Explorations: An Art Journal

I've only had a bit of time this week to focus on art... I've had prints to figure out how to ship, work has been crazy, my husband has been away... it's been pretty busy. Trying to stay with my commitment to expand the sources of my inspiration, I took a couple hours to go for a hike with my camera. This resulted in some nice photos and a feeling of calm that's lasted for a few days. When I sat down to try a bit of journaling, the result was obviously influenced by time spent in nature. I like the colour combinations... I think I may work with that a bit on future pieces. 

I have a thing about art journals. I know they are supposed to be much like written journals, where you put all your feelings out there on the page, but I've never really been able to do that. Maybe it comes from being the youngest of four kids, and never feeling like i had any privacy. Or maybe because I'm just not much of a writer... my thing has always just been pictures. Anyway, I did the journaling part, then covered up most of the writing with paint. Doesn't really matter what I wrote, nobody can read it now anyway. Maybe that's the secret to this whole thing... I might have to do a bit more to figure it out. I have a couple books around to guide me through it. 

In the meantime, my working photos for my next Jazz Legend portrait have started to post on Global Vernissage. This month I'm working on Ella Fitzgerald. Follow along and leave your comments... we're giving away 3 signed, limited edition prints to the most active commenters. Good luck!

My art journal, focusing on my time out in the park. The writing is just stream of consciousness about my hike and how it made me feel. Then I worked over it in paint. I don't think this page will ever fully close now... there's a few layers of paint on there.

A photo from my hike. I've always had a problem getting a shot of dragonflies... they move so fast it's hard to catch them. I was surprised this came out so well. It seemed to sit still for me... like it wanted it's picture taken. 

This turtle was hard to see until it came up to the surface.  They can really camouflage themselves.