Journaling Immersion Weekend

Posted on | October 9, 2006 | 1 Comment

This weekend was the Journal Immersion Weekend at The Paper Studio. I saw that Teesha Moore and Tracy V. Moore were teaching and I immediately called to save my spaces. I have been looking forward to this for a while.

In particular, I have always admired Teesha’s journaling. I wanted to learn her process for creating so much impact with just one page of journaling. I was not disappointed. The class was incredible. She teaches in a very relaxed way, doing a short slide show of other people’s work and how they use the elements of their designs to make things work. The end of the slide show (the whole “show” lasted maybe 20 minutes and that was with people asking lots of quesitons!) she showed some of her work and, in fact, work she did not particularly like. That was kind of neat – to hear her critiquing her own work. I liked this, because we all are critical of our own work and to see that someone so talented and comfortable with her own style had questions about her own work was encouraging

Then we made a journal out of one parent sheet of Fabriano Artistico Hot Press 140# paper. WOW! I love it.

I will likely be creating journals like this in the future and then binding them together as if the journals were signatures in a larger book. It’s a great way to travel and SO EASY! Pamphlet stitch and some simple folds. It was a “duh” moment for many of us in the class!

Then we added borders. I worked fast, just to get something on the page. Some people were painstakingly slow and very focused and design-oriented. Since that’s rarely how I work on a journal page and I see my journals as something that should be free-flowing and almost meditative, I didn’t work that way. I just worked fast based on color, shape and design.

After the borders (and lunch!) we started to create some center piece for interest. It was really cool to see how anything could become a house, a bird, a person, based on the shapes you put together. From there, Teesha showed us how to use different materials to take the collage pieces from magazines and integrate them into the pages so they became ours. With Caran d’Ache crayons (which I now need to buy because the Lyras are too oily and don’t allow for me to color over them… and continue to do this type of work (DAMN!)), Moonlight Gelly Roll Pens, Colored Pencils (I love the Lyras for this!), Pitt Pens, Sakura Souffle and Pigma Micron and Pilot’s Signo White pen (and other things, I’m sure),

we learned to integrate the pages so they look, well, artistic. There is a ton of work that can be done on the pages I have and I’ve spent hours on them. I plan to spend hours on the plane to DC this week doodling and creating the pages once I finish up the collages parts.

I left that class totally energized and, quite honestly a bit afraid of the class for Sunday with Tracy V. Moore.

Tracy’s class was a metal and leather journal. Now mind you, other than the pamphlet stitch and a few piano hinge books, I’ve not really done much bookbinding. I also have a Dremel that I have not used since the first month or so that I got it. Why? Well, I didn’t understand all the bits and stuff. I took this class to push myself and, well, I DID! We learned some basic metal working things – drilling with the Dremel; making rivets for cold fusing of pieces, adding all sorts of things and using a lot of different tools (I think I need a trip to Harbor Freight when I return home!). We used what was supposed ot be 22 gauge nickel silver, but it acts more like 18 guage. Let’s just say it’s not the most supple of materials…

I was doing OK with the designing part, metal stamping and even the dappling. What was hard for me was the riveting and the drilling. The metal was so hard and I completely didn’t get the rivets for the first half of the class, but then again, I spent it designing, so that worked out fine. But once Tracy took me under his wing and showed me up-close how to make things work, I was much better. And things went along much more quickly. I learned a lot about the Dremel, metal in general (next time I use copper 22gauge, because I prefer it anyway!).

I also had never done long stitch before. Because I had a clear design in mind and I wasn’t afraid to jump in (probably one of the great things about being a risk-taker art-wise!), I actually finished the journal minus beads on the spine and some other little bitty details. I’m amazed.

A six-signature long stitch metal and leather journal with a sawed off key (I picked it up somewhere, I have no idea where!) for the closure. At the end, as Tracy was taking a photo of it, he asked if I’d do it again. I was honest and said that I would definitely use the skills, but that I didn’t know if nickel silver was for me. It’s so hard and difficult to move. I’m more of a copper gal. He agreed that copper might be better for me to work with, at least while I’m learning and encouraged me to keep at it. He was really encouraging and supportive and, though at times I felt like I was back in Junior High Shop Class, I did learn a lot and I’m glad I stretched myself into something totally outside of my comfort zone!

One of the only problems with a journaling intensive like this is that there is so little time that you have to choose your teachers. I did not get a chance to take Anahata Katin’s classes. She did, however, have her books on sale, so I bought her two Spare Parts books and her Journaling The Journey guide (the guidebook for the class she taught). Everyone who was there seemed so incredibly happy with their work. We all got a lot out of it!

I also bought a book that Teesha recommended called, “Caffeine for the Creative Mind” by Stefan Mumaw and Wendy Lee Oldfield. It’s creative exercises and inspiration to get you out of a funk. I’m not in a funk art-wise at the moment, but it never hurts to have the caffeine around just in case! I’ll let you know what I think of it when I start to read it. I was cautioned not to read it before bed, so it’s more something I’d do first thing in the morning when I start the day.

Now it’s time for me to do some art and to keep working on those pages from the Teesha journal!

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