Le Rouge

I'm continuing to make spreads for The Documented Life Project 2016 in my 8 x 8" Dylusions journal. I want to try and keep up as much as possible as long as I can find pockets of time to do so. I haven't made any resolutions for this year but as the weeks are passing I'm beginning to feel that 2016 is the year in which I want to learn as much as possible about art journalling and I detect my own desire to have a paintbrush in my hand as well as a needle (although not at the same time!).

The January theme for The Documented Life Project 2016 remains: Go our on a limb and try something new. Our prompt this week is: Use text from a flyer or magazine.

I did something new by using Catalyst tools to add the paint to the background and discovered I enjoyed that very much. The other new thing I tried was to use glitter pens for outlining. They give a subtle sparkle to the pages (lost entirely on the pictures, alas). Inspired by my friend Lenna I also wanted to use some glimmering Javana paint. The turquoise colour pot I grabbed was very old (perhaps more than 20 years) but after a lot of very vigorous shaking it proved to be fine. Now I want more of them!

I used 3 Stencilgirl stencils to make the background: the large stencil from the January 2015 club, the Timeless stencil designed by Seth Apter and the Entangling Threads one by Terri Stegmiller. The background ended up being mainly pink and red with some turquoise and blue thrown in for good measure. I remembered I had a reddish image (from a fashion magazine) in my box of cuttings and was surprised to find that she was holding on to s scull. It must be my week of working with them!

The required text from a magazine is a quote from the book A Room with View by E.M. Forster. It reads:
"It isn't possible to love and to part. You will wish that it was. You can transmute love, ignore it, muddle it, but you can never pull it out of you. I know by experience that the poets are right: love is eternal".  We all have our memories of those whom we have loved and they are surprisingly strong, specially when we discover they have died.

I found the Seek Le Rouge words, also from magazines. That left a large empty place on the left hand page and I couldn't help myself. It simply had to be filled by postage stamps in matching colours. A few of the stamps also have meaning connected to the quotation, at least for me.

I am already in love with the 8 x 8" journal and the work I have done in it so far. I always feel guilty when I like my own work. I know that is ridiculous and wrong and I'm trying to get over it but secretly I leaf through my art journals when I need cheering up. It works!