Series: Wanderlust 2021 #13
I don’t know whether I was just in the wrong mood when I watched the video for this week’s Wanderlust lesson, but it just ended up annoying me. I liked the technique she used to create the background and, although I don’t use them in my mixed media projects, the pocket and tags were nicely done too.
The biggest problem is one of definitions. The current theme is serendipity, which the dictionary defines as “the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way” — something unexpected which turns out well. In Kiala’s Soulful Serendipity Stories lesson, she defines it as “the things we do not plan, but that we allow to unfold as we dive into the unknown and embrace the mystery” and then expands on that to say that it should include “two things coming together”. I have no problem with that being the inspiration for a lesson (though it is a bit hand-wavy for my taste), but it has very little to do with serendipity. And on a practical level, in a year of lockdowns and shielding at home, I have been nowhere (other than the hospital) and met no-one (other than my other half and the hospital staff), so “mining my recent life” for serendipitous stories (of either definition) is a bit of a non-starter.
But I wanted to try out her background technique of brayering gesso with drops of acrylic ink across the page, so I ignored the story element and just followed the practical instructions.
I don’t dislike the end result and I will use the background brayer technique again. The project as a whole, however, is just further confirmation that I am really not that interested in the journalling part of making an art journal, or at least I don’t want it to be there as a legible final layer.
Class:
- Wanderlust 2021
- Theme: serendipity
- Teacher: Kiala Givehand (website)
Crafty Rat 
Great project. I often find that when I plan something out in my crafts that it never turns out how I imaged it. However, when I just “go with the flow” I seem to be much happier with the end result. I have never gotten into art journaling, I just never saw the need or had the desire. Yours always seem to turn out beautifully! Thanks for sharing!
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