Time between Sleeping and Waking

A quick page in my Collage Journal,

inspired by the current Wanderlust online course theme of

Night.

I used another spare page from my Wreck This Journal book.

The owl is from The Graphics Fairy.

There is a newspaper clipping,
some images from Eliza's Collage Collection,
printed text,
washi tape &
Tim Holtz Remnant Rubs
(Elements).

"It is a chilly autumn night
and you are surrounded by
the quiet of the countryside,
lying atop a cosy blanket
below the dazzling sweep of
the millions of sparkling lights
that make up the Milky Way.

It is nothing short of
wonderment,
and when we look up,
we connect with our childhood,
our place in the galaxy,
our ancient past
and ourselves."

Be as Free as a Bird

A quick page in my Collage Journal,

inspired by the current Wanderlust online course theme of

Birds.

I used a spare page from my Wreck This Journal book,
a spare bird image from this year's ICAD series,
together with two words & a stamp image from
Eliza's Collage Collection.

I added printed text
coloured card
& watercolour pencils.

This is a reminder for us
to remember that
we are as free as
our mind allows us to be.

The Unconventional Life

This piece was inspired by a Wanderlust class by Jamie Avery
on our new theme of
Birds.

I used a That's Crafty ATC Art Shrine
made from 3mm MDF.

I covered the outside with white gesso,
then Eco Green Crafts acrylic paint
(Mulch & Pure Gold).

Inside the background is a printed image
from Shawn Petite,
edged with Distress Ink (antique linen).

I composed my three dimensional scene,
using magazine images
& twigs gathered from the garden,
together with a found feather.

The finished piece measures approx. 11cm x 7.5cm x 4cm.

Sometimes in life
it is better to take
the road less travelled
& create your own path.

When life gives you a hard square box
instead of a round soft nest,
look for the positives
& make the most of it.

My Renaissance Friend

Inspired by a Wanderlust class by Eliza Trojanowska,
this is a double-page spread in my collage journal.

My renaissance girl
is an image from National Galley of Art
paired with an image from Dover.

She is by Leonardo da Vinci
entitled Ginevra de' Benci
c. 1474/1478

The first page uses a page torn from Pride & Prejudice,
teabag paper,
Tim Holtz Remnant Rubs (Elements),
mt washi tape ,
printed text,
Stabilo All black pencil
& a scrap of a printed image by Shawn Petite.

Soft, graceful & thoughtful,
as she sets about writing her own story.

On the second page she is paired
with an image from a current magazine,
set over the image & words of a page
from my Wreck This Journal book.

There is mt washi tape,
book text & scraps of printed paper as before,
together with printed text
& Stabilo All black pencil.

Here she has more attitude,
defiance & strength,
as she makes a stand in the modern world,
unafraid to just be herself.

What do you think?

A double page spread in my Wanderlust 2018 collage journal,
celebrating my love of the Tate galleries in London.

The first page uses a frame image from Eliza's Collage Collection,
which was part of the Early Bird Wanderlust 2018 course content.

Inside is a comment postcard from Tate,
pencil & word images from Eliza
with some washi tape.

I added gold & silver metallic rub-ons around the frame
& used a Faber-Castell watercolour pencil around the edge of the word
& on the tip of the image of the pencil.

The second page already had the thought bubble,
but I used black acrylic paint to block out the printed text.

Once dried, I added my own printed words inside.

Apart from the miniature collage,
all the other images are from Eliza.

The miniature collage is actually a Moo Business Card,
with a copy of a postcard collage I made over five years ago now.

It is held in place by two black photo corners.

Tate published my collage on their website
& you can see the original article here.

My inspiration was the Kurt Schwitters Exhibition,
held at Tate Britain &
the Roy Lichtenstein Retrospective at Tate Modern,
which I visited on the same day.

A little more washi tape, gold thread
with four more of Eliza's images
completes the spread.

I have been to many exhibitions at Tate Modern,
together with a six week evening course,
various talks
& took part in a project there a few years back.

All hold such precious memories for me.

Is there a gallery that
constantly inspires you?

Behind every Picture

The new theme on the online Wanderlust course,
with Everything Art is
Art Gallery.

