lara

Art journal page for Year in the life of an art journal.

Word is Vicarious

close up:



Duct Tape, Gesso and acrylic Paint.

I've had this photo since 2001, someone sent it to me in gratitude of me sending them a U2-inspired holiday card way back when. Instead of it continuing to gather dust in a box, thought i'd pop it on a journal page so I can see it more often :)




The background of this page was a list i made in NYC when waiting for U2 to either enter or exit the NBC Studios for their SNL gig in September. I was just passing time listing all the ways to stalk a rock star - apparently they don't always work (but sometimes they do). I then covered the list with some used wax paper and did a tape transfer of Bono from a photo I took at the 2nd night at New Jersey's show. The lyrics are from "City of Blinding Lights" which is a song i never cared for whatsoever (hell when they played it at Obama's inaugauration party i was baffled and disappointed) but after seeing their treatment of it during the tour and Bono repeating those lyrics over and over, well i must say it's become a pretty powerful song in my life these days.

my first post for gauche alchemy is up!
no cut and paste - go here to see:

http://gauchealchemy.wordpress.com/2009/11/06/oh-hello/

inspired by the "u for underneath" prompt at A Year in the life of an art journal and my love for colored duct tape and paint and screen and zippers.

and from underneath
the colorless place i have been inhabiting
came a new energy
a renewal of life
i see color,
i dream in color,
i feel color.



In my "art Journal #2" - i found these photos from when i was shining and skinny and healthy and happy - i thought i'd put one on the page since i tend to look at my art journals more these days than shoeboxes of photos :)

More duct tape and some "punch waste" from a gauche alchemy kit.

The future needs a big kiss



...not a fan of the song, but love this line in it. I've been wanting to do something with it since the first U2 show in New York.

Here's this months layout for the gauche alchemy circle journal.
The theme of this one is "vintage bling" and i have to admit i was stumped almost all month! But with the deadline of Nov 1 looming i pulled it together and tried some new techniques. I'm pretty happy with the outcome! And it's something i would normally not do, but it still has me in it :) The size of each page is 8"x 8"



OK, one of the cool things I've discovered is wax paper will adhere to other paper and I've been using sheets of wax paper i've used under and between projects - when glued over the top of something it makes a cool almost beeswaxy but with muted paint effect. For this I put it over a thin children's book page that otherwise tears too easy because it's so old - YAY! It preserves and looks cool!



To add some additional color and texture and lines i adhered some sewing pattern pieces on to the pages too. And then the title is a package tape transfer! Don't ask me the font ... can't remember ;)



The flower is made from ribbon odds and ends, mesh fabric, gold punch waste and vintage buttons. I didn't have any thread so i used wire :)



I super like this page - it's just something different for me. As i said i was having difficulty being inspired by "vintage bling" and i knew i wanted to use the u2 lyric - somehow by great fortune my supervisor at work wanted to show me where all of our archived clip art cd's are (along with print samples) and i saw this CD called "Adobe Image Library - Yesterday's Lifestyles" and went through it and found a couple of kitchsy images mixed in with mostly the scary "nuclear family" images. Four pieces of packaging tape later - and voila! The bitch is on the page!

Did a spread for A Year in the Life of an Art Journal "T" Prompt. T was supposed to stand for "Tasty" but since that is semi-related to food, and seeing how horrible a time lately i've been having with my relationship with food, i just journalled about my emotional eating then found a quote, i believe from Buddha, about it.

I discovered something SO COOL i could do with wax paper on this one!!!!!
I use wax paper to paint on so my table doesn't get dirty. I also put it between pages when i'm working so nothing drips on the pages i don't want it too - so i had a couple of sheets of wax paper with some paint on it - i took gel medium and put a thin coat over the journalling then pressed the wax paper over it and let it dry - and voila! a Semi-obscured page with some paint.

Also i used packing tape transfers - i've given up on trying to use gel medium to create a transfer, which would be much cooler than tape, but whatever i do it never ever works. So, tape it is!

