Journal Love

Basque in the Knowledge

My grand-daughter has been researching our family roots. Nearly every day we talk about the towns and villages in Italy and France where my grandparents' lives began.

My Dad's family came to the states from Palermo, Sicily. After talking and thinking about life there for hours, I noticed images like the one above appearing in my Art Journal as I sat on the sofa doodling.
I was thinking of the Sicilian architecture as it seemed to teeter on the edge of the Mediterranean.

Although I lived in Germany back in the early 1970s and traveled to Italy, I was never fortunate enough to make it to Sicily - but in my mind the doodle I drew feels 'familiar'.

Forty years ago on my parents 31st wedding anniversary I set out to find a painting as a gift for them. The year was 1969 and my favorite art store was Aaron Brothers. I walked in and within five minutes I was drawn to the painting below. I had to buy it. There was never a thought of looking further...it just felt 'familiar'....



...Flash forward to 2010...I now know something I did not know then back in '69.
My maternal grandmother was born in a small Basque, sheepherding village in France, on the border of Spain, called Urepel.

My grand-daughter found this photograph of Urepel on Flickr...

Do you see why it felt so 'familiar' to me?

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?