At Last - finally a new post

I am amazed how hast the time goes. Things are getting back on track here at the house.  Ron has made an incredible recovery.  Such gratitude for that.  Well I have many journal spreads to share and this time I should divide it up.  I will do 5  here in this post.  I will include the dates and the words that went with when I posted these in the art journaling group I am in. Like before oldest to newest.

May 6 ·

I want to take this time to give a sincere thank you to all of you. Your support and love has fed my soul and continues to do so. I am sorry I don't personally respond to each of your comments. I try to sometimes but I just can't always- please know I read them all and they mean so much to me. It is a wonderful thing to be connected with so many wonderful people here through our art. The spread here is a combination of digital and my own- the background is a monoprint I did. I was thinking of that terrific song Stand By Me. Thank you all for standing by me and I can only hope you feel that from me as well. This spread is dedicated to all of you on The Stand. Here is the verse that hits it so well:
When the night has come
And the land is dark
And the moon is the only light we'll see
No I won't be afraid
Oh, I won't be afraid
Just as long as you stand, stand by me
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTCfQ6Bb8QE

May 10 ·

I did this spread in a journal I work in once in a while as it's large at least to me spreads are 12" x 18". This spread is titled Building Awareness. That is in the figure on the left side made out of a page from a 1950s art education text. Right now this to me is becoming aware that I need to grow- feeling the need for a new direction. Wanting more direct work- more freedom- hard to explain really. The way I have been working for quite a while now is the result of my combining my collage "style" with my journaling. I have a feeling I will continue this but I also want something else something more immediate and direct. This spread I think is going to be the bridge to that. I love these emotional bold black gesso strokes.

May 11 ·

This spread is 7" x 11". I always am curious about the size of the journals people work in. This time I started with a blank page nothing prepainted. I started with no idea- Usually I have been inspired by a quote or something. I just got out the medium and because I am a pig in the studio, there are piles of things to grab from. The is titled: No Place at the Table.

May 15 ·

I was able to get some journaling in this afternoon. I worked in my large one- this one has fold outs and this spread is done on one of those it's 12" tall and 26 inches long big for me. I started with black gesso and just went from there- had no idea where I was going with it. I am calling it Holding Hands Below the Sky River. I have been reading Orly's book In My Bones again- Ron's cardio rehad sessions are an hour and a half long so I do errands and then read while i wait. Such wonderful book- so I was inspired to just be present- and just begin- no advanced planning.

May 18 ·

Well I did do a spread this afternoon- I have to say I never use to do this but I have 4 journals I am working in right now. They are all different sizes. I will share what happened this morning I had an idea and worked at the computer getting imagery ready for it and after the morning passes I realized i didn't want to do that. I opened my journal and in my big box of collage fodder I picked an image- then another- I have many many things already cut out- I find cutting to be a calming thing for me-As I found images I wanted to work with an idea started forming. The spread is titled Protectors of the Unborn Ideas. Sometimes I forget an idea i had and other times one I had a long time ago resurfaces. I do feel like I have protectors- these would be friends and as i was doing this I started remembering my wonderful high school art teacher- he is the reason I went into teaching- I knew I would make art but he was so inspirational- Carlton has been dead for gosh 25 or 30 years. This one's for you Carlton.