A Look Inside My Leighanna Light Journal

by Judy Gula

A Look Inside My Leighanna Light Journal

by Judy Gula
Textured canvas journal made by Judy Gula in a class led by Leighanna Light.

We were happy to welcome the very talented Leighanna Light to Artistic Artifacts at the beginning of the month. Leighanna lives in Taos, New Mexico, but squeezed in a couple of classes with us before heading to a vacation on the Outer Banks. And we’re so glad she did! On Thursday, May 5 we held her Faux Etching/Surface Design on Metal class — Leighanna has developed a technique for creating an etched look to metal surfaces without the toxic chemicals, and the student work was spectacular...you will probably be seeing some featured here or on our Facebook page. Then on Friday and Saturday (May 6–7) she taught her “Lily’s Book,” which is subtitled Charming Canvas Book with Pockets. I took this class myself, and wow, what a treat!

Shared below is a gallery of pictures of many of my book’s pages. We all began with a large piece of gessoed canvas and then just had a great time with all of Leighanna's surface design techniques. We used texture gels, gesso, plaster, molding paste and ink to create fabulous backgrounds and pages, added tabs, pockets, flaps, and more. Even as a student I couldn’t keep my own teaching hat off, so I pulled out wooden printing blocks for everyone to use, showed off using Paper Solvy to transfer photos, and more. It was an amazing two days and everyone’s books turned out full of gorgeous texture and color!

I’ve enjoyed adding to it post-class, adding special ephemera and bits. I included of fabrics and textiles I had rusted (Artistic Artifacts sells scrap packs of fabric I’ve rusted).

We hope to host Leighanna again, so keep your eye on our classes page...you won’t regret spending time with her!


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