GPP Crusade No. 48 - More Evidence Journaling

Evidence page featuring a symphony concert we attended.

 The February prompt for the GPP Street Team is to create another evidence page in our art journals.  The theme is to come from an event attended last year, so Michelle Ward cleverly named the crusade: "Been There, Done That."  Read more at the GPP blog.

I've just completed half of my spread that you can see above.  Hubby and I attended a very special concert where the Central Iowa Symphony and Fort Dodge Symphony joined together.  Mahler's 1st Symphony was performed during the second half of the concert.  Near the conclusion of the performance, the French horn section is featured.  At the conclusion, the French horn players all stand as their fanfare fills the air.  It was a moving experience that I won't forget.  And it was so meaningful...



Beginning stages of the journal spread.

 A dear friend who had been a French horn player lost her battle with cancer the day before.  Her daughter, who is also a superb musician, was playing the French horn in the first chair position in the concert.

My friend was also an artist. We became good friends at the pool where we both did our workouts.  We quickly learned that we had so much in common.  Working out was more fun when we discussed the latest "Watercolor Artists Magazine" or the projects we were working on.

For this journal spread, I chose aqua and gold acrylic paint and gesso to prep the pages.  Aqua is for the pool and gold for the French horn.  The spiral stamp reminded me of the shape of the horn.

I adhered ephemera from the concert on my page with soft matte gel.  Chalk and oil pastel were added for more color.  I also spritzed the page with walnut ink and wiped off the excess.  Journaling was added with a Sharpie marker.
As for the right hand page, I plan to put a memorial to my friend on it.

Strathmore Visual Journal Page - Snow Birds

Detail from journal page

We had quite a snow storm earlier this week. I had filled all the bird feeders in anticipation of the bad weather on Sunday. I was rewarded with the sight of juncos, aka "snowbirds" feeding in my back yard.

Inspired by all the activity, I pulled out my new Strathmore Visual Journal with watercolor paper and jotted down some thoughts with a Sharpie pen.  Then I put a wash over gesso over the page. I sketched the birds with a soft charcoal pencil.  Then I worked the page altering between the gesso and charcoal.  A light spray of walnut ink that was mostly blotted off added some warmth to the page.  A bit of Prussian Blue oil pastel was added to the birds and a bit of the background which was followed up with more gesso wash.
Graphite details sketched back in.  A colored pencil gave the page a title.  I used Souffle matte ink pen to outline "snowbirds" and write over the journaling that was done in graphite.
A few details were added with Sharpie poster markers. The snowflakes were stamped on using Lagoon-colored Chalk Ink.


Strathmore Visual Journal with Watercolor Paper

 The colors are very somber in comparison to my usual project, but they reflect what I have been seeing out my window most of the week.  We had some sunshine for a while today.  Now the colors are returning to what you see on this page.

I am very pleased with the quality of the new Strathmore Visual Journal.  It has stood up well to the wet layers I put down with minimal distortion of the page.  Most media that I've drawn with have gone on easily.  I have only been able to get the smaller sized (5.5 x 8 inch) journals at the local Hobby Lobby.  I think I may put together my own journal with their tablet paper that is available.  It's easy to fill the smaller format, but sometimes my ideas are bigger than that.