Interview at the Turtle

To read an interview that I did with my buddy Steve, wander over to his blog, Go Flying Turtle, here. Steve also has posted some of my journal pages as well as artwork. Steve and I have known each other for the last seventeen years, and he asked some good, thought-provoking questions.

Thanks, Steve.

The photo above is of Steve rolling a turn in a favorite game called farkle.

JFJ Invade Boone and Cullowhee, NC

About a month ago, Dave and I traveled to North Carolina to present a one day workshop for students at Appalachian State University in Boone and a week long seminar once again at the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching (NCCAT), in Cullowhee. As usual, we had a good time turning people onto the ways of the visual journal. It was a powerful week.


Here Dave presents to students at ASU.
We had the pleasure of meeting and talking with Gwen Diehn, author of The Decorated Page and The Decorated Journal. She presented a session on making your own paint to the participants at NCCAT. Below is Gwen giving her presentation. It was a great experience. Dave and I picked her brain about being an author, and got some great advice from her about a book that we are hoping to get published within the next year or so on visual journals.

Below are various pages from different NCCAT participants.


It was our third time presenting at NCCAT, and we are scheduled for a fourth time in December. We can't wait.

Finding Common Ground

It has been quite some time. Life gets busy and keeping up with a blog is a bit difficult at times. But I wanted to post something, and so I decided to go with one of my all time favorite two-page journal spreads.

It began with a pencil drawing of the portrait - just some random photograph from a magazine. Then I slowly built up layers of watercolor pencil, pen, and collage. The dark strips or actually sections of movie film.

I've always loved to draw, especially portraits. I really like being able to mix the realistically drawn portrait with mixed-media. There is both depth and shallowness to the picture plane and perhaps to the meaning as well.

Collage in the Journal

Journal Fodder is the food for your journal, and when you feed your journal, it gets fat. So, when you glue something in, you want it to stay in. We hear all the time about how stuff falls out even when using quality adhesives.

First of all, no product is perfect, but by simply following some simple steps, you can increase the chances that the fodder will stay in the journal. It is amazing how many people simple spread a little glue and slap it in. No wonder so many people have stuff falling out.

We use primarily UHU Glue Stics to glue in the majority of our fodder. These are high quality, acid-free glue sticks. We occasionally use gel medium and Yes Paste to glue in more difficult items.

Here are some steps to gluing in fodder.

1. Trim the collage element to size.

2. Flip the collage element over onto a scrap paper. This keeps your work area clean, and allows you to spread glue to the edges.

3. Spread glue on the back of the collage piece. Spread the glue right off the edge of the collage piece onto the scrap paper. Press firmly with the glue stick and spread glue over the entire back. Sometimes the paper will curl a bit. Allowing the glue to dry on the scrap paper allows you to reuse the paper again and again giving you dedicated glue papers.

4. Place the glued fodder into the journal. You can reposition the piece if needed.

5. Rub the glued piece with your hand for about a minute to make certain that it is well adhered. You may want to place another scrap of paper over the piece in case glue oozes out.

As you glue more fodder into the journal, it will get considerably thicker and heavier. Often you need to reinforce the binding so that the journal does not fall apart.

Covers

Personalizing the cover of the journal can be easily done with stickers, collage, or paint. We prefer to plaster the cover with stickers that we get from various places. Someone once remarked that the journals are like the old steamer trunks with their labels of the places they've been.

And so, the cover of the journal can become an extension of the journal and the journal keeper by containing evidence of places, personality, and interests. So think about how the cover of your journal reflects the person you are.

NCCAT: Heaven on Earth

The North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching (NCCAT for short) is truly heaven of earth for educators in North Carolina. It is a state funded institution dedicated to the professional development of North Carolina educators. We have had the honor of teaching week long seminars on the visual journal there for the past two years with an invitation for a third in February, 2008. NCCAT is truly a retreat setting nestled in the mountains of the western part of the state near Cullowhee where educators get a truly remarkable opportunity and are treated as true professionals. We feel privileged to be a small part of what they do.

The above two page spread was created during and shortly after our first visit to the center as seminar instructors. The postcard in the upper left shows NCCAT's main building, and as with most of my pages, this started with an initial layer - a draft of the week's schedule.

It is a remarkable place. I wish that every state could have a center like this dedicated to moving education forward.

Solvent Transfers

It has been a while, so I thought that I would make time to actually log on and and post something new.

Below are directions for creating solvent image transfers. These transfers are a great addition to the journal. Since it involves using solvents please read all cautions, warnings, and advisories not only in this tutorial, but on the label of the chosen solvent before beginning.


Xylene, acetone, and Citrasolv® are several chemicals that will transfer photocopies, laser printed, and magazine images. All of these images are toner-based. This transfer technique will not work with ink jet images, and despite many homes and offices having all-in-one scanners, printers, and copiers, these devices are usually glorified ink jet printers. Of all these chemicals, xylene seems to works the best for us. Caution: All these chemicals are very volatile and toxic, and they evaporate quickly. They must be used in a well-ventilated area. Xylene will melt plastic so use caution, and do not try to store in a plastic container.

