Wednesday, August 10, 2016

My artjournal page is done!

The Magicians from last Monday got some help from three Queen of Wands yesterday to persuade me to finish my artjournal page. I was inspired to create this page by a free workshop,“Art Journal Wisdom” from Connie Solera over at Dirty Footprints studio
On day three, “ Get It Out, Get It Down”  she invites you to write down everything what prevents you to create; your fears, your not being good enough and not having time enough; just write it down anything that comes to mind.
Then tear it up in little unreadable pieces and paste it on the page and paint over it. Use it as an extra layer in your art work. And so I did. I hid my fears under thick layers of earthy colors: good riddance! But to my surprise they’ve found a way out. In the distance a Vulcano is  erupting fire and brimstone. Apparently Fear of Failure can’t be suppressed and neither can any other emotion. So the woman is sitting there quietly and watching everything the volcano spits out, acknowledging every piece of fire and lava as parts of herself.
After the layers of paint I stopped working on it, not knowing what to do next but I was certain it wasn’t  finished yet. Today I created a final layer of oil pastel to enhance the shapes and colors of the painting. And now it is done!

15 comments:

  1. That is awesome Ellen - well done! I'm going to check that workshop out ;)

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    1. Thanks Carol! I am sure you'll love it. She is such an inspiring teacher

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  2. well done. I used to like to do things like this in old books. I forget what it was called now, but when you could no longer shut the book it was near finished :)

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    1. Thanks! Old book are great for this kind of art. It is fun to use the text and pictures as elements for a background!
      My book is getting pretty bulky too> :)

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  3. Wowzza! What a gift in your expressionist painting. Be bold and go throw those doubts and fears in that volcano.

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    1. Thanks Carolyn. It was a very freeing and healing experience
      Sometimes I wonder how great it would be if I could transform all that negative fearful energy in fuel for making art. Now that would be a miracle too :)

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  4. Love all your layers and the finished painting! That first one, when I look at it with soft eyes, makes me think the woman is part of a seashell (hiding inside maybe?). But then she comes out to courageously witness the volcano in the last one. :D

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    1. Thanks Bev!Now that would magical transformation indeed. It is remarkable how many stories one painitng can tell. :)

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  5. The second piece is great Ellen! It's so good for us to do creative exercises, get out of our comfort zones and throw caution to the wind! Wonderful work!

    You might try drawing with your eyes closed that's a very freeing exercise. The subject matter isn't so important but the process is.

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    1. Thanks Catherine!! I love letting all my preconceived notions on how to paint properly go and just paint and paste and draw a bit. I might try your suggestion to draw with my eyes closed. I've done this years ago and I still remember how scary it was. Maybe this time I might experience it as fun??

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  6. I remember my great drawing Professor getting us to do this. She was a wonderful teacher and got us to do a lot of very helpful exercises. The one with our eyes closed, she'd get us to do fairly often as a warm up, before the 'serious' drawing started :). We'd try to remember a room in our home. Also a portrait contour drawing of each other without looking at our paper, but staring and looking at the person in front of us. This could be done by yourself alone as a self-portrait.

    I love the idea of ripping up your initial painting up and then putting it back together. Helps with that feeling of being 'precious' about our work. Oh...my precious! LOL

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  7. This is stunning! What a great idea for releasing your fears. And I love what you say about not repressing those feelings, but allowing yourself to acknowledge them, even as they burn... :)

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    1. Thank you so much Chloe! Over the years I've learned that even the most difficult or painful feelings are more manageable after acknowledgment

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