I made a couple of cards this week for my brother's birthday and a friend's baby shower:



This is for a baby shower! They are super into pirates and their baby is going to be named Nigel, thus the "ahoy nigel" on the front :)

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My brother is obsessed with raven's for a variety of reasons. I couldn't afford to buy him a real taxidermied one, so i tried to make him one out of mixed media. My feelings about the outcome are mixed as well, but for the most i'm please and it was just plain fun to make.



3 different kinds of black paper i ripped up and screendoor and felt ribbon. Eye are washers and a button. Beak is newspaper with Gesso and ink on it.

This is the "R = Read" page for the Year in the Life of An Art Journal Project.





It is the cover of the journal! I thought it appropro since art journals aren't meant to sit unlooked at after they're done! And this journal is extra special to me (even though we still have 6 more weeks to go!)



Close up of the cover - from my last art journal cover i learned not to apply to many things to the cover that could fall off or be knocked off by mistake. So i used pretty low profile felt thickers. Underneath that is what I've been using as my paint palette off and on and then covered with burgundy netting.

Ugh - I can not wait until it is done!!!!!!! It looks so cool as it is right now and I am constantly looking at it! It's so cool to have a visual summary of this topsy turvy year!

Art Journal Entry inspired by challenge blog Gutter Girlz and U2 lyrics and TONS of found objects from my scrap drawer.

The topic of this challenge is "Tender. Human."
For some reason I was having so much trouble coming up with a layout idea because every time i thought of the word "human" i thought of the word "soul" which in turn made me think of U2 (ok, fine what doesn't make me think of U2 these days?) which in turn made me think of the song "Elevation" and how every time i get to experience that song live (which is 7 times now, I guess?) it catapults my soul out of my body and i don't feel like i am in a physical human body anymore. Jumping and singing "ooohhh hoooo" with 60,000+ people is absolutely electrifying! At this point I'm thinking I should rename my art journal "u2 lyric journal" but.... yeah... heh.

So, i went with the lyric and gathered some found objects since i've been cleaning out all my art stuff in preparation of purging for the move.



• The green background is this canvas that the creative team at my work used for a presentation recently and i said "don't throw those scraps away!!!!" so they gave them to me.
• The caution tape comes from the meadowlands parking lot in new jersey (what trash?),
• the screen is still yet more screen from my old back porch,
• there's a sticker under there you can barely see that has two red arrows and says "this way up" that a friend of mine who works in a warehouse gave me a roll of,
• the dragonfly came from some swap or kit that i never thought i would use cause i thought it was kinda cheesy AND
• the text comes from an old old old children's story book i've been holding onto to scared to cut into but i finally dove into it last night and was tickled pink to find this story about a little airplane afraid to fly and the paper is so fragile and smells so ... old.
• Oh and my handwriting is on electrical tape!

Art Journal entry for A Year in the Life of an Art Journal --- S = Song (although i took it to Sound :) )

Love love love this lyric from "Breathe" = it truly does lift me up.

Letters are chipboard so they stand off the page a little and the background started out as a paint palette :)
Background journalling is how U2's songs have changed, really SAVED, my life.

An art journal page for the gauche alchemy circle journal, September.
The topic is collections and quotes (something i collect as well :D ):

Love this quote - forgot where i found it now!

HOW COOL IS THIS?!!!

I got props from one of my favorite "scrapbooking" sites!!!

Did you know Gauche Alchemy has a Flickr group? We do! It’s a marvelous place to get ideas and inspiration. Lara is a gifted artist I had the immense pleasure of “meeting” though that group. She deftly mixes Gauche Alchemy kits and her own personal style into Art Journals, layouts and cards that defy all the typical gushy adjectives like stunning, jaw-dropping and amazing.

Here’s Lara, in her own words......

More here

giddiness ensues...

