Ostrich - Journal Page

I was walking in the woods past a fallen tree. I looked at the trunk and there was an ostrich winking at me - adventures in pareidolia.

Cutthroat Trout Journal Page

Pareidolia, I often find what I wasn't looking for. Then starts the task of making sense of it. First I seen a fish. Next I had to figure out what kind of fish it was. I decided it was going to be a cutthroat trout. I wanted something eye-catching. Instead, I found a message for my artistic journey. I was doubting my direction and choice of task for the day. My doubt was removed.


"Trout are known for being very forthright and straightforward usually with a strong reason to go forward...with a "this is mine attitude" they strive for perfection and their set goal in mind." Words found on intuitiveguru.wordpress.com

Reflection of My Thoughts

I started by collaging three pieces, in my handmade journal, from one of my photographic images.

 I had seen an image of a man in the reflection of the water. Not an actual reflection of a man, rather a case of pareidolia. I like how the driftwood in the water suggests a collar bone. I painted around the silhouette with a wash of burnt umber and phthalo blue. I also added to the beginning of a heart shape on the opposing page.  A bit of journaling of thoughts that popped in my head. "Sometimes he appeared a reflection of my thoughts. Then a slight breeze rippled the water and he was gone. When images provoke thoughts without bearing."

Phoenix Rising

The prompt for Journal52 week #17 is "Rise". Bonus points were given for including a Phoenix. I started with a double page spread from my upcoming book Journal Starters: NATURE - Backgrounds, Textures and Collaborations. Working from the photographic image of texture of torn and weathered wood the phoenix arose. I used Prismacolor pencils to create the phoenix and a white Gelly Roll pen for the journaling.

Journal Page - The Politics of People, The Insanity of Power

This journal page pretty much sums up my emotions on politics.

The Fox - When You Can't Find What You're Looking For

First I collaged bits of "Journal Starters" images leftover from other projects. I wish that I had remembered to take step by step photos beginning with this step. The image of the rooster inspired the creation of a fox. Next I added layers of paint and colored pencil. 

I named this journal page "When You Can't Find What You're Looking For".

Stairway to Heaven - She Flew Instead of Climbing

The alternate prompt for Journal 52 week 3 is "Your favorite song/lyrics". One of my favorite songs is "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin. I chose a stairway from Journal Starters: Sampler Volume 1 and collaged it in my handmade journal. I cut away some of the windows and replaced them with sky.

Jill Marie Shulse came over yesterday and we journaled together.  Journaling with a friend always makes the experience richer.

I added the song title and other information.

I chose to add my own interpretation "She wasn't able to climb anymore, so she flew instead."

I drew and added the butterfly but was stuck on what to do next. I spent the rest of the afternoon with Jill collaging with left over "Journal Starters" images from other projects.

The page didn't seem "Arty" enough for me. I came up with the idea this morning of loosely painting the image of a butterfly over the page. A loose interpretation of the sun and another butterfly cut out of paper and it is done!

What Are You Saying "YES" to in 2016 - Making Money

I'm saying "YES" to - making money!

Journal52 week 2 prompt "What are you saying "Yes" to in 2016.

I first wrote "Travel and discovering new paths" because for some reason that seems more humble than asking for money. Sure I would like to travel and discover new paths. I'm not sure why I have such a hard time justifying the money-making part of business though. I'm happy and willing to do the work, just asking for monetary compensation is hard for me. When I added the seagull, he first said something clever "Where's the beach?" Then I had him say what I really was thinking "Don't forget to include making money."  After 35 years of marriage and being supported by my husband I want to help. I want to "Make the Money!" All my life I've saved money, I've thought of doing things, so it didn't require a lot of money, I've even found things for FREE on my wish list just because I was willing to wait for them. I have everything I need so it has felt greedy to want to make money. But now I want to earn a "good" income. I want to take the burden from my husband. I want to make some money! So I am saying "YES" to making money.

This page was made using a "Journal Starters" image from my book Journal Starters: Sampler Volume 1 (My intended "money" maker.)


Perhaps I should make another page with my intention loud and clear...


Added 2/19/2016 Second page with intention clearly stated -

I decided to make a second page. While at first glance it is not a "showstopper" page, I had a marvelous time adding only collaging bits of photocopied of money. For rules on using images of money look here. http://smallbusiness.chron.com/usage-money-images-advertising-64067.html

Look closely and you will see faces and words from the 150%+ bill incorporated into the forest. The feather and inkwell is also pieced from the photocopied money.

