A fight between intuition and too much thinking!

Hi everyone, I hope you are having a great weekend.

This latest page I want to share was a labour of love and learning. It felt like a tug of war between my intuition and my thinking brain. At times there was just too much thinking about what colours and techniques to use without letting the page form naturally. Whenever I stopped flowing and tried to apply too many rules and reasons for doing things, the layer just didn't look right. Many times I did another layer and walked away cause it just didn't look how I thought it would. Whenever I just relaxed, breathed and let my intuition guide me the page came together. 

Sometimes we struggle against the tide trying to put the "right" colours together, trying to balance the page from the beginning, ignoring the evolving process that is so much a characteristic of art journaling.

So here is the process

For the background I gessoed the page thickly and then pressed the two pages together. opened them up and let them dry naturally to create the texture underneath. Over the top I brushed on Jo Sonja Sapphire and wiped off the excess.

then was a wash of jo Sonja Harbour Blue

and a layer of randomly stamped flowers.

I then used Jo Sonja Yellow Orange with a makeup sponge and a Crafters Workshop Stencil called Flower Frenzy as well as a Gerbera stencil

At this stage I wasn't really happy with the colours so I doodled some flower outlines with a white paint pen

I still wasn't wrapped in the results so used the Crafters Workshop stencil called Mini Daisy cluster and sponged white all over the page

Still not happy because it was too harsh, so I mixed white with Harbour Blue and scrapped over the pages.

 

 I really wanted to get a nice contrasting colour so pulled out a cutout with a floral pattern and sponged white all over the pages then sponged Jo Sonja Tiger Lily randomly

OK so I am feeling better about where this is headed now because I got out of my own way and picked colours without thinking too much.

So I have left this page now and gone to work. I'm sitting at my desk at lunchtime with my favourite scarf on and realise that it is my favourite scarf because of the colour combination. My first thought is wow, these are the colours I can add to the page of my journal. Hence the next steps. Here is the scarf, gorgeous bright colours that just make me feel better on a cold Melbourne day.

 I needed a border so used the Tim Holtz On the Edge Die called Scrollwork cut from a piece of chipboard to use as a stencil

 Jo Sonja Cadmium Yellow Mid was the colour I used with a bigger, softer, more open sponge

 I sponged again with the same stencil but just in from the edge of the yellow layer using Jo Sonja Yellow Green. I also scrapped it down the page in random places

 Next colour was Jo Sonja Brilliant Magenta. I dry brushed this on the page so I could retain the texure underneath. I just love dry brushing or smooching.

  

  Next layer was  stamping with a floral stamp with words in the petals and impress Tangerine and Versa Magic Cloud White

  So this is where I am at and I am really happy with where it is now. So onto the words

 I am a big Sonia Choquette fan and one of her early books called Your Heart's Desire. It is in a workbook format to help you remove obstacles, focus on your dreams and to empower you to manifest your Heart's Desires. I have had it for a while now and have done some chapters sporadically but now the book calls to me to be read from start to finish. Funny how you can have books for ages and not ready them till you are ready to hear what they have to say.

So I found a small pad of Adhesive patterned papers in my stash and a sheet of striped paper in the colours I have used. I cut and tore strips, worked out where I wanted them and wrote a quote from Sonia's book on them and a bit of personal journaling in a Blue Sharpie. 

After I stuck them down I rubbed Jo Sonja Titanium White around the main title, dipped the credit card in the white and underlined the words. I re-stamped a couple of white flowers and there you have it.

So what obstacles or excuses have you put in your way consciously or sub-consciously? Do you tell yourself that you could not possible do something. Surprise yourself, give yourself permission to try something and you will find that what you thought was  a huge immovable mountain was really a smoke screen hiding your potential creative self, ready and waiting to be invited into your life.

“The chief enemy of creativity is  

"good" sense.”

 Pablo Picasso

Namaste

Lee