Art journaling with wings

I got Taking Flight by Kelly Rae Roberts from the library and began to do some of the projects. I found an old book for 10 cents and cut the covers off it to use in this project. I need to look for some more books. I followed Roberts's instructions using gel medium on the page to adhere the collage pieces but in the future I will use Mod Podge. I painted over the collages and drew the self portrait and then painted it. I wanted to follow Roberts's idea but at the same time, I wanted my image to be mine and not a copy of hers. I realized after I painted the image how large and round it was, and it was kind of a revelation to me because I am fairly thin - 5'5" and 127 lbs. That's actually a higher weight for me than what I have carried most of my life - when I graduated from high school, I weighed 98 lbs and was the same height. Most of my 20s and 30s were spent between 110 and 120. The winter that we lived in the trailer I gained 15 lbs. but became dedicated to lose it, and have been pretty successful. BUT all my life I have seen myself as overweight. When I growing up, my whole family was overweight and my father who was very authorotarian insisted that we eat big dinners so I would go all day not eating except maybe a coke so that I would never be overweight. Anway, it was strange to me that I still must see myself as round - although I could say that maybe I see myself as a well-rounded individual. LOL

I added lace and a heart and then tried to write on the page - it looked nasty so I wiped it away and wrote on paper and pasted it on. The poem is from Amy Lowell (just love her poetry. I was lucky enough to pick up a copy of her complete poems for 25 cents). The lines are

"It was her wings,

Goddess! ...

I followed her for long,

with gazing eyes and stumbling feet.

I cared not where she led me.

My eyes were full of colours."

So perfect for the self portrait with wings. I drew my eyes closed and my mouth in a smile, just thinking about all the beautiful colours.

The three tags to the left are made of fabric, interfacing, more fabric scraps, gesso, paint, and stamped letters. They are meant to hang off the binding edge of the art journal.

Yesterday I read a great book The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. It's a YA book but really brilliant. I am so glad that many of the fantasy, SF books have feminine heroes. The book was so enthralling I ended up staying up till midnight to finish it.

TTFN