Journal Starters: Sampler Volume 1 - Now in Stock!

Journal Starters: Sampler Volume 1 - Is now in stock!

This message is brought to you by Ziggy!

Strange Word of the Year - LUMINARY

Journal 52 Week #1 alternate prompt - "Strange Word of the Year 2016" I was looking for a word that I didn't know the meaning for this prompt. While I was familiar with a luminary as a light I had not heard this definition - One who is an inspiration to others; one who attained success in a chosen field. I hope to be a LUMINARY to others!

I started by cropping a "Journal Starters" image to fit in my journal. I added a vertical piece for design interest. I like write in various spaces following the shape of the photograph. I chose a crow for contrast and as the messenger.

Word of the Year - PERSEVERANCE

I joined a wonderful Facebook group named Journal52, there is also a blog that you can follow Journal52.com

Every week there is a prompt along with an alternate prompt. The prompt for week 1 is to choose your "Word of the Year" and create a journal page to express it. 

I started with a "Journal Starters" page. Since my handmade journal is 10" wide x 7" tall and the "Journal Starters" image was 8" x 11" after I cut it out of the book I had to choose how I was going to use it and the resulting layout is above.

I chose the word PERSEVERANCE for my word of the year 2016. Perseverance - Steadfastness in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success. The letters are cut from one of the "working" covers from the book. The white strip was a good place to journal. I was content with the page as it was...

until I thought of googling "animal totem perseverance" and this catches my eye "If seagull has flown accross your path" from this website http://www.spirit-animals.com/tag/perseverance/ I also covered the white space with blue sky to add a pop of color to the spread.

Journal Starters: Sampler Volume 1 - Is now available!

I am proud to announce that my book Journal Starters: Sampler Volume 1 is now available!

For a signed copy you may pre-order the book here buy clicking on the "Buy Now" button on the sidebar.

For faster service it is available from CreateSpace at https://www.createspace.com/5662268
The title access password is *journal*

For a preview of this book and for more information click on the tab above or http://kimraenugent.blogspot.com/p/journal-starters-sampler-vol-1.html

PEACE - Art Journal Page

I have been trying to prep assorted pages in my journal to help jump start my creative process. I find that this is a good way to be productive when I'm not feeling particularly creative. 


I chose the main magazine image because I was drawn to the close-up of praying hands. 


Feeling compelled to journal yesterday I flipped through my prepped journal pages and I envisioned an image over the page. 

Do you see it?

I saw a dove.

Praying for -
Peace on Earth
Peace of Mind

The striped images were added later to cover lettering I didn't care for.  I think they add more visual interest and help balance the design.

Art Journal – Pushing Back the Darkness

A frustrated person and a ship set to sail is the start of my journal page. I wish that I had remembered to photograph the spread before starting to paint in the background.

I was inspired to use a ship and paint a skeleton over the image because of the art and theme of Juliana Coles book “The Legend of Juana La Loca”. The gray day and my own style took over next. Passion tea bag tag from my cup of tea was the finishing touch.

Fond du Lac Barcamp & Art Journaling

I attended my first barcamp at Sept. 20th, 2014 at Marian University's Stayer Center in Fond du Lac. I facilitated an Art Journaling session. I think next time I will name it Visual Journaling instead. As “art” seems to imply some type of “artistic” talent needed.

It is an experience hard to describe. To start, this is their facebook description “ …a participant-generated idea swap meet for the infocurious. It's an unconference, folks!”
Here is the link to their website - http://www.barcampfdl.org/

This group of people was very diverse and included computer based technology enthusiasts, educators, visual artists, and performing artists.

From Wikipedia “Although the format is loosely structured, there are rules^[19] at BarCamp. All attendees are encouraged to present or facilitate a session or otherwise contribute to the event.^[17]Everyone is also asked to share information and experiences of the event via public web channels, including blogs, photo sharing, social bookmarking, Twitter, wikis, and IRC. This encouragement to share is a deliberate change from the "off-the-record by default" and "no recordings" rules at many invite-only participant driven conferences. It also turns a physical, face-to-face event into a 'hybrid event' which enables remote online engagement with BarCamp participants”.
Thanks to Mel Kolstad for the above picture.


I jotted down some notes while attending the sessions. Unfortunately I didn’t have my current journal and had to resort to working in my “Fragmented” journal instead. It took several tries to print a quality picture on my laser printer. (see first photo). To waste less paper I printed on both sides. To further lessen waste I added bits and pieces to other journal pages.


