Book of Days : Collage spread

Book of Days 2019 is being taught as a collaborative this year. This month, all our teachers presented a lesson using collage elements. Our guest artist for February is Tangie Baxter and our bonus emerging teacher is Lynn Wilson.
I used to do collage a lot - my first online art journal teacher was the wonderful Kelly Kilmer and I filled my Full Tilt Boogie journal with collaged pages. The memory of these 2 in particular informed the spread below and in turn my latest spread

Now I still like to include collage elements but mostly they are part of backgrounds, embellishments (love serviettes) or under a paint over collage technique. When I saw Effy's lesson, I was reminded of this spread I did a couple of years ago :

That inspired my initial gatherings of a magazine face and an old calendar page for floral focal

Lynn Wilson shared some of her techniques for art journaling in an altered book and began by highlighting words. I often do that too - I love locating found words in backgrounds or applying dictionary/large print book words. This was my first layer - paint avoiding the words, my face and I was drawn to a different calendar flower to surround her. Click on any photo to see it larger.

I just kept adding layers to my background using some things from my stash including gelli printed tracing paper (which cuts and tears easily and gives a bit of a wrinkly texture when glued) as well as gelli printed micropore tape. Needed to include a butterfly as one of my important symbols

and decided she needed to hold something so added the heart. I coloured her top with a faber-castell pitt pen to tone with the background and couldn't help adding pen detailing to her face so she is altered. 

I love how white doodles light up the page. I needed some larger word/s, and in the end this was easily solved with some new washi tape ♥

Most of my art journal pages evolve organically and I never know how they will turn out. I really enjoy the process and keep working until the spread feels done - it's not done until I love it. A few final doodles in the centre of the flower and ♥

You can sign up to BOD2019 HERE. 

Moonshine : New Moon February

New Moons are for setting intentions. I'm thinking about nourishing my body (food as fuel), and how I can nurture my Inner Wild Child. Above some of my original gatherings - a photo of me and a dress tag - not included in the end but how perfect ♥ Will have to use it in a future spread. I was inspired by the memory of a page created in my art journal from 2015 using paint over collage and a printed photo of me as a child

I was also thinking about self-portraits....This is the result of those combined inspirations. I began with a lovely background of my favourite colours and a photo of myself (posed for this page) printed on copy paper for the paint over collage technique.

The angle of my original wasn't quite right so I added more hair and made the eyes larger and reframed the mouth so not open....I still know it's me under there!

Love adding paper serviettes as collage elements in my art. 

And this is my spread all finished - loving the colours ♥

You can find out more about Moonshine with Effy Wild HERE.

Self-Portraits

A day off for us today and I got a bit distracted looking at other people's art...Very inspired by Caterina who has a tradition of creating a self-portrait in her journal every January. I wish I'd thought of that! And then I realised that I have created self-portraits over the years - just not at the same time of year. These are the portraits that began with my actual face (using an actual outline of my face in some way) or something about them feels to me like they became personal.
I began my journey with creating faces in January of 2015. I took my first Life Book class then with the intention of learning how to create faces and this Beacon of Light was my first ever face! I feel like it looks like me because of the colours and symbols I used and the brown eyes and "curled hair" ♥

A week later, I was posting this : 

February 2016 begun with an image transfer of an actual photo of my face

Although I didn't begin with with my own face in this paint over collage in July 2016, this next one really feels like a self-portrait - I think it's the imagery, colours and brown eyes/curly hair

January 2017 - a repeat of that image transfer technique (even used the same photo to transfer)

And even repeated again in March 2017 for my vision board 

April 2017 - begun by tracing over a photo of me

November 2018 - another traced-ish beginning

Now for February 2019....I did actually start it today so I will share soon I hope.