Materials
Xylene containing product (Goof Off®, Oops®, Chartpak® Blender Pen), acetone, or Citrasolv®
Photocopied (b&w or color), laser printed (b&w or color), or magazine image
Burnisher – wooden or metal spoon
Glass container
Old rag
Receiver surface – journal
Blotter paper or newspaper


Procedure
1. Select an image. With photocopies and laser prints, the fresher the print, the better, and place the image face down on the receiver paper. You may want to place blotter paper or newspaper under the receiver paper because the chemical can soak through several layers of paper.




2. Soak the back of the image with the chosen chemical product with a paper towel or sponge. Simply dip the towel or sponge into some of the chemical (you may have to pour some of it into a glass jar). With the blender marker, simply color the back of the image with the marker.If the chemical has pooled, allow it to sit for a moment. Acetone evaporates very quickly, so work fast.



3. Use a wooden spoon or metal burnisher to rub the back of the photo. Use a firm and even pressure. Xylene melts plastic; so do not use a plastic spoon or burnisher.






4. Lift a part of the image to see how it has transferred. Burnish the photo more or apply more chemical if necessary.







5. Pull off image to reveal transferred image.







Warning: These chemicals should only be used in a well-ventilated area. Read all labels and warnings before using. Since magazine images have images on both sides, special caution is necessary. When using magazine photos, soak the receiver paper first with the chemical before placing down the image, and use a scrap paper to place on back of the magazine image before burnishing. This will keep the mess to a minimum.

Layers

As with most of my pages, this page is the result of many layers being built up over time. It began with watercolor pencil, and over several months I slowly added more and more layers of various media and techniques. The final layer was acrylic paint.

The theme of this page did not come for a while. I never have a preconceived notion about how I want a page to turn out. It's really about the process of working in the journal, building layers, and adding meaning when it seems fit. The theme of Memory came after I began to think about what my art is all about. The more I thought about it, the more I saw the build up of layers, the collage, the transparencies, and overlapping forms as similar to the way I mentally see thoughts and memories. I experience memories and thoughts in an "all-at-once" fashion. Words, images, colors, events, names, faces, and such come at me simultaneously. I rarely remember things like a film running through my mind.

So this piece has physical layers and psychological layers as well.

The Journal Fodder Junkies Strike Again

Recently we had the pleasure of providing a week long workshop to a group of teachers at the Content Teaching Academy on the campus of James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. For most of the week we worked with a group of 12 individuals. Most were art educators, but we also had one music teacher, one math teacher, and one college administrator. But on two occasions during the week, we presented to two other groups - a group of English teachers and a group of Elementary teachers.

The week was a resounding success, and we believe that we have turned a few more people into Journal Fodder Junkies. It was nice working with a single group for most of the week where we shared techniques, strategies, and ideas. Most people seemed to really just enjoy the time to work and to be creative. For a lot of people, there seems to never be enough time to do such important work.

Increasingly we seem to be getting people interested in what we do, so we are increasingly providing workshops, seminars, and presentations to groups of teachers and artists a like. We're even working on a book, and hopefully soon we will be shopping it around to publishers.

Packaging Tape Transfers

Ordinary, clear packaging tape can be used to make quick image transfers of newspaper, magazine, photocopied, and black and white laser printed images. It works to some degree with color laser printed images.

Materials
Clear packaging tape
Newspaper, magazine, photocopied, or b/w laser printed image
Scissors
Burnisher
Bowl or small tub of water
Sponge (optional)
Glue stick or acrylic medium

Procedure

1. Cut the chosen image to desired size. Cutting straight edges allows for more control.

2. Pull out some tape. If the sticky side is up, static electricity will hold the tape flat to the work surface. This also allows greater control and fewer wrinkles and air bubbles


3. Cover the image with tape. With the sticky side of the tape facing up, the image has to be placed onto the tape. This technique seems to create fewer wrinkles.


4. Trim excess tape. This keeps your transfer from sticking to things as you work.



5. Smooth out the tape using a burnishing tool to make certain that the image is adhered to the tape.


6. Soak the image in water for at least a few minutes. Warm water works well, but cold water is fine if you soak it longer.


7. Remove the image from the water, and place it tape side down. Gently rub the back of the image with your finger to begin removing the paper. Soak longer if needed. Continue to rub gently to remove all the paper. Sometimes a sponge can be used effectively. The image should be completely transparent.

8. Allow the transfer to dry. Using a paper towel or rag will speed the drying time, but be careful, the tape may still be very sticky.

9. Spread glue stick on the back of the transfer (the sticky side). Acrylic medium can also be used if gluing to a non-paper surface. Using a scrap of paper allows the work surface to stay clean.

10. Press the transfer onto the desired surface, and rub with hand to make certain that it is well adhered.