The Journey – Mixed Media Art Journaling Collage

Earlier this week, I decided it’s time to resume daily art journaling. So, I created this collage:

The next day, trying to work on another mixed media collage, I realized that the art/studio side of my home office was a mess.

Okay, maybe not a total mess, but I needed to create order and space to then create my art “in flow.”

That led to rearranging everything in my home office.

Three times. Over two days. I’m not kidding. (It had to be “just so.”)

And now, more daily art journaling collages?

Today, I decided it’s time to resume this project. Get back in the habit of daily art journaling collages.

(Yes, it really is a habit. In some ways, an effortless one, but – right now – it’s essential to carve out time and mental space for it.)

Here’s what resulted. I think it’s a good art journaling example, and expresses where I’m at, right now.

The Journey – An Art Journaling Collage

This started with the word “play.” It’s on the page from an 1853 dictionary, on the right side of this two-page spread.

Note: The dictionary was coverless and in rough shape when I found it at a flea market. Giving that book’s pages fresh life in art seemed right.

Next, I took the word “Plan” and pasted it just above the dictionary entry for “play.”

Meaning: I need to plan to play.

Not “planning” in an excruciating, controlled way, but just create an opening in my daily schedule… for play.

After that, there’s the torn image of a set of chairs at a table. I wanted the image split, like someone had pushed back from the table. Making a different choice.

So, the word “escape” made sense in this collage, as well.

The photo is my own, taken at a pond in Maine. Over it, the feather came from a walk along Fortunes Rocks Beach, near Kennebunkport, Maine.

The finishing elements were the blossom and the word “Journey,” which inspired the title of this art journaling piece.

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Art journaling supplies used in this mixed media collage (Links will take you to Amazon.)

• One of 21 notebooks in a travel journaling set.  I love the size of these, and how well they lend themselves to journaling and collage art.
• A page from an 1853 dictionary. There’s something wonderful about old books, whether they’re originals or digital copies.
• Bits of paper – photos and words – mostly from travel and tourism brochures & booklets. They’re among my favorite resources for collage art.
• A feather found nearby, at Fortunes Rocks Beach (Maine). After using this, I got “pink eye” from rubbing my eye, and learned to sanitize feathers in the future.)
• Yes! paste, used in all of my recent collages. It’s now one of my favorite art supplies.