the time traveler's wife

I finished reading "The Time Traveler's Wife" (Audrey Niffenegger) a little while ago and then saw the trailer for the movie since. It was a great book that was very moving and I can't wait to see how they try to portray it in the movies. I'm sure it won't be the same as the book, but I am pleased to have read the book first.

I had to do a journal page or two after reading the book, and this was the results. There were so many wonderful moments and images and quotes in the book that I didn't know where to start. I decided these were the quotes that I wanted to remember Clare and Henry by.

Henry's page shows him time travelling and shows him falling to represent what a dangerous and helpless condition he has. His wings are because of the constant references to angels and Clare's art and they relate to the central themes of the book (you will have to read it to know any more!)

Clare's page shows her self portrait. The full page doesn't quite fit in my scanner, but she is actually floating. The floating and the quote reflect the flying theme again.

There is a printed page in the background for both pages with all the years from the book printed in different sizes and fonts. Then there is a layer of gesso and water soluble crayon. Then I drew the picture of Clare using pencil and posemaniacs for a model. I did Henry falling by cutting a stencil from an internet image and sponging with acrylic paint. I drew in the wings, then painted with silver acrylic, highlighted with red acrylic and black Pitt Artist pen and tiny touches of white Uniball Signo pen. The text was done on both pages by hand with black Pitt Artist pen and black Sharpie. The stenciled edge was done with punchinella scrap and acrylic paints and graphite stick.

I know that some people found the book slow, but it is a book that you have to feel the characters slowly, not have them thrown at you in an exciting, fast paced way. I thought that the author got the pace just right and I can't wait to read her next novel.

art swap

This is an art journal that I made as part of an art swap organised by KiwiCarole at Madness and Mess blog. I filled the journal with many different types of paper and card. The idea was that every page would be a starter prompt for a journaling diary or art journal and would inspire the artist that used the journal.

The cover is another "fabric paper" creation from serviettes. Then there are layers of chiffon and paper and a computer printed image on silk fabric that I did from a photograph of an angel I took at a cemetery and a scan of a painted background that I did. All stitched together with my trusty sewing machine (broke a needle doing this!)



This shows the inside cover and the letter that I wrote to the swap partner explaining my creation. It folds up and goes in the pouch on the inside cover.



This is the back cover made from a vintage board game.

These are a selection of pages from inside the book. Some were scrapbooking papers, some were vintage book pages, some drawing paper and card, old ledger paper, canvas paper...

I was worried that I was making something by hand and then I would never see it again overseas somewhere, so I made an exact duplicate of it at the same time. So I sent one away on my swap and then I kept the other myself. Now I don't know whether to use it or keep it as it is!

Angel monuments

Here are some photos of angel monuments from a local cemetery. I love looking through old cemeteries and I love angels, so I treasure these photos. I plan to play with all the images digitally for use in my artwork.

Angel

I just adore angels! This angel is a photo I took of a memorial statue at a cemetery. I posterized the image and superimposed it on the image of the wall of a room being renovated. I printed the image out and then collaged it in my journal with snippets of sheet music and old dictionary pages. The colour around the edges is watercolour crayons, the circles are souffle pen and the dotted lines are acrylic paint.

Enjoy this image! I will post some of my angel photos on another day. You are bound to see many more angel images in the future. They are just heavenly. Compassion personified.