Summer Travel Pages in my Re-purposed Journal

This blog post is part two from January 8
  Repurposed Art Journal

These are travel collages, using maps and ephemera and watercolors, crayons and markers.

This 2 page spread reminds me of the nice vacation we had with my sister-in-law.

I usually complete a group of pages at once, instead of one a day.

This 2 page spread captures the lovely weekend we spent with our friends Mario and Bella. 

 The left hand page is a collage from a Public Art Dedication that I went to that my two friends Marianne and Lynn created.

These pages are created while on my trips, I'm usually pretty busy but can find an afternoon here or there to catch up on my journaling. If I wait until I get home, it is too overwhelming and I never get around to it. 

On the left is a tattoo design I created for my friend Mandi. On the right is one of the original pages from my daughters journal. 

This 2 page spread will remind me of the fabulous time I had with my oldest daughter this summer while spending a week at her home. 

Mine on left, daughters on right. I am currently reading "The Time Traveler's Wife"
and working in this journal reminds me of the story a little bit as my daughter and I are not passing the journal back and forth to work in it, but it is her journal from 10 years ago?
And when I see her markings I think of her how she was then instead of now as a young adult. 

"I could never resist the call of the trail" Buffalo Bill

I love trying to make sense of my daughters diagrams and doodles. 

Art Journaling while camping

We have been spending a lot more time in our trailer lately. Between travel days and bike or hike days I do manage to take some time for art days.  It helps me think and centers me. I like to use the bits of ephemera I pick up along our travels and put them into collages. Kind of a diary.

This is my current journal. I started my first one in 1995.

I also like to draw what I see using a permanent pen....

and then filling in with watercolors. 

"Jawbone" is back traveling with us and likes to put on my glasses when I'm not looking.

And of course the "The Decider" is back - here he is pictured exhausted and ready for bed.

Learning to See

This past Saturday I took one of Lisa Cheney's drawing workshops. She is a very accomplished local visual journalist.  She has taught at Art Fest, Journal Fest, Art Unraveled etc. and has been published in quite a few books and magazines. It was quite a treat not to have to travel to attend one of her classes.

Lisa

 Lisa starts out the class with several exercises to make everyone feel comfortable. 

 

 It was also fun that several of my artist friends were in the class. Zella, a metals artist joked that it would be easier if we could draw with a blow torch.

Lynn, who creates life like equine sculptures and

Marianne , Queen Gypsy, Mixed Media and Photography

Marianne's drawing of Zella's squid.

My drawing-practicing contour drawing and crosshatching

mine-adding watercolor to the line drawings

At the end of the class we switched to pencil and worked with values

 It was a fun class and I was glad not to be the teacher for once.