Expectations: What Makes A Page Successful?

I love this page.  It said everything I wanted to say in picture, in symbol and in word.  That makes it successful for me in terms of journaling.  But there's so much more than just the journaling to consider before I decide whether or not a page I've created is a success.  For me, it must also be successful in terms of expermentation.  In other words, I must have tried something on the page that is new to me, either in form, color, design, balance, technique, or execution, and it must have provided me with information that will be useful in future applications.  

I experiment in my journals.  There will never be enough time in a lifetime to have tried everything, so on every page, I aim to try something new.

On this particular page, I experimented with methods of adhering tissue paper to the substrate.  That may not seem like much, but it provided me with an information set that will be invaluable in future work.  

I now know how a particular tissue--they are not all created equal--reacts when adhered with several different types of adhesive to the particular paper that I used.  

I experimented with a tape created for invisibly adhering vellum and a quick dry adhesive that is acrylic polymer based, neither of which I had used before in this manner.  Both performed well.  Both produce radically different results, and both are valid and valuable depending on how I want the tissue to sit on the paper.  

If I want the tissue to seamlessly become a part of the substrate and can live with a minimal amount of drying time before the page sets and the buckling evens itself out, then I'll go back to my tried and true stand-by: Cocoina glue stick.  

If I want instant adhesion, no drying time or buckling, and don't mind that the tissue sits on top of the paper instead of becoming one with it, then the vellum tape works nicely, but won't adhere the frayed edges of torn pieces of paper.  

The polymer based quick dry worked well for the edges as well as for any smaller pieces.  It's also perfect for the infinitely small.  It has roughly the same chemical make-up as a good quality heavy gel medium, but comes with a precision tip and is very fast drying, so it isn't suitable for large pieces or large areas of a piece because it dries too quickly.  

For me to consider my journal pages successful, they must teach me something new.  There must be experimentation.  I must in some way or other, have stepped out on a limb and lived to tell the story on another page, in the future.  

There are many reasons--all valid--that people have for art journaling.  All valid.  We all set standards for ourselves based on what we want and what we expect to have gained from the process once a page is finished.  These reasons can change from day to day.  Some days, it's about the words, some days it's about the color, some days it's about, about, etc.  All valid.  

If art journaling is one of your means of artistic expression, I'd be interested in hearing what your goals are for a page.  What it is that makes you say, "This page is successful", and what makes you think that a page hasn't lived up to what you'd hoped it would be.  Leave me a comment, or email me.  I'd really like to know.

And what I just said--the part about thinking that a page hasn't lived up to something--that's an illusion, by the way.  In case you didn't realize.  All pages--ALL pages--teach us something about ourselves, and in that way, they all are successful.  There is no such thing as an unsuccessful page.

But we do have hopes, sometimes, of what we'd like to accomplish, and these are the things that interest me when it comes to other peoples pages.  What is it that you hope for when you create a page?

 

 

 

 

Comments

[Nora]

what makes my page successful you've asked, my answer : when i've completed a journal page. It can be hard at times to get ideas and i normally do it without knowing what i'm doing. Anyway i love your journal-ing pages. it's a masterpiece of it's kind, unique and incomparable:)

[debra dacosta]

Hi..I like to challenge myself when I create a page..the page I'm working on now..I tried to incorporate different values of pink..and then black straight lines. I can then look at each page and see what I have come up with..trying to use design elements. Other times I just don't think at all..I just create. Fun..I love it!

[Rosie]

My only measure is if I LIKE it - and whether I've managed to get down the things I wanted and needed to work through. Sometimes the moment passes in between starting and later work, and pages never do get finished. So what? Its MY journal and I say what goes in it, and what's "good" and what isn't ....