Made with Warmth & Love - Art Journal Page



Early this morning I was baking some banana bread for my family with the ever present 'spotty bananas' which no one will eat. I was thinking about how my love of baking started when I was a child with home baked cookies! Both my paternal and maternal grandmothers ALWAYS had cookies whenever I visited.

Grandmother M made vanilla cookies which were a cross between sugar cookies and shortbread. My father and I would go straight for the kitchen for cold milk and the cookie jar! This even before sitting down to visit with grandparents in the formal living room.

Grandma G always had a big jar full of fresh chocolate chippers. How she kept that jar full I have no idea considering how many grandchildren she had running around. Somehow she always did it. As I became a little older I often stayed with her on holidays and made the cookies with her.

It is interesting to me how these women who were so important in my life showed the warmth of their love through baking. And how I now do this too. I wanted to make a art journal spread today about how I was feeling warm and happy with the memories of my grandmothers this morning. It just so happens my page with fit perfectly with the November challenge over at the Creating and Sharing Mixed Media Art  The challenge prompt being 'Warmth' :)

I started out the idea for the page by thinking about the cookie recipes that were standard for the grandmothers and also the most popular one in my house...linking together all of us. I wrote them down on index cards with a permanent ink...and then made them look used and warn with sponged on inks and blots and fingerprints.
Next I needed a background made with warm colors. I decided to do a collage type background with some prints on deli paper using my 3 X 5 inch Gelli plate. I decided to use deli paper as it is translucent and for the same reason I used tube acrylics with a bit of water mist. Instead of making the Gelli plate lay down on the table and pressing my papers into it...I used it more like a stamp by mounting it on an acrylic block. I smooshed on the acrylic colors with a brayer and then simply pressed them down on the paper. I also used a sloppy circles stencil and pressed the Gelli plate over the top of that. It was fun! I liked the idea of rectangle shapes for the baking tray and circles for the cookies.



Once I decided I had enough deli paper printed to cover my journal pages, I started to tear them up and collage them to my pages using gel medium and a stiff brush. I just used my powers of randomness and I loved the way the background turned out.
Next I put on the recipe cards I had prepared. I added some shading using my favorite black water soluble pencil. After that I added some hand drawn and painted in hearts using the same acrylic colors. I added some white gesso around the hearts to make them stand out more and then added in shadows using the water soluble pencil again. 
My next step was to add stamping using a large and a small sized set of rubber stamps and a black archival ink pad. Then I put on the COOKIES... These were cut out of some hand painted papers I had for the paper paintings I make. I made 3 different types of 'paper cookies' to fit in with the recipes and collaged them on using gel medium. Then again I added shadows using my trusty black water soluble pencil. I hope you enjoy my page and can feel the love and warmth of my Grandmothers. 
<3 Shel



Comments

  1. Fantastic spread, Shel! Great idea to use the Gelli plate as a stamp. Lovely colours too!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Zsuzsa, the small Gelli plate did work much better that way.

      Delete
  2. You need my address for the cookie mail? I can almost smell the baking. Great job!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Vicki :) What a great idea...a cookie exchange swap through the mail! I will wait for your's to arrive :P

      Delete
  3. Awesome idea and sentimental...your creation will be great to look back on, for you and future generations!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Cindy. Yes I think of my art journals as a sort of scrapbook that might give some idea of who I was when I am gone. I am never in any photos lol..I am the one taking them.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Thank you for your comments. I read every one :)