Family

I think about my recent successes, and I am grateful that I have a supportive family. I've mentioned my wife and her wonderful encouragement and support before on this blog, but not my parents or siblings. Actually, I haven't shared too much personal. But looking to post something new, I came across this photo taken at the book launch party, and knew I wanted to mention something about family - not to go too personal, but to take an opportunity and thank my family.

Despite being very different than my parents, my sister, and my brother, I am grateful for their support and encouragement. I am certain that I would not be where I am if it hadn't been for them. If it weren't for sibling rivalry and sharing, I wouldn't be the artist that I am. Being the "family artist" I always had to outshine my brother in any artistic pursuit - from drawing characters from the comics to drawing portraits of our cousins, and it was my sister who taught me all about the art concepts she learned in high school art. I was in middle school, and I was awed by one point and two point perspective. And my parents never discouraged my countless hours of drawing. But the biggest thing that my parents taught me was to believe in myself. If it wasn't for that belief, I never would have gone to college. I never would have moved so far away, and this life - my wife, my teaching, the journal and the book - would have never been possible. I am grateful for that belief.

I look back all all that I have achieved, and my family has been a part of the success - not always directly. But they are there - the foundation and my roots. I want to thank my mom and my dad, my sister and my brother for always being there for me.

Book Launch Party

I am finally getting around to posting some photos from our book launch party that we held on Saturday, June 5. Our friend Linda hosted the party at the Hill School in Middleburg, VA - a small, private school. About 50-60 family members, friends, and colleagues came out that night to celebrate with us - some coming from great distances, and it was truly a great night.

In the photo above (taken by Linda), Dave and I sign copies of the book, and in the photo below (taken by my friend and colleague Al) we settle a disagreement about whose signature is actually cooler. Dave is such a brute.

I especially appreciated the fact that my family drove the 4.5 hours down from southwestern Pennsylvania. It was special to be able to celebrate with them. The photo below (also taken by Al) shows the beautiful space we had at the Hill School.

Dave and I are grateful to everyone who came out to help us celebrate, to Linda for setting us up with such a great location and playing the excellent hostess, to our friends and families for being there and snapping photos, and to anyone who bought a book. Let's face it - it's all about the money. It was a very special evening.

An Everything Book: Allowing Life to Enter

With the reviews for The Journal Junkies Workshop popping up on various blogs and on Amazon.com, I've been thinking about what separates the Journal Fodder Junkies' approach from many that are out there. I think it boils down to one thing: We use the journal as an Everything Book. I know that I have brought this up in other posts, but I want to bring it up again. We don't worry about having "pretty" pages or finished pages or deep, thoughtful pages. We merely throw everything in there. It is a place to heap our thoughts, our ideas, our experiences, and our experiments. The depth, meaning, and completeness emerge and develop as the journal becomes that living document of life.

These two pages illustrate that point perfectly. There's the mundane - a key card sleeve from an Asheville Sleep Inn, a Burt's Bees lip balm package, and the doodles. There's the special - a flyer from a friends art exhibit (which I unfortunately did not see). There's the reflective and the deep - the truth quote and the list of reflections. There's the finished and the unfinished.

Many people get caught up in making these finished works of art for each page with deep themes and related imagery, and that's fine. Each person works in the journal his or her own way, but we approach the journal as a catchall - a place to dump ourselves, store memories, and process life. It is a special place simply because there is the freedom to include all of life - a scrap of envelope, a meaningful quote, a photo, or a random thought. And like life, the journal isn't always polished, complete, deep, and extraordinary. It can be messy, random, and unfinished.

So, I encourge people to break out of their normal journal habits, and try something different - try to bring in more of everyday life or try a different media or try a different mode of working. Allow the journal to reflect you and your life more.

Find Yourself

This two-page spread is from volume 12 of my visual journals - I'm currenly on volume 13. I got very introspective in this journal, and wrote a lot. And there are several pages of just writing - like the right-hand page. But more often than not, the writing is incorporated into a more completed page like the left-hand page.

The theme of this spread, "Find Yourself", is an appropriate theme for any visual journal, and my journals have always been about being still with myself and looking inward. Too often I am so distracted with all the noise in my life that I have a hard time listening to myself. My art and my journal allow me to get in touch with myself and to reconnect with my hopes, my fears, my absurdities, and my wisdoms.

I hope that the journal can help you find yourself.

Interactive Pages

It is often interesting to play with how pages interact with one another. Cutting holes into pages is one way to create areas of interaction, but with a simple tearing technique, you can only tear two pages and have it look like four torn pages. By gluing in the torn parts of the pages, you do not waste good paper. See our book for detailed instructions.

The above images from volume 12 show how the torn pages interact with one another. The pages were started at a session at NCCAT in 2008 and contain a lot of fodder, quotes, and imagery from the week. Notice how the word "Grow" changes to "Flow" in the fourth image. It was a great way to remember such an amazing week.

This technique is a great way to tie several pages together allowing colors, images, and themes to flow beyond a normal two-page spread.

Signed Copies Now Available

Now for what you all have been waiting for. Well, at least some you. Signed copies of The Journal Junkies Workshop are now available. Dave and I were able to find some time to get together this weekend and were able to sign a few copies. Those copies are now available on our Website for $25.00. While you're over there, check out some of our other merchandise as well.

