NEW YEAR ...

  

We've had a very quiet Christmas and New Year, which gave me time to make this page in my brand new journal ... its not often that I begin a new one (this is number 13) right as the year turns.  It feels sort of auspicious somehow?  OK just me then.

I had a very broad idea of what I wanted to do - a central figure, a statement about new year, and some general observations on how I feel about it ... given the general climate of gloom etc etc.  I painted the simple outline of a figure first, then added the red background around it.

Then the "opening statement" and some work on the figure followed.  Apologies for the fact that some of these pictures were taken in daylight and some in artificial lighting - which makes the red look pinker.

I wanted to do something like New Year fireworks on the page, with the figure outlined against them.  This began by using a curly stamp on yellow paper, which I then cut out and stuck down.  I also added some reflections on the aforesaid atmosphere of gloom ... feeling that this is being somewhat overstated by the world's media. At least I hope so.

So more curly bits and pieces and more writing - I don't do resolutions exactly, so this is more of a statement of hopeful intent. I plan to remain optimistic and hopeful about the essential goodness of the human race, even if not about those currently in charge of running many countries.

And then the final stage was to add the dots that turn the curly squiggles into fireworks - at least I see them that way!  I'd always intended to do zentangle type patterns on the body of the figure, but left that to the last minute in case I thought it would look too busy.

Our seasonal celebrations were small and very quiet, and of course I missed seeing my children, but I spent some high quality time with my Beloved and that can only be a Good Thing.  Happy 2017 to you all ...

FEELING UNSURE

This page began without any real idea of what I wanted to say - just working on a background using yellow crayon with touches of grey as shading. I didn't take the colour all the way to the edge, and made a see through border using this Tim Holtz tissue tape, slightly fragile stuff I found but I really like the transparent look it gives. The words about journal just seemed to belong really. And that was it until I found the word "feeling" on one of my collage sheets, which made me ask the question ... well what am I feeling? After that I was off, as you can see below, and because it was all about uncertainty and not being sure what to do next I used grey (Promarker) as a way to visually illustrate that ....
And then it was one of those times when the page was just - finished, with nothing more to say, but of course being me I couldn't leave all that blank background, and my usual doodling and drawing wouldn't have seemed right for the subject matter. So out with my trusty dotty stamp and hey presto, empty spaces gone and filled with curvy lines that also add to the sense of wavering uncertainty!
I really like this page - its a bit different from my usual style, which can only be a good thing. Its always an interesting exercise to work outside your comfort zone. Unfortunately the answer to my question is no nearer than when I began, but I'm sure it will reveal itself when the time is right.