Oh blog ... how I have neglected you

Oh my goodness, it has been so long.  I have been so busy creating that I have not been posting anything of what I have done over the past few weeks.  I must start putting that right, so here goes with a post to at least update my Art Journal.

There are four pages missing - that's over four weeks of not writing.  Tut tut!!!

After preparing the base I added texture paste through a piece of mesh and then melted wax crayons randomly on the page - interesting technique, but - note to self ... don't try and dry any additional layers - the heat make the crayons melt again LOL!!! 

This page came from a period of questioning myself, what I was doing,where I was going.  The text added reflects that - "In life we do things, some we wish we had never done, some we wish we could replay a million times in our heads, but they all make us who we are; and in the end they shape every detail about us.  If we were to reverse any of them we wouldn't be the person we are, so just live, make mistakes, have wonderful memories, but never ever second guess who you are, where you have been, and most importantly, where it is you're going.  Believe in yourself and your feelings.  Trust yourself to do what your heart is guiding you to do.  Your intuition is powerful.  Trust it.

Playing with new products - am loving my new Silks.  You can't see it here but there is sheet music underneath the dots.  I loved the quote that "It's not what you see, but how you see it" as what you see in this photo is only the surface - there is so much more hiding beneath.

I got a new book the other day about different surface treatments for creating art.  It is providing inspiration and ideas which I intend to trial in my journal before taking the ones I like onto canvas. 

I started this page by using textured wallpaper and then adding a resist using vaseline (petroleum jelly).  Once you paint over the page you can wipe the vaseline off with a baby wipe and it exposes the underneath colour/s.  The technique can be repeated as often as you like to add more and more layers and depth to your background.  Once I had finished adding the layers I wanted, I lightly sanded the surface to expose the paper underneath.

The quote for this should actually read "where words fail; art speaks" but I wanted the emphasis on the word "art".   The script on the right is about art and has been applied using gel medium through a The Crafters Workshop template.  I used a Donna Downey template underneath and sponged pan pastels through it. 

That's it for this post - more to come on other projects ...watch this space.