...and the Winner is.....

 by Jo Reimer

Preparing a fresh cover for my paint table

I decided to give away both Paint Table Journals and the winners are Ruth Armitage and Susi.  Congratulations! I hope you have a grand time doing whatever you want with these journals. After all, they didn't cost you a thing so it's okay to draw, collage, write, and just make a general artistic mess in your new journal.

I need your address, Susi. I have yours, Ruth. Expect a package very soon.

Jo

Another page from my Paint Table Journal

by Jo Reimer

 page in Paint Table Journal-2

 Here's another example of how I'm currently using my paint table journals. I greatly admire the work of printmaker, Anne Moore .  After browsing her website last weekend I made little prints of two pieces of her work and glued them into my journal. As I studied the works I made notes about elements of her work that I might use in my own work. I would not copy Ms. Moore's art for any reason but I might appropriate elements of it, changed to suit my own aesthetic.

For instance, I already have sheets of paper in my stash that look a lot like something in her work so I tore off bits of two papers and glued them to the journal page as a reminded that I have these papers and know where to get more. I suspect that she used this same paper to print the image on the left side of both pieces, but not being a printmaker I'll glue the paper onto a collage or glue a bit to board to create texture and paint over it. I made notes about the look of text, something that's long interested me.

I noted,  "I'm drawn to Anne Moore's work because of the look of text which indicates something deeper happening below the surface." and  "lines across the top; text area on left; written text on top of paint; large circles".  This is one way I learn and advance in my approach to the easel.  As I start working with what I taught myself  on this journal page I know that my work will take on my own style and end up looking nothing like hers.

Remember to leave a comment on yesterdays blog post... or on this one today, especially if you want to win a Paint Table Journal.

End of Summer

I figure that you've been wondering where I am and what I've been doing this summer since there've been no changes since August 5. It's a long boring story about gardening, grandkids, berry picking and freezing, experimenting with oil paint, reading and a few parties thrown in for good measure.

As the weeks went by without a serious thought about blogging I finally decided to wait until the end of summer. That's today, so here are a couple of pictures for you.

Romans 5
9x12"
Collage, stamping, stencils, handwriting

Romans 6
9x12"
Collage, stamping, handwriting, painted papers

I've returned to the Sermon Notes series, working through the book of Romans. I finished Romans 6 yesterday and intend to finish all 16 by the end of October. It'll be a push but I will do it. That's just over one a week. Easy! If you want to see the rest of the series they're on Flickr here.

Journal pages
17 x 11"

Above is the first spread in a new art journal. The intention for this journal is to use strips of paper to create a story, probably spread over two pages. I don't regularly work this way but I've been advised by two trustworthy artists to work larger and I'm doing that, on canvas and paper as well as in my journals.

And finally, here are some recent sketches from my small Moleskine journal that I always have with me.

Hiking in Forest Park with grandkids.

At a friend's memorial service

Callas from my garden

Happy Hour with friends

Birds - Seagulls - Journal Pages

Here are more pages in my Black Journal, these combining some of my photos with other sources (the birds on a wire and the 3 vertical birds aren't my own photos).

I used 3M Spray 77 to glue the photos to the black gessoed pages. I like this glue a lot for some purposes, especially for journal pages, though I isn't as permanent as I like for stand-alone collages. 

My setup for using this spray glue includes a large flat plastic bin with a lid, a magazine and the spray can. I lay my paper face down in the bin, take off my glasses and put them under something so no drop of glue touches the plastic lens (it doesn't want to come off once stuck to the glasses), and give the back of the image a quick spray. Working quickly, I lift it out of the box, close the lid, and put it in place in my journal. 

Why all the care? It's a SPRAY and it likes to float around the room, landing on all surfaces and leaving a tacky mess behind. By quickly closing the lid I allow very little spray to escape the box; it harmlessly coats the inside of the bin. When the magazine page gets too sticky I turn the page and have a fresh, non-tacky surface to lay my work on.

Making Journals from Scratch, continued

Studio Journals

“When you bind an art journal do you paint your pages before you bind the book or after it’s bound?”

Pages can be prepared either way. If you like the experience of opening a fresh journal with pristine white pages then go ahead and bind the paper into a book format using whatever binding structure you want… or skip the binding step and buy a blank book. My first art journals were blank coil bound books  but once I learned that I could choose my own paper and bind it myself that’s what I’ve done, (pictured above). I especially like gutting an old book that’s no longer useful and adding my own signatures using a good paper. There are lots of books, YouTube videos, and online tutorials/ classes that will walk you through the process.

My first self-bound art books were made following Teesha’s instructions here.

Other times, especially when I’m making a theme journal I’ll paint a few pages of a good paper and then tear it down and bind it as a coverless book. One such book is Teesha Moore’s 16 page journal.

 

I have a large stash of paper that has watercolor or acrylic paint on one side that I worked on in a class or as experiments that didn't come to completion, work that isn't frame-able the way it is. This paper is perfectly good and I keep it because I can't bear to throw away expensive paper, knowing that I can re-purpose it. That's what I often use for my journals and that’s what I used for my Nature Journal. Sometimes I do nothing further to the paper before tearing it down and other times I paint the other side in similar colors so there'll be continuity of color throughout the book.

For the Nature Journal I wanted to push back the color that was already on both sides of the paper so I tore it down to page-spread size and smooshed white gesso over the paint using a broad palette knife and a credit card as a squeegee. Gesso gives strength to the pages, keeps them flexible, and provides a good painting surface for acrylic paint or as a base for collage when using acrylic medium for the adhesive as I most often do.