Three salamanders crossed my path on the way to Barcamp and another one after I arrived home. They, along with a waste copy of the first photo in this post, were the inspiration for this page.


I added some different shades of gray colored pencils to give a little more depth to the salamanders.


A journal page from my Relief Printing session facilitated by my friend Mel Kolstad and Beekeeping session by http://dsbees.com/.

Journal page – Good versus Evil

AN INTERNAL DIALOG FOR CLARITY,
PONDERING THE MERITS OF GOOD VERSUS EVIL.
I was working on a figural assemblage today. I cut a circle out with the face from the photograph. Instead of throwing the faceless photograph away I decided to make a collage in my journal. Not sure which direction I wanted to go I decided to flip through a library discard book for another face to replace the missing one. Instead the picture of two men, one wearing white, the other black caught my eye. I immediately though of good vs evil. I originally had them placed behind the head opening so that their heads were representational of eyes. In my excitement to glue the pieces down this idea escaped me until seeing the collage on this blog.
Looking at a photograph of your ART is often a good way to see it with fresh eyes.
I decided my figure needed arms. I found a pair but discarded them in favor of the ones pictured. I found these arms when I was looking for the legs. The arms holding glasses further added to the theme I was developing.
I had not intended to work on a collage today but working in my journal to make something for myself was freeing.
Pondering the merits of good versus evil on this Memorial Day!

Junk Mail Journal Page – The Realist

 

Another page spread for my FRagMENteD Journal. For more pages in my FRagMENteD Journal type “fragmented” in the search box on this blog. I tend to journal about my journal process. I like to go back in my Journal and read what I was thinking.

The Realist Stereo slide is made with very thin metal, so it works well in my journal.

From this angle you can see the image in the stereo slide.,

The Sketchbook Project Journal – More than 300 Ways To Fill a Page

The dogs and I were quite surprised to receive a package from UPS on March 8. Enclosed was the Sketchbook Project Journal – More Than 300 Ways to Fill a Page by Steven Peterman & Shane Zucker. Included was a letter thanking me for participating in the Sketchbook Challenge Blog Hop last year. It also read “Please enjoy the journal and if you like it, please feel free to share it with the readers of your blog. I LIKE IT! So here you go readers, I’m sharing it with you. The book is available here.

Inside are creative prompts to start the creative energy flowing. I was particularly intrigued by this page "THREAD AND SURFACE Cross-stitch this page with a needle and thread".


I chose mustard yellow and black embroidery thread because I liked these colors from the cover. First I stitched with the mustard thread. Then as I was using the black thread I decided to play a bit with the composition. Last I stitched down some magazine images. I really like stitching on paper in a journal! Something I want to explore more in the future.


The stitching on backside of the above page then turned out like this. I’ll admit I tried to keep it neat looking and follow a pattern. It didn’t work out that way. I kind of like the disorder of it though. I wove some images from a library discard book about the Shakers. This page read “When you complete the next page, connect the stitches to create a constellation. So instead I drew some stars to represent a constellation.
I am looking forward to working some more in this book!

Prairie Falcon Journal Page in Progress

 

A journal page that I am currently working on. It started with stickers from the prescription that I took that day for my migraine and a ticket stub for my airline ticket from Denver to Milwaukee that was used, on the day that the Prairie Falcon stopped by. I still have journaling to add and perhaps some other ephemera. I think that I am happy with the bird as it is but I never know. Often when other items are added or I allow it to sit awhile new details become apparent to me.

July Sketchbook Challenge – Circles

 

I know, I know, I didn’t work on this page in my journal until October, and I am not posting it on this blog until November…but I did finish it!  Well almost, if you look closely I don’t have the month written in because I was unplugged from the world at the cabin and couldn’t look it up. I only knew that one of the theme’s was circles. There, I just finished it    J   U   L   Y.

Wow, and now that I look at it here, there is some powerful symbolism tied to the cabin and my Dad that I didn’t consciously place. I often find that if I photograph my work, I see it from a different perspective.

What I was thinking about, while creating this piece, was of course the theme circles and developing a color palette that I like. I consciously thought about adding some straight lines to balance the curved ones and their placement. Incorporating collage was also one of my goals.

For some reason I really like how the one torn edge of the collage paper looks. Perhaps because it is different or maybe because the page itself has torn edges.

I don’t usually work in abstract, but I find working in other styles helps to make my art stronger all around.