Uncertainty

The new theme for November for The Documented Life Project 2015 is one close to my heart: Stencils, Stamps and Masks. I don't need any encouragement to use these as they are present on virtually every spread in my Dylusions art journal. The art challenge this week is: Stencils, and the journalling prompt: "On the edge of uncertainty - what are you afraid of?". 

I looked up two quotations about UNCERTAINTY and liked them both so combined them in this spread. The first one is by Blair Pascal and reads as follows:

"We sail within a vast sphere, ever drifting in uncertainty, driven from end to end"

This made me think of waves and the background was based on that idea. The only stencil I used was one from the October Stencilclub that had big and large dots. I also used a handmade wavy edge stencil to make wave shapes towards the bottom of the pages. I used one of those lines to collage pieces of vintage maps along the edge. The quotation was written along this. To represent the drifting from end to end I used postage stamps with images of ships and planes. 

I also stamped the background randomly using a text stamp  called Life Consists (by Hampton Art Stamps) as the contents seemed appropriate to the subject of the other quotation I decided to use (by William Congreve):

"Uncertainty and expectation are the joys of life"

One thing however is certain in life and that is that it ends and the text on the stamp refers to that. 

The focal point is a detail from a Vincent van Gogh painting called L'Arlesienne. Her serious expression seemed to me to tone in with the quotation. What is she afraid of? Probably much the same things we all are. Uncertainty is not something that sits well with many of us and yet, we have little or no control over what happens nex,t so we might as well sit back and enjoy the ride. A lesson I'm still learning!

I added black/white tape to the pages and the final touch was to drip acrylic ink in magenta on them as well as blue and turqouise. They served to link it all together and the magenta in particular added that extra infusion of colour I felt was needed.