Back from a Long Jounrey

                                                             PRAYER PAGE ONE
                                                            Multi-media on Paper

                                                                7 1/2 x 9 1/2 "


            I have dropped in out of the blue after a long hiatus with a new project.

In the past couple of years I have not worked my blog as other activities of life were front and center.  Moving into a smaller home for one where as we get older we can spend more time doing the things we love versus cleaning and maintaining a larger home. Most of all spending time together.

Also, my own health does not allow me to do my larger intuitive abstracts. Incredibly I am still selling from my home inventory.  So I have minimized size, complexity and also begun to use the talent God has given me to give joy and hope to others. I have been designing cards for our Heart to Heart Ministry at our Parish Church. That keeps me busy as this ministry has been growing and growing.  The cards allow me to experiment and enjoy just that.

Then I read somewhere on Pinterest that one can use old journals to create multi-media creations.

That has opened up a big new world and I am going to go larger with this as well.  I started rather stilted but recently began to pour and dabble, use collage pieces such as old photos and text. Layer upon layer once again. Just experimenting from a stash collected over the years.  Fun part is using sketches I have done over the years.

I can revert back to childhood here and PLAY which I have always believed should underpin our art. Now I add to that memories, use of my imagination and all the tools I have often underused.

The other thing I like is that it is always a work in progress.  I can come into my studio, study the page and add another bit of color or design letting it build up slowly and deliciously.

I have six journals and I hope to fill them all. A neighbor just gave me a whole pack of gardening magazines so I will be perusing those at my leisure cutting and planning how they might be used.

I like to cut out the whole flower and perhaps use some geometric pieces from its background. Collage is a way to try different designs, snip and add here and there.

For me, I am doing one side of the journal while putting a combination of color and design around a poem I have written over the years or a treasured letter from a grandchild.

That is where I found the idea of calling these Prayer Pages: prayers of gratitude for so many
blessings and prayers for those who have found their way into these pages.

Note that the border area here is a cut out from one of my painting prints.

I did not want to copy other art journalists so worked until my own style reasserted itself. I
do a treasure hunt in my studio for found objects of all kinds. I am going to frame some of
these for a show in October..for once I am ahead of myself....

There are so many ideas of how to do this or something like this....the best part is to love and
enjoy it....