Background Check

Checking in with more backgrounds in my visual journal...

In No Hurry

Pages evolve. I never know where they are going to take me. Layering paint, drawing, collage, image transfers... no rhyme or reason...and yet... stories appear, or snippets of stories at best.

Some are still held deep within me from the 60s...most ethics and beliefs still held strong:

...still the Dove and not the Hawk...

...some things even further back appear on the pages...those things we love in childhood that stay with us...or at least their memory...

artist-visual journal thingy

I refuse to over-think the little spurts of creativity that happen to fall upon the pages of my artist-visual journal-thingy. There is no rhyme or reason and I do not tell a story that lasts more than two pages, if I tell a story at all. Sometimes I find myself wondering what birds are thinking...yup, all that and more in my artist-visual journal thingy. Pull up a chair.

(bit by bit, piece by piece... pages evolve)

My Background

Lately when I am creating something I have 'revenue' in mind...always searching for a way to bring a few more bucks into the family budget - but for nearly three weeks now I have taken a break and just allowed myself to make marks in my art journal creating backgrounds for future journaling.

I've had a lot to process these past 4+ years - first losing my precious parents, and a few weeks ago my life-long childhood friend/sister, Jan...and so I sought solace in playing in my journal.

I work in layers. I can layer from sunrise to sunset and then layer some more. I love discovering what is below the surface-- to feel as though I can see the history beneath the present. Building the layers, creating texture, laying strong foundation...a lot like life...

I have been working in this same journal for nearly 3 years now - with no rush to get it done and move on to another...often I think pages are done, only to find myself turning to them when hearing them call out for yet another layer...

*above: Additional images by Shepard Fairey*

My Generation

It has been said that what you love in your youth stays with you.

I loved the 60s and 70s (and the 50s too...yes, I am an oldie but goodie!) and I reflect it in my art.



I had so much fun creating the two page spread seen above. I was listening to a mixed CD of 60s music at the time. Music is a must when I am making art. It allows me to tune out distractions and focus on creating.
The two stamps (a likeness of Bob Dylan, and Give Up War For Lent) were hand-carved during my Zen period.

Talkin' 'bout my generation...(that's me around 1972!)

Does your art reflect the things you loved in your youth?

Where I Found My Zen

A few years ago I was really into hand-carving rubber stamps.
After losing my precious Mom I needed to find a way back to enjoying my passion...
...making ART...
-the quiet and focused method of carving stamps was my path.
It was where I found my zen.

While carving the rubber stamp of Paul in the journal page pictured above I began thinking back to 1963.
I was 13 and the British invasion had begun!
I remember clearly that even our mom's thought Paul was 'the cute Beatle'...well, at least my Mom did! For over 42 years Mom and I loved listening to the Beatles together.

I have a photograph, preserve your memories...

Long ago it must be
I have a photograph
Preserve your memories
They're all that's left you.

--bookends...simon & garfunkel--

We all have them. Old photographs in shoe boxes; in photo albums on dusty shelves; in envelopes stuffed in a dresser drawer...and in our busy lives we rarely pull them out and look at them.

Two photos of my Grandfathers were tucked in a large brown envelope at the back of my closet. I made photocopies of each of them and grabbed my Visual Journal...now I look at these photos often and reflect on my families history.

After creating a background using acrylic paints I simply cut out the photocopies and adhered them to the page using a gel medium...I used a gel pen to jot down thoughts that came to mind. Finding an image in a magazine of an antique globe I cut it in half using one half on each page and drew 'stitch marks' to symbolize the connection these two men shared...their children (my Mom & Dad) who joined together.

The original photos are still tucked away (for safe-keeping) -- but now I (and others) can enjoy the memories I have preserved in my Visual Journal that gets opened far more often than the family photo album or shoe box up on the closet shelf :)
Think of what YOU could do with photocopies of old family photos and create a one-of-a-kind Visual Journal as a gift for someone in your family!

(you can enlarge the photo by clicking on it)