What Lies Underneath...

I decided to combine the prompts for Journal 52 (TV) and DLP (Under paper.. What lies beneath?) for this week's journal page.

The background is the paper I use under my work space. It has ink, paint and glue from many of my previous pages. The five parallel pieces of paper are scraps left from other projects that I used for the embellishments on the page.


The TV is made from the packaging for a Mr. Huey Stencil and the antenna base is from an encyclopedia page. The antenna is made of craft wire I bought at the beach years ago. I'm old so I remember when we put tin foil on the antenna to get better reception so I had to add that.  The TV is attached to the page with Scotch Expressions Masking Tape.  The TV screen is a piece of book paper that I used to clean off a stencil I was using with embossing paste.

I used paint pens (Sharpies, Liquitex and Molotow) to doodle on the page and the write the words.

I didn't really care for the TV prompt. I haven't watched TV in about 3 years. Cable got to be very expensive and I realized that I was reading way more than I was watching. When I gave up my cable I thought I'd really miss it. I don't.  The only thing I miss is the Weather Channel because I live in an area where we have tornadoes from time to time.

I have found that I love the quiet in my home now.  There is not incessant chatter in the background like there was at one time in my life.  

As I thought about years past and all the hours and hours of TV I watched, I realized that what started out as a companionable time for a little entertainment became a way to avoid communication. I didn't realize it at the time but TV shows kept us from having to talk about the important stuff. We were always so busy being entertained that we lost our ability to communicate.  

I sure wish I'd know this all those years ago.  But I didn't. I didn't know it until last night when I started working on this page. People ask me why I art journal.  Today the answer is, "When I art journal, I learn something new about myself."  I hope that what I discover about myself will help me become a better person and that in the future I will make different choices.

Link to:  Journal 52, DLP, Express Your Creativty, Art Journal Everyday, The Mixed Media Monthly Challenge