I've done a few more pages in the Sing-Song Art Journal. I'd like to get this journal completed by the end of this year. I dated the front cover when I started it: January of this year. I don't have many pages left but I've got a couple that just have my brain in a freeze. I just CANNOT figure out what to do with them. Guess you can say they don't sing to me. But here's a few pages that did.
Unbound: This is one of my favorite songs by Suzanne Vega. I've featured another already in this journal but I love so much of her stuff that it comes up regularly in my music mix. This song from the "Beauty and Crime" CD is about releasing the roots of a plant so it can grow.
I used up some old stickers and drew in a few stems in various stages of growth, and added the roots. Background is from Dylusions sprays in a color combo I don't use often. Colors matched the butterfly (collage image from alteredpages.com). I wrote lyrics in with sharpie marker (black) and Signo Uniball white pen.
My main inspiration here was the roots...I have always liked to create branches or roots in this manner. The fractured appearance satisfies my need for symmetry without looking super symmetrical. Does that make any sense at all?
In the Air Tonight: I like a lot of Phil Collins songs and loved his stint with Genesis, but this one feels very classic to me. The left side is dedicated to this song that came up in my earphones. The background of dots had already been on the page...made from leftover acrylic paint. I just sprayed Dylusions ink over it to get the black/grey and blue.
I emphasized a few dots with a black sharpie marker and some iridescent paint to give a little shimmer to certain dots. I tried to keep it pretty simple like the song. The color is much better in person and I like how the dots that aren't outlined fade out and into the background wash.
Don't Fear the Reaper: Another favorite song of mine, it's the only Blue Oyster Cult song I know. I know very few of the words but it's guitar is addictive. This page started with a stencil from The Crafter's Workshop. I can't remember exactly how I did it because I did the stencil part first then left it for a while waiting for song inspiration. For some reason, I just couldn't get a song to inspire me with these skull eyes staring at me. I finally decided to play with a new opalescent additive I bought that you could add to acrylic paint. I also bought two shades of blue to experiment with. The paints mixed up well and just as I was wondering what to do with them, this song hit my ears. I flipped to this page immediately and set to work. Really like that opalescent quality.
Atlantic City: I was saving a page for a Bruce Springsteen song. I had wiped off a star stencil with traces of red, white, and blue but this song wasn't quite the patriotic ballad I anticipated. This song was about desperate souls betting what they had on the big dreams of casinos and gambling when it first came to NJ. It was about bright lights and dark hearts; about down-on-your-luck men with nothing left to lose.
This song had lyrics that echoed my current situation...out of a job, broke, debts to pay, and too many dreams that didn't pay the bills. I left the stars on that other page; this song called for words...truth.
I did the normal routine of Dylusions spray ink and water drops. I wanted the words to be the page. The title I wanted to look like a big lit-up sign that drew in the unsuspecting, the hopeful. I added the poker chips and dollar signs to signify the strong ties that dreams have to cold hard cash. The little "In God we Trust" was just to give a little nod to the ever faithful. I like this page mainly because it freezes a moment in my life when the song and my fortune entwined.
I continue to work this journal. Next session I hope to have the two stubborn pages to share.
--Wy
"Everything dies, baby, that's a fact. But maybe everything that dies someday comes back."
--Bruce Springsteen, "Atlantic City"
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