Adventures in Art Journaling

Going with my word for the year, Courage, I decided that I would learn some new techniques and try some new things this year. Since Strathmore (the artist papers folks) are offering some free workshops to go with their new Visual Journals, I decided to start the year with the Recycled Journal Pages Workshop.

Not only has it been lots of fun, but the page shown above has been featured in the Strathmore Winter 2011 newsletter, on their blog, and on their Facebook page. Plus I received a pack of their Ready Cut Watercolor paper. It comes in standard sizes to fit readymade frames and mats. I received 8 x 10 inch hot press paper, a nice size to use, with 10 sheets of 140 lb paper.  So how cool is that!

In the Recycled Journal Pages Workshop, you work on one page over a period of four weeks. I'm actually working on two pages. I have always kept a sketchbook, or actually more like a creativity journal since it has notes and thoughts as well as sketches. This workshop uses copies of your old pages to make new pages. It's been a fun workshop and I've leaned some new techniques from it. Life got in the way, so I still need to finish weeks 3 and 4.  That's one of this weekend's goals. The workshops are self-directed so you can still start the Recycled Journal Pages Workshop. More on my pages from this workshop later.

2011 Word for the Year

Otter by Sydney Harper
Watercolor, 5 x 5 inches

I know, I was in the middle of art every day in November when I kind of dropped off.  Okay, so it ended up being art every other day. The painting above was my last one for November.  I will blame it on last year's word for the year, Abundance. For the past couple of years, I've chosen a single word to guide me for the year instead of a set of New Year's resolutions.

I have to admit there was plenty of abundance last year. There was happiness, depression, anger, laughter, work, struggles, celebrations, nervousness, new obstacles to overcome, new routines to learn, new jobs to learn, new friends, and much more. It seems like much more than one year has gone by. By the time November rolled around I was exhausted and feeling like I had a little too much abundance. Okay, an abundance of money would have been a nice touch but I had enough money. While I kept up with my art, there was just too much going on in my life to do as much as I wanted. Overall it was a good year and I had a lot of fun, but I'm ready for a little less abundance now.

My word for this year is Courage. It's the simple things that often give me trouble. Moving to another country by myself is a piece of cake. Picking up the phone to call someone can be terrifying. My dislike of phones is notorious. So it's those little things I would like to work on this year. I almost chose Release for my word. There's a lot of stuff I need to release and it would work for releasing my fears too. So I guess I'm keeping it as secondary word. So far the year is off to an excellent start, so I think I've made a good choice.