Altered Journal

The second project in The Artistic Mother is to personalize a poetry journal cover by making a collage incorporating an old photo of yourself. I don't have any old photos of myself on hand, but I have an adorable one of my mother when she was about two. So, I decided that my mother would be my inspiration for my collage.

My husband gave me this journal back in 2000. It has two entries, dated January 20, 2001 and February 17, 2001. Clearly, I haven't been very diligent in writing in it. But I do like it because it asks for specific responses to things like, "Today I am grateful for," "Prayers answered," and "Goals, ideas, etc." It also has a full page section for "Reflections/Notes" which I plan to use for fostering my creative thoughts and perhaps writing some poetry (since that's what the project was to be about). So, I decided I would make my book a prayer and poetry journal.

I turned to my stash of background papers that I created at the beginning of the book's workshop and chose this one:

And then I built my collage around this picture . . .

 

(How adorable is that face -- and those little shoes?!?!?)

And this more contemporary photo, which I edited to match the sepia tones of the old photo:

I also wanted to use this scripture because of its significance in my life, including the heritage of a mother who loves God and the image of taking refuge in the shelter of God's wings:

Psalm 61

1Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer.
2From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
3For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy.
4I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever: I will trust in the covert of thy wings. Selah.
5For thou, O God, hast heard my vows: thou hast given me the heritage of those that fear thy name.
6Thou wilt prolong the king's life: and his years as many generations.
7He shall abide before God for ever: O prepare mercy and truth, which may preserve him.
8So will I sing praise unto thy name for ever, that I may daily perform my vows.

As you can tell from the photocopy of my bible that I incorporated into my collage (below), most of the above highlighted verses are underlined in my bible.

After lots of futzing with papers and fabrics and embellishments, this is the collage I created (you can click on the pic to see it better):

 
You might recognize my pastel lady in the shadow of His wings from my "Sing for Joy" post peeking through the shimmery cut-out (left over from some family wedding decorations!) -- and you'll probably recognize the colourful words as Magnetic Poetry. The verse at the bottom is my goal for the content of my journal.
 
Anyway, here's the final product:

The photos mess with the sheen and colour of things a bit. (Did you notice that the stones look like they're different colours in the two photos?!?!? They're actually more like the second pic. And you can't see the shimmer on some of the papers.)

Anyway, while the collage is a bit "busier" than I had originally envisioned, I'm quite pleased with the results! I can't wait to get working on the tote bag that is supposed to be used to carry it :)

Are there any personal family photos that have inspired you to create something? What about words, poems, songs, or verses that have challenged you to respond to them in some visual or tactile way?

P.S. I'm linking this post to . . .