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24 April 2015

Take a moment


The theme for April at The Documented Life Project is
Colour Safari
(Exploring Inks and Paints)

The Art Challenge for
Week 16.  Gelli Plate
& the Journal Prompt for
Week 16.  A lot on my Plate
Take a moment to pause & remember to breathe. 


I am interpreting the prompt as those occasions when you have so much to do
that you may begin to feel overwhelmed.

So my aim this week is to portray the feeling of being overwhelmed,
the moment when you realise that complicated mixture of emotions are rising to the surface.

This influenced my choice of colours & style of my page.


A feeling of restraint by the harsh ordered strips of background paper & use of the bubble stencil,


but also of release by the softness of the floral design & the escaping butterflies.


Or maybe the butterflies represent time slipping through your hands
& the feeling of not being able to control your situation.


There are the many layers of all the tasks before you
& some things that always remain hidden, out of sight.


One tag is fixed & cannot be moved.

The butterfly hinge

The other is hinged, so that you can see underneath.

A place to journal

I took inspiration from a digital piece that I did a few years ago, which I resized & printed out.

I waxed the printed elements to create a translucency,
so that the background would show through.


I used gesso, a Gelli Arts gel printing plate, a Speedball brayer,
acrylic paints (Tide Pool/Mulch/Pure Gold),
Ranger's manilla tags, Archival Ink (Jet Black) & Texture Paste,
Tim Holtz stencils (Bubble/Flourish),
Woodware clear stamp (Plant a Meadow) & ric-rac ribbon.