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.

Listen to your Heart

The final page in my monoprint journal.

The patterned papers were created using a Gelli Arts Gel Printing Plate.
I have also used Rangers gel medium (Studio multi-medium matte),
charcoal, chalks & black pens.

The acetate butterflies are from Crafthouse Press.

Dare to Dream

Another page in my monoprint journal.

The patterned papers were created using a Gelli Arts Gel Printing Plate.
I have also used Rangers gel medium (Studio multi-medium matte), charcoal & black pens.

The head image was from Michelle Ward.

Hope

Another page in my monoprint journal.

The heart & background papers were created using a Gelli Arts Gel Printing Plate.
I have also used Rangers gel medium (Studio multi-medium matte),
charcoal, chalks & black pens.

The acetate butterflies are from Crafthouse Press.

To Love

Another page in my monoprint journal.

The main image was created using a stencil designed by Andy Skinner.

The background was created using a Gelli Arts Gel Printing Plate.

I have also used Rangers gel medium (Studio multi-medium matte),

chalks & black pens.

The acetate butterfly is from Crafthouse Press.

Break Free

This is my first spread in my monoprint journal.

The background was created using a Gelli Arts Gel Printing Plate.

I have also used Rangers gel medium (Studio multi-medium matte),

Inkssentials opaque white pen, charcoal, chalks & black pens.

The acetate butterfly from Crafthouse Press has broken free,

spread it's wings & is flying away from the page.

Monoprinted Journal

After a fabulous class on monoprinting with Andy Skinner, using a Gelli Arts Gel Printing Plate, I was left with quite a few plain printed pages which I have made into a journal.

These are the inside pages.

This is the cover front & back.