Beat the Clock !

This week at Inspire Me Thursday the challenge was to Create Against The Clock. The challenges are always great and this week was no exception. Here are the instructions we were given :

"Get out your supplies, set a timer and do your creative thing for 10 minutes. Scan or snap a photo of your work. Then, with the same supplies, set the timer for 1 hour and let the creative juju flow again. Snap another photo and share both with us. How do the two compare? Is there a contrast — unfinished and raw versus complete and finished?"

So my creative thing in this case was creating an art journal page. I used an already painted background page in my journal, my gel pens, Sharpies, scissors and a glue stick. I randomly chose ten images or ephemera pieces from my "play" folder that could be used in each page. I couldn't use the exact same images for both pages as I was using originals cut out of magazines and old books and such.

Here is my 10 Minute page :

"We Could Be Here For Awhile..."

I think this page shows the frantic pace I was working at ...kind of all over the place. At the same time, I like the colors involved, and there are sweet spots, as always, on the page. Here's a spot I really like :

An hour is a much more comfortable time frame for me to do a journal page in. Here is what I accomplished in one hour with the same tools, but 10 different images and elements from my "play" folder:

"Some days I feel like taking a trip but leaving my luggage behind."

The second page is definitely more controlled. I spent a long time just positioning the elements carefully. Only the last five minutes were spent gluing it all in place. I like how the center "character" looks like a funky paper doll. Maybe she should be named "Katy Barry" after the cigar wrapper on her dress ?:

Introducing Miss Katy Barry

I really enjoyed this Inspire Me Thursday Challenge ! While an hour is definitely at least the amount of time I would like to have to work on a journal page, I can see the challenge and the fun of working more quicky on occasion. It is like stream of consciousness writing in image form - much less controlled, much less censored and with a rawness and openess that is good to explore now and again, I think ! And there will always be the sweet spots to look for afterwards...