Here's a birthday card i made for my friend April:



And the back in detail cause i think it's yummy:

12x12 traditional scrapbook page.
Who, me, traditional?
image from gauche alchemy.
there's a little note to myself in the blue envelope :)

Art Journal page inspired by Point Blank Period challenge blog

yummy macro shot since the yumminess is always in the details with me :)

OMG, I've been DYING to share this layout I did last week for the new Gutter Girlz challenge! Since they only get announced on the 15th of every month I had to wait ... but I love how this came together :)

PROMPT:

I'm not ur bitch, BITCH
U and Ur HAND by Pink
Lipstick (i wanted to put lipstick on charo and have her kiss the page but i don't own any lipstick)


tee hee - it's been soooooooooo long since i've done a layout about my baby girl and when the prompt was announced i knew exactly what i wanted to do - well not what i wanted to do, but the subject of who i wanted to do it about! oh nevermind.... but one of my names for her is "Bitch". Along with "Lil Mama", "Mamacita", "Chi Chi" and, well, the "c" word - "Cunt". I take 75% responsibility for making her into the little spoiled monster she is - the other 25% is the purebred Chihuahua gene.

I also used alot of things from Gauche Alchemy - most notably from their ACME Kits which i've been "saving" things to use and finally decided i just need to use them! (Like the poodle/bull dog magazine page)

Look at all those old school bitches! And that bull dog giving the poodle "the paw"! The buttons are for Megan - I giggled when i put them on cause i know how much she likes buttons :) Or at least she made some comment at some time saying she liked the buttons and it stuck in my head.



Here's a close up of 2 dimensional Charo's bitch collar. If she weren't such a stuck up bitch and would wear a collar in real life I'd make her one! But she generally won't "lower" herself to the level of wearing collars. Trust me I've tried! But she's pretty good about walking off leash - unless she sees a cat, then all bets are off.

I'm curious to see if anyone looks at this page.
I don't really "advertise" it anywhere, just curious.

If you are looking at it, i've put together 5 little ephemera envelopes with the stuff in the photo and if you want one leave a comment. Obviously, first five people to leave a comment get the goodies.

Last night I was in a fragile mood and got a couple of art journal pages completed.
In my new art journal #2 :D (in case you missed it, i got my first art journal ever done!)

Yeah ... I was obviously listening to U2 last night :D :-p



The envelope is a leftover from Sarah's Pre-Art Journal :)
I've been stressing OUT for months now about what and where my home is. I've been living in limbo in a house that's been on the market for 12 months and I honestly don't know where my next dwelling will be.



And besides ... what actually makes a home?



So, I had this horrible conversation last night and decided to run to the store for some wine and popcorn. As i was driving the radio played "Where the Streets Have No Name" and I have to admit I've never been a huge fan of this song but for the first time since, what 1987 (?) the lyrics made sense to me! Huh.



Still one of my favorite U2 songs EVER.
EVER.

a rather quick art journal page i did last night

I all of the sudden had an epiphany that I meaning ME could be considered "an artist." I've always been super hesitant to label myself this and i think it's always been at the front of my mind to want to become it some day.
Like "what do i want to be when i grow up?" type question.
"Artist" always seemed to be a conceited answer, and one that would put me an esteemed group of masters and i could never fit there.

So, last night I was painting up a bunch of pages and it just hit me, i think now i can confidently say i'm an artist. Yeah? Yeah. I don't have to paint like Picasso or even make things people want to pay money ... i just have to MAKE. You know, like CREATE.

That word is so daunting and weighty to me, though... but perhaps i finally feel like i'm making something that makes me happy and content and that i want to actually put up in my house ... you know, like art ...

Art Journalling has become so much more than a visual diary for me - it's helped me try out new techniques, develop styles that i feel comfortable with and given me more confidence to share my work and ultimately my emotion. I guess it's a freedom to think that not every page has to be a masterpiece, and it's all just a journey towards something greater some day.

My first art journal is done!
My first art journal is done!
My first art journal is done!

What a sense of accomplishment as well as visual journey of my year so far - the craziest most unpredictable (but in a bad way) year!



(i'm sorry ... but YUMMEEEEEE)

You know, these pages not only hold my personal journey over the year, but all the techniques and i've learned along the way!



And last but not least ... le cover!



Oh! And I made a flickr set of all the pages here!

on to #2!