past created page and give it another outing building on what was and creating a now is. Beautiful by design with lovely touches of colour
Love
Amanda x

Mrs.B said...

As usual I'm way behind with my visits, but so pleased I didn't miss these beautiful pages, the neutral colours giving such a delicate look to this spread. Love the pops of colour from the spring flowers and greenery and the fabric adds a lovely texture.
Avril xx

sarascloset said...

Your journal pages are stunning with the book pages peeking through your layers of geometric shapes and splatters. The flowers are an unexpected and welcomed delicate touch and work so perfectly with the industrial rusty mesh/tangled cheesecloth. Love this artwork to pieces!

pearshapedcrafting said...

What a true delight this page is - the subtle colours , the positive message, that glorious texture and the dainty flowers - absolutely adore it all! Chrisx