The True Mystery

This week's prompt on Joggles Art Journal Adventures was: Mystery. Usually the first step for me is to find a quotation that inspires me, either from books of quotations, Pinterest, Google search or as in this case from a notebook where I write down lyrics, quotes, or sayings that I find inspiring and want to remember for future use. It was a quotation by Atticus that reads: "The true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible". It's somehow very soothing to know that humanity is still wrestling with the same philosophical questions as the ancient Greeks and Romans. It reminds me that they were as human as we are, all these centuries later.

To stick further with the mystery I used pieces of a foreign newspaper for my collage in the background. It came to me ages ago as a paper bag and was falling to bits so I repurposed it. I can't read the writing and in fact, have no idea what language it is in! Mystery indeed. I also used Tim Holtz's tissue wrap and pieces of scrapbook paper in the background collage.

Then I added Distress Crayons and fluid acrylic paints and rubbed some of it away through stencil  M093 Intersected Moon from Stencilgirl Products, using a baby wipe. For additional texture and contrast I used a stamp from Nathalie Kalbach's stamp set Masks by Stampendous. When it came to the focal point there was another of those synchronicity moments when I found just what I wanted in one of the Sunday papers' magazines. I could hardly believe my eyes but I'm getting used to such moments. That doesn't mean they don't leave me wondering what the universe is up to. Another mystery!

The final touch was the orange postage stamp top right. It needed a touch of that orange up there to unite the pages. The quotation was done with a Dymo writer and self adhesive, transparent tape.