Teesha Moore's Art & Life

This past Friday, I received a complimentary copy of Teesha Moore's Art and Life magazine where images of my journal pages took up nearly three pages. I am grateful to Teesha for including my pages. I know that she has a lot of fans out there.

It's an interesting story (at least I think it is) of how she ended up publishing some of my pages. Back in the spring, I was searching the web for new and different opportunities for the Journal Fodder Junkies, and I have know about Teesha's Artfest for many years. I emailed her, told her a little about what Dave and I do, and asked about getting an application to be instructors for Artfest 2009. She emailed back saying that she was dropping the info in the mail and asked if I had a website. I steered her to the blog and to my personal Flickr page, and she emailed asking if I would like to be published in her magazine. I sent her some images, and lo and behold, three glossy pages of my stuff. I know that the magazine has led at least one person to the blog and ultimately to the website, and I'm hoping that it will help get the word out about the Journal Fodder Junkies.

Thanks very much, Teesha.

BIG NEWS

Dave and I have some big news to share. Some of you may know that we have submitted a proposal for a book on visual journals to several publishers. Well, after several months, we have just learned that our proposal has been accepted by North Light Books. North Light publishes a lot of books about art and has published several books on visual journals over the last few years. So, we are going to be published, and we owe a big debt of gratitude to editor Tonia Davenport who put a lot of hard work into tweaking our proposal and presenting it to the board of senior editors.

Now there are still a lot of details to work out and things are in the earliest of stages, but as of now the book (yet untitled) will likely come out in the Spring of 2010. It seems like a long time away, but as I have been assured on several occasions, nothing in the book business moves swiftly. So if you are interested in the book but can't wait that long, we do have our booklet as mentioned in a previous post.
And that leads me to our other news, the JFJ website has been updated and tweaked, and now can accept online orders for the booklet as well as other merchandise and art prints. We have set up features through PayPal that will allow for the acceptance of all major credit cards and PayPal accounts. Also we would appreciate any feedback about the website in order to make it more informative, more interactive, and easier to use. Please email us.

Thanks for all the support, and we will post updates about the book as they come up.

Journal Fodder Junkies Website

It's official. The Journal Fodder Junkies have launched the official Journal Fodder Junkies website. Check it out at http://www.journalfodderjunkies.com Hopefully soon we will add a feature that will allow people to buy our booklet and other merchandise online.

Journal Fodder Junkies Booklet for Sale

As some of you know, we are in the process of writing a book on the visual journal that really shares a lot of ideas, techniques, and concepts to use in the visual journal. We have actually sent it off to a few publishers, and hopefully, someone will want to publish it. In the meantime, though, we have self-published a pared-down version that we have sold at conferences, workshops and seminars. So now we are trying to make the booklet available to a wider audience. The booklet is only $15.00 plus shipping and handling.
Each booklet is 37 pages and full color. Each booklet is color laser-printed on quality 28lb paper with card stock front and back covers, and each booklet is bound with a comb binding.
If interested in purchasing a booklet, please email me - just go to View Full Profile, and we'll work out the details. If you have any questions, please email me as well.

Dave's Pages

I've had this blog for little over a year now, and I am trying to make a concerted effort to post more. To that end, I realized that I have never posted any pages by Dave - the other part of the dynamic duo that comprises the Journal Fodder Junkies. So here are a few pages from Dave's journals.Although we use similar techniques, our styles and the way we journal are somewhat different. Dave was the biggest influence on me and my journaling when I started, and we spent many years exploring the journal, sharing ideas and techniques, and influencing each other. Now we have both matured in our use of the journal, and although there are many similarities, our differences are becoming more pronounced as the years pass. At least I think so.I hope that these pages bring a little inspiration, and I hope to post more of Dave's pages in the near future.

Journal #2

Slowly I am scanning in more pages from journal #2. Now that the school year is out for the summer, I'll hopefully be able to scan more.This page was one of the first where I combined my love of portrait drawing with mixed-media and layering. I still don't do this enough.


This two page spread uses a photosensitive paper called Sun Paper. It was an experiment to see if I could use it with my elementary students at the time. It proved too much hassle to use with younger kids.

This is a simple ink drawing that focuses on words, textures, and patterns. It's a good thing to mix it up in the journal, to try new things, and to perhaps focus on a single media instead of always layering.

The JFJ Invade Greensboro, NC

Recently we worked with Artist/Educator Sam Peck at the Lincoln Academy in Greensboro, North Carolina. We spent the day working with eighth, fifth, and fourth graders. We got Sam hooked on the visual journal at the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching NCCAT) in February, and he wrote a grant to bring us to his school. It was a good day, and hopefully a few of those students will turn into future Journal Fodder Junkies. We are gratefully to Sam and those responsible for having us.

Filling Space

As I continue scanning some of my earlier journals, I am often struck by how empty some of the pages feel. I hadn't really gotten into the type of layering that I do now, and I was much more linear in my way of working. As I was scanning, I even skipped many pages that just were not complete, and I only scanned pages that felt rather developed.
These are three scans from journal number 2 including the cover. Both two-page spreads here are very light - very high key. Although the space is pretty much filled from edge to edge, they still feel rather empty - rather simplistic.
Now I tend to work and rework pages jumping around in my journal adding random things. I tend to go back and fill the space more, and I add more and more layers creating richer and richer documents. But to be honest, I don't know if one is better than the other. There's something that I like about the simplicity.

Dissolve

This page from Journal #1 was begun using three or four portraits from magazines. Watercolor pencil, pen, metallic marker, and acrylic medium transfers were used to finish the page

Artwork

I am often asked what kinds of stand-alone art I make and how it relates to the work that I do in the journal. Probably the number one question that I am asked is if I try to replicate my journal pages in larger works. The answer is no, I do not try to replicate my pages, but the journal definitely influences and informs my larger work. So I've decided to post some of my art that is not journal pages.
I'm not certain of the exact dimensions of this piece, but it's about 5.5 in. x 7 in., and is mixed media on watercolor paper mounted on wood. The portraits were done with as solvent transfers, and that's Steve of Go Flying Turtle blog fame in the photobooth strip.

This piece is 12in. x 12in. mixed media on canvas and is probably on of the most recently finished pieces. I really like the simplicity of this piece.

And finally, this is an 18in.x24in. mixed media piece on masonite panel, and those are my hands painted in the piece. I try to leave a bit of ambiguity in my art to allow the viewer to create a story, narrative, or message for him or herself, and often I'm not quite certain what the pieces are really about.