Friday 6 July 2012

GRATEFUL

Many of you will know that paint doesn't seem to be my natural medium, but I do keep trying to learn to love it, so that's what was happening here.  It may be purely a matter of laziness, in that I want to dive straight into a page and not have to gesso it first etc etc., but whatever I had some fun splodging paint about here.  I did a background of quite diluted paint (these are acrylics let down with water) and then used a baby wipe among other things to add more layers.
 Then because it was one of those times when I was just making a background and seeing where it led, I dug about in my collage materials and added a few images.  Although I forgot to photograph it at that stage, I used a technique I often resort to of asking myself what's the one word I want to put on this page?  This time it was "grateful" and so I wrote it in the middle - having learned the hard way that it rarely works to stick it at the top.
After that the creative juices just started to flow ... and although I do know that my writings here sound very Pollyanna-ish I am unapologetic about that!  It seems really important to me to regularly engage in the Count Your Blessings exercise - and all the more so when you're a bit down and dejected.  Its frighteningly easy to lock into a downward spiral in which you can only see negatives, but I find when you look for them that there are ALWAYS good things to celebrate and give thanks for.
You may notice that this is a page I made back in March ... when we were still hoping for a summer!  I haven't been doing a lot of journalling lately - it goes like that with me, I'll work all day every day in my journals for a while, and then I end up needing a change of activity.  I've got a sewing project on the go at the moment, but in a few days I'll return to my journal with renewed enthusiasm.

Sometimes I wish I was the sort of person who could concentrate on just doing one thing well - like sewing or making cards etc., or stick to just one medium, but I seem to be somebody who needs diversity and lots of different materials to play with.  Maybe you're the same?

8 comments:

Artyjen said...

It's a lovely painty background for your page ;)
xoxo Sioux

roc said...

i think it is always important to change things up from time to time. i know for me it is.

Unknown said...

I really love your pages!!! I am always so inspired by what you do.

flutterbycrafter said...

I love the simple way you start and how it grows until its fabulous

Pat Beaumont said...

Love the way your page turned out - changing direction doing something else can only help with creativity

Claudia Hemmings said...

I really love this colour combo Rosie.

Cath Wilson said...

I firmly agree with you here. Counting our blessings is SO important, focusing on the good things we've been blessed with. Sounds as if Mr Melancholia visits you as often as he does me - not good at times and thanking God is always a good way forward. Good for you, Rosie x

Marion said...

Wow, I am exactly the same! I bounce all over the place from journaling, to watercolor, Zentangle, drawing, photography, and more. I too wish I could be extremely good at one of those things, but I feel like I'm average across the board. But, I enjoy doing different forms of art, and I have learned that there is nothing wrong with that. As long as I'm creating, I'm happy! :-)