Inside the World Within

Play time continues in my "World Within" journal.  Sometimes I use these pages to sort through powerful emotions or events but mostly this journal is about the process, the calming effect of making a purple polka-dotted dress or the slow layering of collage material to build a page frame.

The initial backgrounds are a swirl of watercolors over which I layer sheer dye inks through stencils.  As mentioned before, I make liberal use of old journal pages by using strips of color copies to create a border.  Sometimes I just draw and doodle a border by hand.  The heads are hand-colored photocopies of 19th century illustrations from Dover publications.  I draw on source books of fashion from the '30s and '50s to create the bodies of my characters.  I used to draw the bodies directly onto the backgrounds but since I began creating a collaged frame, I now draw & color the bodies on Bristol board, cut them out and assemble all the pieces on my page once the frame is complete.  Last of all, in the space remaining, I write.  Sometimes I add a favorite quote, sometimes I journal about my days, and often I record random thoughts or ponderings on a specific topic.

I name all the characters in this journal.  Once a head is used, it becomes permanently associated with a name; in the first image you see Bushbaby Jane and Princess Fidelia in the second picture.  All these characters help illustrate my internal world; hence the journal title "My World Within."