In a nutshell, the task was to write down negative feelings, then cover them up with layers of paint, and collage images, words and symbols that have a positive association for you.
I like the colours and the drawings, but I hate the composition. Collage has never really been my thing. I think the double-page spread was too large as well. I had an urge to fill it up with 'stuff' - quantity over quality.
I did most of this page when I was very sick. The part I enjoyed the most was layering the paints for the background. It was easy and I liked working with pure colour and mixing the paints. It also felt good to cover up the boring, whining text I'd written underneath!
I got most of the collage elements from a charity lottery brochure. I glued them all down with gel medium - it's the first time I've used it in this way, and I really like how it seals the papers and gives them a slight gloss. I don't like how the collage turned out (the composition) though - I don't think I'm very good at collage (yet?).
Next I got out all of my markers and experimented with which ones would work best on this surface. That's helped me a lot already. I also drew some things that make me happy, e.g. my ipod.
One thing I have trouble with is writing on my journals (I have a separate writing journal so I have an instinct to keep them separate), but then I remembered this is an Art "Journal", so I drew a picture of an event that made me happy recently (i.e. having a pie lunch with friends). I know there isn't much actual writing, but it's a start!
To finish, I sponged some light green acrylic mixed with gel medium over all of the pictures and some of the words. That improved the look of it a lot, as if it bound it all together.
Just a few problems I had with it -
* some of the pens needed a long time to dry, and they even smudged a little when dry when I added gel medium on top. But I got around that by being careful.
* the pages curled a little (you can see that better in the detail photo) but not too bad.
* the finished page is now quite tacky from all the gel medium, and the pages stick together when I shut the journal. I am going to insert a piece of waxed paper, and hopefully that will solve the problem.
Detail of the left hand side of the page. The blue piece on the left is my first attempt at making a decorated paper. I used rubber stamps, dotted acrylic paint and a watercolour wash on a security envelope. I didn't like the composition of it at all, so I cut it into strips.
Includes some 'swirlies', which I always tend to end up doing when I'm doodling.
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