Artful Journeys - Week #33 "Bad Poetry"

What a week this has been.  I had a big spurt of creativity following a busy week with errands, grown up stuff and some real work.  It has been so hot here this past week, we are all suffering, and trying to hide out inside as much as we can. But thankfully, the last couple of days we have not broken 100 degrees F.  Our version of a cold front.  But I digress...

This week at Artful Journeys, our prompt for you is to create a spread using "Bad Poetry".  The concept of this prompt is to generally select a central image and then find random words or phrases (or let the image dictate your selection of words) in magazines, cut them out and include them on your spread.  You can go wild with this. It isn't supposed to make a whole lot of sense, but you would be amazed at how your mind works and puts words and phrases together that make sense on your spread.

My spread actually started with the cartoon image I had saved from a Geico advertisement. Then, while sifting through my box of clipped images, the clock showed up and I knew (why?) that this is what I wanted to work with.  I pulled out my box of found words, deciding on the above.

I worked really hard on this page.  I have always had trouble with the JAM philosophy (just add more) for fear of really messing up my hard work.  But this time, it created some magic for me!  Hooray!


I started the spread in my 9x12 Canson mixed media journal that I started at the beginning of the year and only has about 15 pages left before it is full!

I began by gluing down some dictionary pages that I tore all the margin edges off and fitted them to the page and affixed with gel medium.  I then tore some sheet music and placed them randomly across the page. Then, I added some random flower and leaf punch cuts on the page. The color didn't matter since I knew paint was going on top of them, and this would help to create texture on the page.

Next, I spritzed Dylusions Inks in Fresh Squeezed Orange and Funky Fuscia, followed by sealing with some hairspray, knowing I would be adding more wet media! (Dylusions Inks reactivate when wet).  I added some Bright Magenta & Spice Orange fluid acrylic on top of that with a baby wipe, and some Dylusions Acrylic in Sunshine Yellow with a credit card, blending as I went.

I was satisfied with the color of the background and moved on to stenciling.  The clock stencil is by Fab Stencils and it was applied with a watered down Titanium White acrylic with a cosmetic sponge, dipped and the dabbed off the excess onto my mop up paper.  I then added the square stencil, and added some black into the white to create a tonal gray and stenciled a little bit more for some darker contrast.

Now to play with my clippings.  I wanted that cartoon Muppet to be hanging off that clock, and that was a chore. I ended up having to work to fit him around that clock, glued him to the back and then affixed the whole thing to page with gel medium.  Sadly, I accidentally scraped across the clock and Muppet and distorted the image a little bit.  Words affixed to the page and outlined with a black china marker.

I am rather pleased with how it turned out.  The "poetry" is really bad, but somehow the whole thing works together.

Hopefully this gives you a little jolt of inspiration for your spread!

Have a great week!
Arty Auntie
~~Betty

ARTFUL JOURNEYS - WEEK 15 "Found Poetry"

This week at Artful Journeys our prompt is to use FOUND POETRY on our journal spreads.

I love using "Found Poetry".  And for those of you unfamiliar with this little art term, 'Found Poetry' is "poetry" or a quote or use of words you create using letters, words and phrases found in magazines or other printed matter.

For this spread, I used a combination of individual letters and two single words, along with a fantastic image of a lady symphony conductor that I snagged from an AARP magazine.  She is the principle Conductor (Conductress?) of the St Louis Symphony Orchestra at 69 years young. This article was all about people in the workforce over the standard "retirement" age.  Yay for her.  I can relate to her all too well! hehe

Isn't she lovely?  I was definitely inspired by the image of this woman and strength I see not only in her face, but by a fully confident aura around her.  At first, I thought I might use the image as a silhouette in some fashion, but ultimately decided that SHE was just too powerful to cover with paint or to mask her out entirely.

I created my background using a yellow Derwent Inktense block and a baby wipe, using the side of the block and making wide swaths of color that I then wiped to smooth.  Then, using the teal block, I added the border edge with the same method.

Following that I studied her and thought about my "found poetry" and what I wanted to say.  I really wanted to embody the power I felt from this image, and decided on my "poetry" and set about going through my already clipped letters that I keep in a bead sorter.  Not enough of the right fonts, so out came a huge pile of magazines and I clipped the remaining letters and got them applied to the page.

The sunflower images are stamped from a Hampton Art Stamps of 1998 called "Willowy Sunflower, stamped with Jet Black Staz On ink pad.

I then added some random black dots using black india ink and the dropper tip and called it done. Yes, I could have added a bunch more, but I wanted it to resonate the power of this lady and the "found poetry."  I think it speaks exactly how I imagined...at least it speaks to me.

Here is a mandala I created very late on Thursday night before I went to bed.  The house was quiet. The television was off. Just me and the dogs.  Black Sakura Gelly pen with  vibrant turquoise and orange Prismacolor pencil.  In lieu of coloring the whole thing, I purposely left lots of white space, which I rarely do.  It was so relaxing to focus on the lines and just let the image evolve organically.  I needed that.  And, I rather like how it turned out.

 

Thanks for stopping by!  Go out and make it an artful day!

ARTY AUNTIE
~~Betty