I Stand in Awe

I Stand in Awe

17 x 11

Journal Spread

Sometimes the idea for a piece of work is right there in front of you, waiting to be discovered. Two months ago I made an acrylic decal from a photo in a magazine of a young man looking into the distance...  The decal has been on my work table for ages, just pushed around as I needed to make space. After photographing this spread to show you last week I glanced down and saw the connection between the man and the painting.  Even the splotch of white on the left side page looked like a man's legs... hence the combination of man and nature. This is in my black journal.

Making a Decal:   Paint over an image which was cut from a magazine or a toner-based photocopy with acrylic gel medium. Don't get any acrylic on the back.  I use Golden brand but others work, too.  Let it dry completely and then repeat for 3 to 5 coats.  Turn it over and wet the back and start rubbing. As you rub the wet paper it will start disintegrating and come off the image, leaving the ink/image embedded in the layers of acrylic. Rewet as needed until you've rubbed off all of the paper from the back of the image. Trim around the image and glue it in place on your substrate.

Birds on a Wire

Birds on a Wire

17 x 11"

Journal Pages

I've started to work in my new nature journal beginning with this spread, The 140# watercolor paper had been painted with acrylics, mostly in warm colors. After cutting the paper to size I smeared it with gesso on both sides, allowing some of the color to show through in spots. Then I bound the papers into a book. I chose half a dozen colors to add to the spread but ended up using only burnt sienna and burnt umber.

The idea of the birds came to me as I was working. I practiced painting them on a scrap of paper before adding them to the pages, though it wouldn't have mattered because none of them are perfect anyhow. I used my Pentel Brush Pen for the birds and then switched to a plastic squeeze bulb and Sumi Ink for the drawings. I drew a very sloppy wet line on each page and then tipped the book upright and banged it on the table to get the ink to run. Messy fun, that was!  After the ink had dried I sprayed the whole thing with Krylon clear acrylic coating to seal it because otherwise the ink isn't permanent on the acrylic paint and would simply rub off. The photo was glued on before I sprayed.

Now that the book is bound and I've made a start I can hardly wait to work on the next pages, to see what bubbles to the surface as I think about the beauty of the natural world around me.

Making Journals from Scratch

Black Journal Front

8 x 11

I spent a good part of yesterday binding a couple of new art journals and working in another. Both new journals are made of 140# watercolor paper, torn to size and assembled. For my black journal I first painted the paper on both sides with black gesso, just globbed on, and then tore it down to size. I sewed the 4 signatures, 20 pages, following Martha's directions on How to Rebind a Moleskine   Once I got the signatures stitched I realized that I'd rather have a soft book than one with stiff covers so I found an old acrylic painting on canvas and cut out a 4 x 11" piece to use as a spine and glued it to the front and back. So simple and easy and it looks nice, too.

Black Journal Back

Black Journal Spread

I used part of a watery acrylic painting for a page and sewed it to another piece of paper to make a 2 page spread. This is just the beginning.

For the other book I tore down two sheets of watercolors pours, stablized the folds with strips of fabric and lace, and smeared gesso over everything. The upholstery cloth spine was first sewn to a piece of canvas and  then I sewed each of the 5 signatures to the soft fabric spine with a simple Japanese stab binding.  (There's no decent photo of this one). I finished by gluing the canvas covers to the front and back pages of the signatures using Mod Podge. I know that I'll eventually want to paint the canvas covers but right now I don't know what I want so the painting will just have to wait. I'll show you when it's done.

2 page spread in canvas journal

Some days I much prefer making journals over working in them, but I'm hoping that these books keep me busy for the summer. I'm anxious to get out my acrylic paints and do lots of painting and collage in them.

Campground Directory - Continued

These are offered as a sampling of the 24 pages in this book. Some images are appropriated from magazines but since this book is for private use and won't be sold I consider it allowable under the umbrella of collage. I'm pretty careful about not using other people's photos or art because I wouldn't want it done to me.  When the book is bound I'll  do a video if I have time next week.

Campground Directory - Sewn Art Journal

Last week I swore to myself that I'd post more often but finding the time to blog isn't my first priority. I'm starting to prepare for a 3 week road trip with my husband, and am starting to panic just a bit because I've done very little except research. Usually by now I'd have a packing list ready and at least one pile of clothes. Nada! I'll get to it next week when the deadline is looming larger.

One thing I have worked on for the past few days is a sewn journal that will be a gift for a special friend. It will have 24 pages with lots of room left for writing and photographs. Here are a few of the pages. They don't look very exciting yet but I still have many embellishments to add before I bind them. For instance, on this page (below) I didn't leave room for writing so I'll figure out a way to add a journaling spot, other than the orange in the upper right hand corner. The page above has two spaces for writing or adding a photo.

The pages of my book are made of all sorts of papers: scrapbooking paper, ledger paper, security envelopes turned inside out, menus, painted washi, magazines, children's books, art showing announcement cards, color copies of my journal pages, wallpaper, book pages, masking tape, and many others. The featured photo above is a print on matte photo paper of a plant we once saw in Arizona.

This page also has room to write. The red band is sewn only at the edges so an narrow envelope or  paper or a photo can be slipped under the band.

I've been tearing old magazines apart, as here with a bit of an art doll from one magazine hiding behind a brick wall from an interiors magazine and the word which I hope will prompt some writing about surface. The brick wall is actually a flap which is lined with card stock for stability. The writer can add a comment on the back side of the wall.