A Breath as Big as a Circus Tent. . . .

Well, I have been bitten hard by the art journal bug and now I offer you page number two in my 40 cent composition book! The circus is a hot trend right now, and rather than buying a bunch of new stuff, I remembered my old, classic (pre-Tim Holtz) Stampers' Anonymous circus stamps!

I began by drawing a pennant border on a dictionary page using a fine Sharpie marker - love those! Then I painted it in with my Maimeri Venezia watercolors, which proved to be risky as it ran when covered with gel medium.  Next, I ran some book pages through a Fiskars crimper several times to soften the fibers, and pleated them into curtains! I glued down the outside edges but left the rest loose.

Then I stamped the 7-League Express in the center of the background. I painted black over the top area of the stamp except for the elephant in his seven-league boots. It is a busy stamp and I wanted him to stand out. I outlined him with a white Sakura Gelly Roll pen and a black ultra-fine point Sharpie. I stamped it again below but painted over it with brown for the circus ring surface, so it just acts as a visual texture.

Next I glued down the curtains and also some folded paper tie-backs. This was done with Aleene's Fast Grab Tacky Glue, a personal favorite.  I used Liquitex heavy matte gel medium both under and over the circus pennant border to glue it down. I used the heavy gel as I was gluing it to such a lumpy surface. The watercolor ran, but I decided I liked the subtle streaks of color going down my bookish curtains!

Then I glued down the Stampers Anonymous characters that I had already watercolored and cut out, plus the "Circus of the Perverse" sign. They are all attached with the Fast Grab Tacky Glue. The clown is actually a doll stamp with separate torso, arms and legs, so I could position his arms however I wanted. Love the sign board carrier, he is so quirky!

Then I used a white Posca Pen to write in the quote from poet e.e. cummings (who always wrote in lower case as I recall):

"when god decided to create the world he took one big breath as big as a circus tent and everything began." -- e.e. cummings

So who is the circus of the perverse? That's all of us of course, living our contrary lives in this huge creation!

I have decided to enter this into the Carnival of Curiosities challenge (HDH103) over at the Haunted Design House, as in retrospect and though it was not the intended effect, these Stampers' Anonymous characters have a bit of the macabre to them, or maybe a Ray Bradbury touch. What do you think? I have also entered it into the Bah, Humbuggers' Challenge 33: Something New. This whole art journaling gig is so completely new I still can't believe I am trying it! My gosh, my first Moleskine sketchbooks just arrived in the mail and I'm using gesso for goodness' sake!

I hope you have enjoyed my second journaling attempt; I think I have really found myself with this art form. I love quotes and poetry, and I love applying my stamping, coloring and painting skills to this different form.  I make all these cards and they sit in boxes in my craft room because I don't actually correspond with people via snail mail as I'm way too disorganized!  I think I may put a  For Sale page on The Altered Alice and see if anyone wants to buy some lovingly created Alice cards, LOL! I'm running out of room!

Please leave a comment, I would love to hear what you think of my Circus of the Perverse, clowns, tents, watercolors, Ray Bradbury, selling my cards, e.e. cummings, or anything else you'd like to say!