Earth Goddesses

I was just playing around with my journal and miscellaneous art supplies with no plan in mind.  Sometimes those are the pages that turn out the best.  I made this page last night while I was coloring my hair!  (Click on image to enlarge.)

I started by gluing down a Gelli print then brayering over it with gesso and a couple of colors.  It was too bright, so I swiped a brown ink pad over it.  Now I was getting somewhere.  I felt a “primal” vibe.   My supply of hand-carved stamps was nearby in my art cabinet.  I made all of the stamps that I used on this page.  First, I put down the dark green stamp around the edges.  Then I added the goddess images.  The page seemed to be going in the direction of a deep forest.  I’ve carved leaves in 4 different sizes…3 are the outline and the veins, the 4th is the small, solid shape with the center vein carved out.  I stamped the leaves using a multi-colored ink pad to get a more natural look to them.  I added the 3 leaves to the tops of the figures’ heads, put a couple of leaves at their bases, with just a smudge of brown “ground” beneath them so that they didn’t look like they were just floating.  The title didn’t come to me until I sat down to post the page.

I love how this came out.  I’m always amazed by what I can accomplish when I just work intuitively, without any preconceived plan.