Old Page

I came across this journal page image as I was looking for something new to post. It is from my second journal, and must be seven or eight years old, but I find it amazing that I am still working with imagery like this. The curves and swirls were originally inspired by Art Nouveau artist Alphonse Mucha, and I have been revisiting these elegant forms on an off in my journal and in my art ever since. Like many artists, I tend to fall back on old and comfortable imagery, especially when I am doodling in my journal. I guess the swirls are one of my "things".

Besides the imagery, I like the fact that this page is pretty much one medium - except for the collaged raffle ticket and coffee stain. There is something refreshing about this more minimalist approach compared to my more normal mixed-media approach. It's nice to limit the media and the imagery.

Now I've Seen It...

I have finally seen our book - well four copies - in a bookstore, so I guess that it's official. We're published authors Not that we weren't before, but as I said in a previous post, it's one thing to see it online or even a box full of copies in the living room. It's another thing to see them lined up on a bookstore shelf. I was near a Borders and had to stop in, and there sat four copies of The Journal Junkies Workshop. Why they were on the jewelry shelf, I really don't know. I guess that it was better than the paper craft shelf which was the bottom shelf.

I am asking anyone who has purchased the book to please offer a review of it on sites like Amazon. If you posted one on your blog, I ask that you copy your review to those same sites. I would love to get the word out. I really believe in the book, and think it's a great resource for anyone interested in the visual journal.

Thanks again to all you who have supported us and have taken an interest in what we do. You are the reason we wrote the book and have offered workshops and presentations. We're just spreading the journal love.

Power

The visual journal has power. And I am more convinced than ever that the journal is a powerful tool for life. The journal is not about making “pretty pages” or simply recording life. It is a living document changing to fit mood and circumstance – an Everything Book that aids in the experience of life. It is a place to collect memories, to dream, to dump our emotions, to change our lives, and to make sense of our crazy world.

I wholeheartedly believe the visual journal has the power to change lives, and new life paths can emerge within the pages. I have seen the journal’s power to transform in my own life as well as in the lives of my friends. I have seen how the journal was a large part of Dave seeking and getting his MFA, and I have seen how many of my friends have reconnected with their art and were able to make art a priority once again. Because the visual journal is a place for us to hope and dream it helps create new direction in life and helps us to figure out what we most want from life.

The visual journal goes beyond being a place to plan the future, and it is place to get in touch with our vulnerable aspects – to get to know our selves intimately. Because it is foremost a journal, we deal with the heartache, the drama, and the confusion of everyday life. We pour our doubts and our thoughts into the pages allowing us to process the emotions and the energies that grip us. With words, images, color, and lines we deal with life and make sense of it. The visual journal connects us with ourselves.

I know that my own life gets focus and direction as I work through a myriad of things in my journal, and it has helped change my life. The book, the workshops, the presentations, the seminars, have all come from the journal. Long before I began presenting about the journal with Dave, I kept a journal. Slowly I began to realize its power as I poured myself into it. I dumped my hopes and dreams, my pains and disappointments, my triumphs and passions into the pages of my journal figuring out who I was and what I wanted and needed. And then I began to share. My life took on a new direction as I began to feel like an artist and began to see how the visual journal could affect lives.

To this day, I use the journal to deal with my life and to affect change within it. As I grieve over my recent loss, I work directly and indirectly with that grief, and though I may not be specifically addressing the loss at points as I work, it informs my choices and embeds the pages with an emotion only known to me. My mind turns and churns as I lay down layers of watercolor or ink creating an unconscious subtext. At other times I specifically address the pain and the grief, and it all helps me to cope – helps me to be present with the loss and not bury it inside. Again and again, I have turned to the journal to celebrate the good – to deal with the bad – to discover my true humanness.

So, I keep sharing my journey hopefully helping others in their journey on this earth.

New Pages

I have actually been pretty productive with my journals lately - from notes at the NAEA Convention and dealing with the passing of my dog to ideas for new directions in my art and experimenting with the new Strathmore journals. So, I thought that I would share. The page above is a sketch I made in my current 11x14 journal. I'm trying to take my art in a new direction, and I have been experimenting with more organic shapes and forms while still trying to show a shallow, layered space like in my Excavation series. I used a standard Bic black ballpoint pen. I love the gradation that you can get with it. I'm not certain if this is THE direction that I am headed in my art, but it's a step in some direction. I do know that I'll be adding to this page - definitely more shading, but probably color and collage as well.

I couldn't help experimenting in the new Visual Journals from Strathmore, and I love the heavier paper. I think folks will really like them when they come out in the summer. So, I had begun several pages in a couple different journals, and when Jeanette of Strathmore asked me if I would be willing to create a page that she could use as a visual journal example, I quickly finished the above two-page spread in the 5.5x8 Watercolor Journal (140 lbs paper). The beginnings of this spread can be seen in the previous post. Titled "Lost and Found" this is much more of an art piece where I really sat down and worked on it from beginning to end over a three day period. Most of my other journal pages evolve slowly over time and I incorporate a lot of day-to-day things. But it's nice to be able to focus on something and see it through in a short period of time.