Our growing season is over here in the suddenly chilly Northwest. I put the garden to bed last week, and now I have written my last Garden Journal entry.
I made this year’s Journal out of an up-cycled movie list book, re-working the covers with collage. It seems I made fewer entries this year than last… am I running out of things to say about the garden?
I played with a lot of different media this year, anyway.
I watercolored the layout, both as I planned it to be…
and as it turned out.
I used collage when I wanted to show beauty but had no garden…
… and watercolor when I knew exactly what I wanted to show, in this case, how the first zucchini ended up.
I challenged myself to show the complex form of tomato plants.
And, sometimes, I just played with color.
I’ll be out of town for a big chunk of the next gardening season, and I’ll make another Journal when I get back. We’ll see what happens then.
My friend Ruthie Inman is always teaching me new things! This week, we are making a new journal cover.
For our Zoom Art group this week, she asked us to pull together some muslin fabric, tissue papers or napkins, and some watered down glue.
So friends in Scotland, Illinois and Portland did just that. And the project, at least this part, was just as easy as it could be. We slathered the thin glue mixture onto the fabric, tore the tissue paper into pieces, and stuck them down.
I started with bright colors from napkins, and then softened them with the white layers.
We kept gluing until we had about four layers, pausing to let it dry a bit in between layers so the whole gooey thing didn’t disintegrate under our brush.
I finished my piece with some old wrapping tissue flowers and a butterfly from a napkin, and left it to dry.
And to make sure it didn’t stick to the mat and dried completely by tomorrow, I carefully peeled the fabric and paper layers off the mat and laid them on a cooling rack.
We’ll see what happens when we all Zoom Art together on Thursday!
I have found another sort of Journal to make! It is a Gratitude Journal, creating pages of collage and other media of things, places and people that bring me joy.
For the base of the book, I used a board book, like children use when they are little. It gives a nice sturdy work surface for collage. This one had this nifty format of short pages that get longer towards the back of the book, which made it even more interesting.
I decided to create one page for each of the types of things I am grateful for. That way, I would be thinking grateful thoughts on all the stages…. finding the papers, composing the page, and later, when I look at it. I looked through my boxes of magazine clippings and ephemera and started pulling pieces out!
From previous books, I have figured out to lay a napkin layer down (other folks use gesso) with Mod Podge to give the papers some grip on the page. I also wrapped the edge of each page with strips to keep them from peeling.
As always, there was lots of placing, moving, trimming, and talking to the pieces to get each page just right. I started with my adopted city of Portland. All my favorite places are there!
The next page was all about art. The art I have learned from Ruthie Inman and Auntie Bridgett Spicer, as well as stuff I make up on my own… it all makes my life richer.
The next page is all about travel, with clippings from magazines, maps, and language calendars.
Gardens are next, with my own veggie plot as well as public gardens that I love to visit. Just walking through a garden makes my world better.
The last, and largest page, is for the people in my life (of course Mouse counts as people!) Most of them are represented by images… can you guess who is who? On this page are also things I love doing with my people… cooking, doing crossword puzzles on the couch, walking, biking, and learning.
I love that when the book is closed, I can see what each page is about… all that gratitude at a glance!
And no, I haven’t decorated the front or back covers yet. I wanted to get this blog written for Friday, but didn’t want to have to hurry the art. I will show it to you when I get it finished.
I enjoyed making this book so much, I have already picked up another second hand board book. What should THIS one be about?
Dear Liza 