Quiet... PAJWLH

So today I was going to post a prompt and art journal page using yesterday blog post technique I shared for My Craft Channel episode... I had to switch gears a bit due to a complete crash on my part this week... I think we caught a school bug, so I have been up and down sick for the last few days... hoping it ends soon. My goal is to get the prompt up either Thursday or Friday... With this being said, we are going to have an extra PAJWLH post this week... I wanted to try and squeeze a few extras in anyway, so hopefully this will help. Again, there is no pressure to get each one done each week, that is not how this works... these are prompts to just get your creative juices going... grab them when you can :)


So here we go :)

Psalm 46:10:  He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

I don't get extremely religious on my blog, its just not my way. I love God and am grateful for all that he does for me, but that is my relationship with him. I don't agree with bible thumping and I believe we all have our own relationships with our maker or faith... it is a personal issue. But for this I had to share scripture as it is part of my story. 

This past Monday was Labor Day. If we are friends on Facebook then you know that I had proclaimed Labor Day to be a NON MOMMY holiday... I said this in jest, but in all honesty as the day went forward my brain cells became fewer and weaker... I can only answer so many questions at one time from so many people!

After hearing the chorus of :

 ♫ ♪"MOM.MOM.MOM.MOM.MOM.MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM...." ♪ ♫

I needed a mental break... It was around 4pm and I had no idea what had happened to my kids in the few weeks that they had been in school, but it just seemed like they needed my every moment. I later realized that it probably felt like this because I have not been feeling too well... so sorry kids, it is not your fault.

In an effort to claim back some sanity, I went downstairs to my studio and picked up a canvas I had yet to finish and seriously just attacked it... I just started to paint and ink and stencil and paint again... and well just let loose. I needed this, even if it was just a few minutes of solitude it helped me to pull myself together and clear my head.

So here is what the result of my day was:

Quiet 8x10 Mixed Media Canvas Board

I have some pictures on instagram of my progress of this piece if you would like to see them (Liz_Hicks). I based my canvas board with collaged images and covered with tissue paper to make it cohesive. From there I sketched my face and laid down my face color of paint. I sketched my face in pencil and then used pen and ink to add the detail and hair (India ink). I amplified the lines with a black Perma Opaque pen from Sakura.

To create the background I masked the face and parts of the hair with art masking fluid. It is a siliconish style product that you brush on and it creates a removeable mask on your piece. Test it out first to make sure that your substrate can support it, some surfaces are delicate and may pull. This should allow you to do some fun technique. My hair has some of the colors where I left the mask off of in it. I love it this way!

 Simple is not always easy for me so this face was really hard not to add shading or coloring too. I wanted to have that pop art feel, so I did just the minimal amount of detail that I needed. I am so glad I did because her face stands out among the chaos that is the rest of this piece.

 Carved flowers... I drew these our with my Perma Opaque pens and then painted them in white. From there I painted when the white paint was almost dry... at this point I carved with a dry embossing tool some detail into my flowers.

 I have a thing for graffiti art... especially stencil art... just love it... so this is a technique I love adding to my pieces to add depth.

I added the side title QUIET during my retreat to my studio. At this point all I could think of was I just need a little quiet time to clear my head. As I began to create the scripture above rang through my head... as well as this song, None but Jesus by Hillsong. The beginning of the song says, "In the quiet, in the stillness....I know that you are God".  Art journaling has become a wonderful way for me to relax and be at peace. Creating art allows me to shed my day and to retreat into a quiet place of thanksgiving for all that has happened in my life.

The thing is at this point, I had not allowed myself to be quiet or still for a very long time... I mean a LONG time... I love the idea of meditation and reflection and I can not remember the last time I had allowed myself to rest, breathe and just release my day and meditate on what good has come of my life. I needed this reminder, not only to allow myself to rest, heal and restore my heart but also to remind myself that I need to stay on track. So many of life's factors can easily deter me at any point. Even something as silly as a holiday... can easily allow my focus to stray. So this piece is a reminder that I need to rely on QUIET and remember the beautiful things that are planned and promised for me (those are the flowers in my head, lol I couldn't think of a better way to represent them).

So hear is this weeks prompt focusing around the word QUIET.

Prompt: Be still and see what comes to you. Allow a small amount of quiet time to happen and see what comes to your head. Write that down.

Creative Prompt: try out the carved flower technique I share above. If you have any questions, feel free to email me. Integrate what you wrote down into your journaling and subject of your page.

I love the learning process. As I have slowed my life down, I have realized just what areas I need to work on in myself. Allowing quiet is one of those places... I am a talkative person by nature, so quiet goes against the grain of my being...lol. Sometimes doing the opposite of what you are is just the break you need :)

Let me know what you think of QUIET... do you think taking a few breather moments is necessary, or do you believe something else? I would love to hear your thoughts on this.

~Liz ♥