Dueling Paintbrushes at Journaling Retreat ~ Day One

Today breaks clear, brilliant blue and sunny warm at our first full day of the Women's Journaling Alpine Retreat. After we've welcomed the day with yoga on the sparkling lake's edge, we breakfast and then, settle out between the two closest cabins with a view peering into the shadowed, cool forest.

We've designed this "Dueling Brushes" demonstration to show how differently both Jean and I approach a journal page and how differently we paint. Jean takes her thirty-five minute time frame first. With this result! And then I take mine. As I've mentioned I'm struggling with this new journal size (it's smaller) and the quality of paper (some of the pages are just writing paper). So my attempt to solve the paper challenge is to glue a small piece of watercolor paper into the page where I want to

watercolor. I like the results . . . and I'm pleased with the traveling off the watercolor paper in small overlappings onto the writing paper.

I'm actually pretty pleased with the full spread visual. I like how the colors happen to balance themselves out between the pigments I chose for the landscape and the delicate hues of the pods in this
handmade black paper. Still I feel astonished that those holes I've had to cut for the paper clay insert add harmony to this unpredicted page so much further back from when the holes originated.

It's that magical serendipity of the journal that continues to surprise and please and enamor me. I'm still in love with this process. Ever new . . .

Fulfilling That Vision, Black Serendipity ~ September 14, 2013

Arriving two days preceding the start of our "Women's Journaling Retreat" allows this sweet cushion of time, in which we can do exactly what we want. Which is exactly what I proceed to do.

You know from the previous blog post that I'm in the midst of this new journal format and now am upon a black page. So when I flip the page to see the back side of the black seed pod paper, I'm no longer perturbed at not wanting to sketch upon it. Instead I'm charmed by the journal serendipity that pops up in ways that can ONLY happen in a journal. These blonde seed pods, flattened and preserved in the black handmade paper echo the shape and color of the hole I'd cut to accommodate my earlier paper clay insert! Love these magical happenings.

On the adjacent page ~ I'm going to do want I was aching to do when we were up at Mosquito Lake ~ I'm going to watercolor the water lilies in the water surface. But this page is mere writing paper ... so I'm trying this possibility of glueing in a small piece of watercolor paper and painting what I'd wanted. I'm pleased with my watercolor painting and find it kind of fun to try and trickle off the watercolor paper onto the journal's regular paper. It does ripple some ... but integrates the square watercolor paper into the whole page. AND - I got to paint what I really envisioned.

As I look a the full spread open, I'm again wiggling in joy at the balance that occurred unplanned. Look how the strong dark values in the lily painting even's out that strong black seed pod page. I just thrill in how journals seem to design themselves ... way better than I could have even imagined!! Now ... on to the start of the retreat!