Sunday, November 7, 2010

Atlantis Lives! (In My Dreams)

One of my favorite collaborative art journal groups is JOD (Journal of Dreams) because it is the least restrictive.  No particular theme or color combination.....just whatever the artist dreams up.  And that dream can be a literal night time dream or a wish, or whatever.
I received Gina's journal a while ago and it has taken me this long to come up with an idea.
I can't even put my finger on why I thought of Atlantis (no, not the resort in the Bahamas; I'm talking about the lost city of mythology).
In my head, however, Atlantis did not sink into oblivion.  Nope, my Atlantis is a thriving city where the people just learned to ADAPT.
So, maybe adaptation has been on my mind.  Who knows?  Like I've said before, I really don't like to spend too much time on interpretation or explanation.  So, without further psychoanalysis, here is my Atlantis:


Sadly, much of the texture and dimension doesn't show up in photographs, and there is a lot of both on the page.  The stylized city on the bottom was done with modeling paste and a cityscape stencil. The upper part of the background received texture with gesso, tissue paper, bubble wrap and some scratch tools.
Color came from some of the new Perfect Pearls mists, distress inks, and of course, my favorite, Portfolio water soluble oil pastels.
Most of the images are courtesy of my pal Val and her amazing collection of graphics.  I did a bit of work on them with pencils.
The cool steampunk looking lady with the binoculars was a freebie from someplace on the internet....sorry I don't remember where.

This is the journaling page: 
What I'd like to share about this page is what I did with a very cheap and (IMO) tacky charm.  That fish.  It was bright.  It was gaudy.  It was cheap and tacky.  First I dabbed some green paint on it, wiped most of it off, and added some white paint, also wiping most of it off.  That toned down the glare but wasn't quite enough.
So, I made some marks on it with an embossing pen and sprinkled some Ranger verdigris embossing powder (from their Antiquities line) on it and heat set.  I'm not sure if it shows up, but there is also a dot of purple embossing in the eye. 

14 comments:

Tammy D said...

These are fun, fun, fun!

Alicia B said...

Eileen, What an amazing journal you are creating!! *Hugs*

Angie Hall Haviland said...

OH WOW Eileen!!! These are FABULOUS!!! LOVE the squid and octupus!!!

Unknown said...

I just love the lady looking through her goggles infact I feel like I have been underwater! Great work!

Chrystal S said...

Beautiful work Eileen! Love the color and I know you said the fish charms was cheap and tacky, but I love it! :)

Elena said...

What beautiful pages Eileen! They must be fabulous in person!

Sue Young said...

Very very dreamy!I've always loved the myth of Atlantis...I'm sure she will too!(ps love the TACKY fish!!!LOL)

Nancy said...

This is great, Eileen!

Dorothy said...

Wow Eileen!!! That is just gorgeous!

Lori said...

Ah yes, more wonderful journal pages! Love the colors, and that fish is brilliant, just brilliant.

Anonymous said...

Your creation is so very pretty!!!! Lots of things tha carry's your eyes around the page!!!! Beautiful job!!!

grannypoppy said...

You are so creative, Eileen. I love the colours ... and your thoughts!

Valerie Brincheck said...

I thought I recognized that octopus. Great pages and the little fish turned out perfect.

Elaine A said...

Eileen -

What beautiful entries you've created. I love your color choices, your mermaids and the squid! I really enjoyed the way you make the actual writing in the journal undulated up and down like waves. Just brilliant! And the little fish is just the perfect touch!

Elaine Allen