I’m trying to post art journal pages here on Thursdays for six weeks or so. Thanks for being a supportive, positive place where I feel safe to share these, regardless of how unrefined or imperfect they might be. It’s fun to share them, even if only to know I tried to be bold and put them out in the world.

For the first page I’m sharing here, I incorporated black out poetry. Sometimes I fully black-out the words I don’t use, but I used a lighter hand here. The idea is to circle the words that jump out at you — words that shimmer — and thereby create a new poem. My new poem, from a Jane Kenyon poem called After the Hurricane read like this:

Acorns break from the oaks,

Drop,

Amber air ahead.

Snuffling water weeds,

Soft band,

A bar of sand,

Mica glinting tepid sun.

Kettles of water unused, drowsy.

The likeness of golden birch leaves

Stir away trouble.

Hemlock bough, peculiar author,

A sacrament of saying no.

 

 

For the next page we were challenged to do a peek-a-boo page (my term) by cutting a hole in a page. It could be planned or unplanned. I partially planned mine, because I wanted to leave a certain picture, but in doing so, I also ended up with a good situation on another page (that will come later).

The quote is one I found from Oscar Wilde. It says, “Yes I am a dreamer. For a dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world.”

 

 

This one was just a quote I loved from Mary Oliver, who writes poetry I love, on colors I love. I don’t love my handwriting, but it’s just the way it is and I have learned to let go of that.

 

 

The final page is in response to a challenge to splatter paint in our page. No problem – I love splattering paint! I took the opportunity to use my new Dina Wakely stamps, and I love her too. Hers was the first book I ever found about art journaling and it opened up a whole new world for me. She’s amazing.

 

 

That’s the fun for this week. It’s hard to find time to respond to the prompts and challenges since we get them on Monday and I’ve started working outside the home. It’s funny though, because having a job away from home is really revealing how much I enjoy and rely on paints and mess making. It feels good when you’ve found something that is fun and important to your overall health. Do you have something like that?