Sunday, May 17, 2009

GPP Street Team Crusade # 31 -Make it Your Own



How do I make it my own ? How do I use tools and pieces I have created on my own, tools I have bought, images created by other artists and mix them all together with bits of my imagination and creativity to create a piece that is all mine ?

That is the joy of art journal pages for me. No real rules. Just play and see what happens.
So here is how the process played out this morning. Take out the paint and play !

Make a background using some glued down pieces of scrap. Add an image of a fish eye that doesn't work after the paint is applied and scrap it off. Add more paint - ooh, that looks like a little map in the upper left hand corner...

Rip off the orange electric tape when the effect isn't quite what I want. Hmm, that white line may be a good place for journaling or a title of some sort.

Go through a file folder of images that I have collected along the way from magazines, old books, etc... See what jumps out at you, what seems to go with the ideas emerging from the background. In this case, this image from Oprah magazine appealed :

The words read "seek seek the source of the roaring the great replenishing, cleansing, life-giving river". Seeker...map...river...Inspiration, indeed !

I then looked through the drawers of rubber stamps, hand-made by me and store bought. Find this "seeker-girl" stamp from Magenta Stamps that was a gift from a friend at Christmas and has remained un-used so far.

Pick up the swallow stamp purchased from the $1.00 bin at Michaels. Flying seekers they shall be.

Play some more ! Compose your page - what fits where ? Create a map with a fine tipped black pen on that blob in the corner. Stamp the "seeker-girl" - argh, it kind of smeared. I am stamp challenged most of the time with those fine detailed stamps ! Oh well...
Add details with a ultra-fine tipped Elmers Painters pen. Now she looks a little less perfect - road weary maybe ? A little more mine, anyway ! ;)

More play...I keep going until it feels done somehow. Add phrase "Always a seeker be." in India ink with an old fashion fountain pen from my dad. I love the permanent black it leaves on the page, in spite of the permanent black it leaves on my fingers too. Add a little hard-to-read journaling with some gel pens. Throw in a spiral or two with that great white Elmer's pen. They always appear somehow, those whoopsy-do's of mine !

And there you have it - my very own art journal page !

I took the pieces...

and made it my own !

Join in the GPP Street Team fun - Number 31 and going strong ! It is a great place to be share bits of yourself, make your mark and cheer on the rest of the gang as they do the same !

Onward, Crusaders !

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Love the colours you've used, and the way all the pieces tie in together. You sure have 'made it your own'.

Anonymous said...

I'm sure I could recognize your work among many others, it has your very own, unique imprint on it. So vibrant and full of fun and joyfulness. I just grabbed the GPP Crusade #31 banner last night and was going to blog it, but I haven't yet done anything for it. I went back and read your list of100 Things. You have so many rich, interesting, awesome experiences on there! Way more interesting than the original list! Funny, I'd felt silly even mentioning that I'd been worried about not having anything to check off and finding out I was a loser. You made me feel better (and it made me laugh, too) that you thought the very same thing. Yep, you and I are definitely in sync. It happens too often for it to be just coincidence. If we end up meeting some day, I'll bet it'll feel as if we've always known eachother. Hope you're all nice and cozy yourself, enjoying Survivor. I'm watching Extreme Makeover Home Edition right now (I love Ty Pennington. He is something else.) Lots of Love ~ Serena

Mostly Turquoise said...

Hi Kim,

Lovely page you have made, the colours, the components and the subject. To me the map looks a bit like the Suez-canal in the Middle East. I think I will start journaling again during our USA-trip the next months, you inspired me!Compliments!!!

Regina Dwarkasing

Heather Gordy said...

Thank you for sharing your process with us. Very nice page indeed!

Tumble Fish Studio said...

This was such a wonderful post! I love that you walked us through start to finish and it finished beautifully! I'm going back to look some more, but thank you!

michelle ward said...

kim - love following you on your journey with this page. each step makes us think how we might continue, in our own way, and then you reveal how you make it yours. very cool. i think ripped off strip was clever. thanks for sharing doll!

Anonymous said...

Kim this is a great post and I love following your journal page process here. The images and colors are great, but I absolutely LOVE the India ink lettering you did!!
Thanks for your visit and kind words on my crusade post ;)
Cheers,
Gaye

Melisa said...

I love how you saw the map shape in the paint and let it inspire the rest of the page. Good stuff!

Megan Warren said...

great page Kim - thanks for sharing your process!

Chris said...

GORGEOUS colors. And this is cool, how you tried things and then discarded them and made them better! I really like this page.

Julie said...

Kim, its great to see the process here and the beautiful result! I love that stamp!

iHanna said...

Love this page, and also the Woods would be a silent place-page! Yummy and inspirational. I'm working in my art journal again and it's so much fun!

Love your I want a baby-post too, thanks for sharing your thoughts about it, I think that stuff is interesting! Take care Kim!

Darlene said...

Loved hearing about your process!!! Gorgeous colors - and beautiful final Art piece!

Kathy McCreedy said...

Hey girlfriend! You certainly have made this your own, and nice job doing so, if I may say so myself! The sentiment you used is perfect, and so you... I'd say A+ young lady! Thanks for your sweet comments yesterday, love knowing I'm not alone with all the gooey pet monikers! xoxo

Nerissa Alford said...

I am so glad to have found your blog. This one is my first challenge.
I love what you created. It was fun to see your process. Thanks for sharing!
Nerissa