Is It Love or Lust?

The spread is complete and in the artist's journal.

Lust and Purity Become One

Normally these would be opposite each other in a book style, but because of the size of the paper, I decided to do them back to back.

Purity....It makes Itself

I rarely have a piece of art completely planned out. The most that I had envisioned for this spread was for the backgrounds of lust to be fire colors and the purity to be pale in color. I realized when I started this page that I didn't really have any shades of white acrylics, except pure white. It has been my vow to not purchase new materials, so I looked around and decided to use several shades of Pearl Ex to tint the paint and add a shine.

I had printed a second transparency that I was planning on cutting out and using. As I laid the transparency onto the paper to judge the size, I soon realized that the paint was still wet. The transparency now was covered in paint. I decided at that point to lay down the transparency in the same way as the lust page, but just press around the outline of the image (not transferring the background). I then was left with the transparency covered in paint, but I thought it looked quite cool. So, I cut around the wedding girl on the transparency, and placed her opposite to the first image. It looked lost. I decided then that I would create the girl with layers. The bottom layer would be her struggle with her lust, the next layer (the paint covered transparency) would be her defense layer, and then the final would be outside "face".

Lust and Purity

The first round's theme is Lust and Purity. I immediately thought of fire when I thought of lust. The first photo is done on yupo paper with acrylics. The vintage photo is of a woman in a wedding gown in what I thought was quite a provocative pose. The photo is done on transparency and while the ink was still wet, pressed onto the paper in certain areas.

And I Receive One

Yes, that is how it all is supposed to work. Each month we should receive a new journal as they revolve around the United States. This journal did not travel very far as it came from PA. Each journal opens your mind to new ideas, whether it is the art that you see, the words written by one of the players, or even the medium or surface. In one round robin I worked in an old cookbook, you know the Betty Crocker kind with the three ring binder. It was quite cool! In another round robin, the journal was book of record sleeves for the old albums ( the real ones). The artist had cut circular watercolor paper to resemble a vinyl record as our surface. Again, a challenging and unique way to think.

The journal I received this month was created from a scrapbook photo album. It has plastic sheets for the artist to insert their completed spread. The pages are for me the challenge. It is large in size, 12x12, and square. I usually work in rectangular shaped paper and a smaller size. So, this would be quite fun!

Ist Stop

My journal has arrived at its first stop on its journey. I mailed it to another player in California. So from the East Coast to the West Coast, it has already traveled farther than I ever have! I received a sweet email from the receiver and I was glad to hear it had arrived all in tact.

Gifts for the Artists

In this round robin, it was suggested, but not required, that gifts be sent along with the journal for each artist. Another of my interests is jewelery making, so I sent along nine pairs of earrings that each person could choose from. I wrapped them in this antique tin that my sister had given me for Christmas one year. It was tied with a corresponding color ribbon and on the vellum tag, I wrote in blue Sharpie, so that each person knew what they were.

Welcome and "Rules"

I can't draw. It has never been one of my talents. However, with this journal I had decided that I would step outside my comfort level and experiment. This Circus de Soleil inspired clown was one of my first attempts in a journal to draw. I spent more time on this page than on any of the other parts of the journal including the cover. I searched the Internet for inspiration, drew several trials, and finally ended up with this version. The blue girl has been colored with Prismacolor pencils, highlighted with Glaze pens, and had Diamond glaze added to the eyes and lips. The circus tent was less than satisfactory to me. But, as I was running out of time to meet the deadline, I kept it the way that it was. On the stripes are the themes for each month. At the top of the tent are the "No Rules, Rules". In a round robin, each artist uses a welcome page to introduce themselves, the journal, and any limitations that they request. I really didn't have any as I believe in giving the artist full reign to create.

The Players

With the one side of the two page spread for the sign in done, now it was time for the actual sign in page. Since I had decided on a circus theme, I used tickets that my youngest son had leftover from a trip to the arcade. They are being held inside a vellum envelope that I had cut down to size. Each artist's name was written in the same silver pen on top of the harlequin cut out. "The Players" was done on cardboard circles that had been painted with Lumiere blue paint. This two page spread was done!

Artists This Way

I wanted to add another layer to the sign in pages, but it needed to be something lightweight. I found these memory glass pieces, that I think I originally bought to make photo charms. Using Pinata alchohol inks and a dab of Krylon gold, I decorated the backs of three pieces of glass.I then used a calligraphy pen in silver and wrote the directions Artists This Way. Using the drafter's templates I then colored in several arrow shapes pointing towards the next page.

Artist Sign-in Pages

A staple of all round robins is a sign in page. This is where the players will record their name and date that they had the book in their home. I wanted to create a harlequin theme, so I began by cutting out some purplish paper in that shape. It needed something more, so I glued and glittered a border on them in metallic green.

The next day, I looked at them and hated them! So, back to square one. I still wanted the harlequin pattern, so I looked through some papers that I had hand painted in the past. I found a sheet in the colors I was looking for that I had done with acrylics and punched out the harlequin shapes.

What Didn't Work

So, I wanted to use book rings for the binding of my journal. I thought the small ones would work well, but no, they could not close. I then purchased the larger rings, but found the diameter was too large to go through the already punched and reinforced pages.

The Journal Begins