I incorporated the theme of peace as I experimented with using cheesecloth in the process of painting a background in an altered book. Top left photo: 1) Paint the pages with two coats of white gesso; 2) lay down a piece of cheesecloth across both pages and paint with a random selection of thinned down acrylics; 3) let sit about 20 minutes and remove cheesecloth; allow pages to dry; 4) use fabric stamp on ink stamp pad in a variety of colors; 5) edge around the pages with washi tape which has the peace sign. Wait till inspiration hits again...
I prefer to use words in my art and I have a difficult time "just" doing abstracts. As an exercise in pushing my creativity envelope (several months later) I used the previously prepared "peace" theme as the background to paint the
feeling of peace. It was interesting to me that I painted the two pages at the same time using the same collection of acrylic paints/colors but that the two sides ended up looking very different; almost like "ying and yang" or "Venus and Mars." I logically needed them to look alike!
In an effort to blend the two sides and the two very different images/feelings of peace, I painted over the right side, edging into the left barely across the seam of the page and re-painted the swirl of circles (below). During the process of painting on top of painting on top of painting to achieve with paint the elusive feeling of peace, I realized that peace is a process...very much an ongoing journey and not a definitive achievement that is done once and for all.
I used oversized letters intended for stamping on t-shirts to embed the message I heard during the painting and reflection: PEACE IS A WORK IN PROGRESS. I think the concept of the journal reflection-without the words-would make a lovely oversized abstract once I work up the gumption to super-size and leave off the words.
