Journal Page – Separation of Church and State

The design of this page was inspired by the art of Bob Fisher from the book Journal It by Editor Jenny Doh. I liked how Bob had used collage elements and then with pen and ink delineated images such as a traced hand. I never look at another artist’s inspiration piece while working on mine but rather work off of points that I remember. When I went back to Bob’s journal page spread I was surprised at what I had forgotten, which is good, because I want my pages to be about me, not be a copy of someone else’s work.

I began by tearing out pages from a library discard book. I was attracted to images of a church and the White House. The idea of separation of church and state came to mind. I found this message of “separation of church and state” in the text which I also adhered. Included in the text is “the gray day” which describes the weather while creating this piece. I painted watered down layers of black gesso to allow parts of the background collage to show through. I decided to leave the page black and white with the exception of gold to one of the crosses and a window in the White House. I could have added “brilliant colors” also included in the text. White tulips symbolize forgiveness, I think that I will leave them as is.

I have other thoughts about religion and politics swirling in my head, perhaps I have sparked some in yours.