Monday, January 26, 2009

Pick-an-Emotion - Any Emotion !

So I have offically joined Leah's Creative Every Day Challenge. I have played along many times but never posted directly to her link page. I felt like it was time for me to commit to something, and I know I will appreciate being part of a group of artists all working towards making creativity a part of their daily lives in whatever form ! Leah is a wonderful guide through the experience and has even recently added in some loose themes to follow along with each month.
I wanted to make my committment to my creative time official and to celebrate how much my creativity and my play time help me feel, help me heal and help me live my life more fully. Appropriately, Leah's theme this month is "play" !
I have also been enjoying seeing the art work that is resulting from the art journal prompts Misty Mawn has been posting everyday for the month of January. I haven't been doing them every day as many have, but there is a lot of inspiration there for me.
This week, Misty encourages us to think about our emotions as we create our pages and to put our emotions into the work. This kind of happens naturally for me - it is what I use my journal for most of the time- to pour out my feelings or sometimes, to try and change my feelings.
Here are two recent pages I have done that definitely both have a lot of my emotion in them.
The first one is called "Gross Gordon" :

"Gross Gordon" was created when I was feeling angry, frustrated and disgusted. I was mad at how some people who have been very hurt in their lives choose to take it out on others, to" pluck their wings off", so to speak. As a person who tends to turn my hurt inwards instead of out (not a good thing either !!!), I have a very hard time forgiving, and definitely cannot excuse people who hurt people who don't deserve it by putting them down, chipping away at their confidence and just being generally mean for no reason ! Especially when the person they attack is weaker than them!!

Oh, oh, Gross Gordon is getting to me again ! Better go make another anger piece ! ;-)

Anyway, I think the anger shows in the color scheme - very limited for me and the grey and black with that wash of red say anger to me. So do the "teeth" surrounding the picture.

The second piece is about a similar theme but a very different emotion. This one is called : "little bird says" (it was made this morning) :

I had great fun doing this page. It was really play time ! It was definitely a many stepped process to create the background. I used all kinds of toys for that ! Stamps, stencils, black gesso, multiple layers of paint, etc. I love the blues, purples and turquoises of the back ground. The little bird door is made of some painted paper glued to pink card stock. It is attached with turquoise duct tape and even has little sequins in the corners and a strip of pink ribbon. I stamped little bird's door and her secret with my favorite alphabet stamps.

The emotion that I think shines through this piece is Hope ! I have been feeling a lot more hopeful for the last few days and I think the piece shows that in the colors, the message and even the use of the little bird...hope that the darkness that has been plaguing me for a while is definitely clearing and that with a little more self-love, a little more "nest" time, I will soon be ready to push myself out of the nest and use those wings as they were intended !

14 comments:

Sherry said...

Connecting to a group to follow prompts and maintain your creativity is an excellent outlet Kim.

I'm impressed with your interpretation on emotions..Gross Gordon says so much -- even without your word description of what it meant to you. The anger is felt in the colour choices and the statement of "who" Gross Gordon is.

The difference between the "anger" and the "hope" is remarkable..you capture emotion extremely well on paper and in interpretation...and in your description of both pieces you can "hear" the difference in the tone of your words.

Fabulous work Kim.

Anonymous said...

Awesome...

I have a hard time creating to different emotions....but it is the emotion I feel whilst creating that I love the most! :) And I think that is why I keep going..

Anonymous said...

Oh my gosh, these are such great pages Kim! Love the bird one, and your anger reminded me of a few months back when I was poring myself into my art journal with tears and sadness. It helps immensely - so much to make sad/angry pages! :-)

flying of to bed now.

Deb said...

Kim- what a fabulous blog post. Just look at your stunning art journalling! What beauty & inspiration!

I'd love to try art journalling. My current medium is glass...still helpful when one is angry, as melting glass in a hot flame can be very cathartic. However the results when working in an angry mood can be ugly - lol!

Sandy..... said...

I love both of these Kim! Both the Gross gordon and I like that you have included on the second piece that we all have wings.
I want you to know that I appreciate your always kind and encouraging words.
You're a beautiful soul.

Genie Sea said...

YAY for joining the fray! :)

Like the dark and light side of the moon, these pieces speak volumes. It's awesome how you were able to capture the feelings and the intent through the colors and the images! Outstanding. :)

Debbie said...

I so love these. The colors you chose for both are just perfect. I love how you interpreted the emotions.

Joy Logan said...

hehehehe love ole Gordon,too funny! I am backwards anyway.

Anonymous said...

Hi Kim,
I am very happy to have spend a little of my morning here with you. your journal pages are so alive and honest, thank you for sharing them here.
i am looking forward to seeing more!

Melissa said...

YAY for CED!

Both of these pieces are very significant.

It's good to know who "Gordon" is and what "his" motivation is - makes it easier to dismiss "his" attempts at wing pulling. Jerk.

And the bird piece - oh my heart just adores this one! I love it, I love it, I LOVE IT! Hi cute birdie, so glad to see you and to hear your message.

Thank you for sharing your insides Kim!

~Go Queen Go, Art Queen Art~
Melissa

arlene said...

Wow Kim, both these pieces are so touching. Gorden ticks me off too...we had to deal with something like that here recently. Maybe someday Gorden will just enjoy seeing little winged things fly! There's always hope, right?
Your little birdie is such a happy piece. My heart thanks you for sharing!
xo arlene

Anonymous said...

oh wow kim!!! i love your journal pages!!! i love the wording in gross gordon... plucking wings of others to feel better, i certainly have come across people like that in my life!!! eeekkk!!! but i LOVE your little birdie says page, ooohhh the colors!!! thank you sooooo much for sharing your pages, words AND emotions!!! ALL of them!!!

you ARE fabulous!!!

peace and love to you!!!
xox

Leah said...

Oh my goodness, I so love your pages, Kim!! Gorgeous work!!

Seth said...

I admire your commitment to create every day. If these 2 pages are any indication, you are doing a great job. I really do feel the feelings in these pieces.