I have an unfortunate habit of brooding over all of my projects until I figure out exactly what I’m going to do.  Sometimes I’ll sit mulling over different ideas, weighing my different options and which I like better until, before I know it, an hour and a half has passed and I haven’t done a single thing.  Once again my fear that I’m going to completely hate the end result paralyzes me.  However, if I only have a few minutes at a time, my need to work quickly overwhelms my fear, and I find myself painting, gluing, sewing, and doodling before I know what I want to do next.

My first art journal is an example of this.  My above mentioned fears of disastrous results and lack of time have previously kept me from branching into this art form, though I have been desperate to try for a long time.  Here, however, is my first and, if I do say so myself, pleasing attempt at a mixed media art journal.  Just fyi- it’s not finished yet, but I’m too impatient, and wanted to share it now.

As you can see, this is still very much a work in progress. I’m experimenting with different mediums and techniques I’ve never tried before, including gesso, gel medium, and charcoal, and doing image transfers and texturing.  That’s just the beginning.  I am so excited about this!  Maybe just because it’s my first one, but still, I can’t wait to see how these backgrounds will expand into the finished project.

I used a technique for recycled magazine pages with this journal that was published in the May/June 2007 issue of Cloth Paper Scissor Magazine, by Alma Stoller.

Essentially, the technique involves using several pages from old magazines, stitching them together, and gessoing the surface to prepare it for mixed media work.  I really like how this type of art journaling uses loose pages that you can bind together later.  I bound the pages I made together with some loose round binder clips after I’d finished the main backgrounds.