This page in my collage journal
is just a quick page to get me thinking,
so I am sure there will be more pages soon.

Art galleries have played such an important role
in my life in recent years,
with my many visits & courses
documented on my other blog.

Here though I hope that this subject
will inspire me to create my own art,
 albeit simple collage art journal pages.

For my first page, I have used a piece of Tim Holtz
Kraft Resist card to act as the gallery wall.

The frames were images cut from a magazine.

I cut out the original portraits
& replaced them with book text
& Tim Holtz Paper Dolls.

Sold Already

They are hung on my gallery wall
with gold  thread
secured with white brads.

Just some printed text to finish.

Visit Room 33

A Ramble through Time

Another page in my

Wanderlust 2018 collage journal,

this time inspired by Kasia's lesson.

The basis of the class was how to use inspiration

from a book in an art journal page.

Well, call me predictable,

but of course I had to use

Pride & Prejudice

by

Jane Austen.

This book has been my constant source

of creative inspiration for many years.

It is a story of human endeavour,
demonstrating the consequence
of making assumptions,
as we then follow the characters subsequent journeys
as they break down barriers of mistrust
to find love
& tearing down walls of deceit
to find truth.

Although written over 200 years ago,
the awkwardness of family relationships,
the complications in friendships
& the rush to form those hasty first impressions,
all have something important & relevant
to teach us today.

The base page is watercolour paper,

coloured with splashes of Distress Ink

(mustard seed, peeled paint & broken china).

The another page is one from my Wreck this Journal book,

which I have been using throughout the Wanderlust class this year. 

I used Eco-Crafts Acrylic Paint

(Pistachio & Waterfall)

with white gesso.

I used a rubber stamp from Papermania

over the dried surface

with Ranger Archival Ink

(Jet Black).

This page was then cut into panels

to fit my base page,

then edged with Distress Ink

(black soot).

There is also torn patterned vellum 

(also from Papermania)

some book text

& printed text.

The images of the lovely ladies

are all from The Graphics Fairy.

There is some old lace,

a few die cut hearts

cut from textural handmade paper

& a vellum sentiment from Sarah Lugg.

In all things of nature
there is something of the marvelous.
Aristotle 

The Mountains of Life

Another page in my
Wanderlust 2018 collage journal
on the current theme of
Hills & Mountains.

I used an image from a magazine,
washi tape
with printed text
& words cut from
my Pride & Prejudice book.

The quote is

Be still like a mountain
& flow like a great river.

A simple page,
but one which offers food for thought.

Leap of Faith

Another page in my
Wanderlust 2018 collage journal
on the current theme of
Hills & Mountains.

I used an image from a magazine,
with words & letters cut out
from a newspaper.

The idea behind this piece,
is that once we have climbed a steep hill
or traversed a rough mountain side,
we need to open our wings
& take a leap of faith.

Getting the Right Perspective

A double page spread in my collage journal
for the new Wanderlust 2018 theme,
which is

Hills &

Mountains.

I used two magazine images
& one of my own photographs
taken from the top of the hill
near where I live.

The butterflies & word label
are from Eliza's Collage Collection.

My own photograph at the bottom

There is also Tim Holtz Tissue Tape
Stabilo All Black pencil
& printed text (my own words).

The butterflies are in three different sizes
as a reference to Jamie's class this week.

I am working in spare pages
from my edition of Wreck this Journal,
keeping them clean & simple,
yet creating pages which provoke thought
& prompt memories.

When hills & mountains
appear in our life,
let's see what is waiting
for us at the top.

We just need to have
the courage to climb
the obstacles in front of us.

Once at the top
rest a while,
take time
to look around
& you may gain
a new perspective.

Preserving Memories

Another double page spread in my Wanderlust Collage Journal.

The current online course theme is
Meadows.

This week we were adding pressed flowers to our journal pages.

Not sure if my pages are finished, but here they are.

The flowers were picked in April 2017,
pressed & kept until I needed them.

Flowers picked April 2017 ready for pressing

I have also added some freshly picked flowers to my previous Meadows page.

Here is the original photograph.

With the extra pressed flowers.

To protect the flowers, I have inserted a vellum sheet between each page.

The flowers were adhered using Mod Podge.

I added a little gold patterned tape.