Monday, October 22, 2012

Fall Fearless and Fly Challenge 2

My journal page for this challenge turned out to be a very pleasant surprise. This time the three prompts were:

Headline: When did you take a chance or a leap of faith?
Color: What color do you like least? Use it!
Quote: "Don't refuse to go on an occasional wild goose chase...that's what wild geese are for." - Anon

I immediately thought "THIS is my leap of faith!" Starting my career as an artist. I have the tiniest bit of training from 15 years ago and so much to learn! There are so many paths for an artist to follow...how will I ever decide which ones I want to travel? Some of those paths I have absolutely no knowledge of what steps to take to get down those paths i.e. book publishing, licensing, product lines...the list goes on. I have so many fears and doubts that I constantly have to push out of my thoughts just to create...some days I lose that mental battle and I do not go down to my studio at all. I could go on but I'm feeling mentally strong today and do not want to sabotage myself...I am inspired and dying to get downstairs today!!

The color prompt was easy too...Brown. Not that I don't like brown, I do when it comes to chocolate and coffee. It's warm and comforting and familiar. I have brown hair and brown eyes. My eyes might be my favorite feature, they're very dark, almost too dark to see the pupils. However, when it comes to my art I like it very bright, colorful and happy. Brown is boring and emotionless, a neutral color.

Since color always seems to be where I start a piece I was going to use brown. I guess that's the reason they call this a challenge...how was I going to use brown and still be happy when it was finished? I decided to go back to one of the brown things I love...coffee. I decided to stain some book text with coffee and then adhere that book text down as my background. Then I had to go get some brown paint...I did not own a single shade! I gave it a wash of brown mixed with gesso because I needed to push the text further into the background and shaded the edges...I was going to leave it and just journal with my brown pen but I couldn't. I pulled out a couple of pinks and finger painted the happy circles. Then I pulled out my favorite coffee mug and one other and stamped the brown rings with more paint. I finally got around to journaling my leap of faith and decided I needed that last reminder that I am an Artist which I stamped in the pink paint.




I am happy to report that I am indeed happy with this brown page!

Thanks for stopping by and if you feel moved please feel free to leave a comment. I appreciate every one!!

15 comments:

Carolyn Dube said...

Brown is one I don't use very often either! Love how you went back to coffee for inspiration - this turned out fabulously!! So glad you shared it with Fall Fearless and Fly!

Unknown said...

This works so beautifully. The pink just brightens up your brown and I love the circles and how you integrated your journaling. Thanks for joining FF&F!

Linda Kunsman said...

Brown is not my favorite either but I love how you used it and then added the bit of pink to lighten it up!

Shari said...

Brown is not my fav either. I am doing a page with brown too. Your page is great, thanks for the inspiration!

Unknown said...

Hi Dawn - I love your journal page! Taking that leap is such a scary one, but well worth it I believe. Congratulations on beginning because I think that is the hardest part! And while brown isn't that exciting it looks great with pink ;)

I tried to email you earlier (but it comes up with that no-reply blogger thingy) but I did a little research and I think either ultrasmooth fine or enhanced matt would be best. If you email me your addy I can send you more details x

Tracy said...

I love this! I'm a sucker for circles, and I like the varying shades you've managed to get using the coffee. Congrats on taking that bold step, too. I hope and pray it goes well for you :)

Ali said...

Looks great, I love brown so appreciate it all the more. Great idea to use coffee - love how you describe your process as well.

Maria Ontiveros said...

Love your message. I"m so glad I joined FF&F; it's great to see the variety.
Rinda

Lorinda.C.F said...

Hi Dawn, visiting via FFF. Your words sure spoke to me, having returned to art after almost 10 years off myself. Where does one start...other than to just start! I really love your spread. How you met the challenges head on but also made it all your own--and rather delicious looking! Nicely done!!

Unknown said...

Lovely. Don't brown and pink work beautifully together?

Unknown said...

Thank you all, your comments brighten my day!!

Å olanje na domu-Waldorf said...

Great journal page! Brown and pink color combination is one of my faves. :)

Ellie said...

I love the brown and pink together! It's rather partial to me as those colours were my wedding theme colours. Your journal pages are lovely. I love the writing in the background and the focus writing. I can't seem to get the background writing thing to look any good on mine! I don't tend to use brown either unless it is to represent the earth.

2amscrapper said...

I love this design!

Molly said...

i really like the layered look of this page and there's something about brown and pink together-- especially with the circles-- that has a very cool, retro vibe. i like it!