An Unexpected Art Journal Page

I was just now inspired to create an art journal page that I wasn’t expecting to make today, or ever. With paint still splattered on my hands and my heart still beating from the rush that comes with this passion we share, I’d like to tell you about it.

The page incorporates a number of techniques: painted papers, collage, acrylic painting, stenciling, etc. To me, it’s powerful. I want you to be able to experience the same excitement and emotions that I felt, and Kass Hall’s new book, Amplified Art: Dynamic Techniques for High-Impact Pages, can get you there, just as it did me.

Art journaling inspiration | Cherie Haas, ClothPaperScissors.com
I stopped for a moment to take a picture of the work in progress. Here, I was beginning to add the border with torn notebook paper painted yellow.

A project has been brewing in my mind for years–decades, actually. It’s deeply personal and so close to my heart that I’ve not talked about it much. I’ll be happy to share more about this much later, but for now, let’s talk about the art journal page that is still drying as I write.

I started by taking one of my copied diary/journal pages from 1990 and tearing it into shreds. That felt good because it was a physical way to release less-than-fond memories that I’ve held onto. Next, I took what I refer to as a “garbage page” from my art journal, a year-old painting of  a large bird flying overhead that I wasn’t happy with. The bird had a circle-shaped hole missing from the edge of its feathers, and I wrote on the page, “Bullets won’t stop you from flying.”

Art journaling inspiration | Cherie Haas, ClothPaperScissors.com
This is the orientation that felt right, today. I’m calling this final for now, but I might go back and add some detailed marks with a black ink pen.

The rest of this art journal page was sort of a blur, to be honest. While we normally break down the steps of a project for you, I have to admit that once I began this page, I didn’t stop to think very much along the way. I paused to consider ways to balance the colors and to hold the page up in different directions to see if any particular orientation was speaking to me.

I used watered-down acrylics to paint over a stencil in a couple of places, sprayed ink here and there, glued down the smaller paper shreds to make a yellow border, and used blobs of yellow dots of paint to cover some of the words that I’m not quite ready to share with the world. I thank you in advance for understanding. 😉

Art journaling inspiration | Kass Hall, ClothPaperScissors.com
An art journal page by Kass Hall, who says, “This page is a combination of collected collage papers and some of my own. Using collage papers for hair is a great way to use lots of different papers. Here I’ve used the papers by cutting them into arch shapes and layering them. The shapes not only create the hair effect, but also create the point of interest on the left-hand side of the page, opening the right side to the text and circles.” Pin this art!

Kass’s Amplified Art goes into detail on how to create art journal pages that are both meaningful to you and pleasing to the eye. Learn design concepts, how to incorporate words, and when to use color. You’ll love the art that goes along with her mixed-media lessons as well. I plan to rely more on her guidance the next time I make an art journal page, using both intuition and a general plan. I just love the way she uses lines, don’t you?

My hope is that this inspires you to carve out a little time (even just an hour) to spend with your favorite music and all the mixed-media art supplies you have at your disposal. Let loose, have fun with it, and see what happens!

Wishing unexpected art for you today,
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Art Journaling and Lettering

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