Blog
The Musings of Eric Scott, a Journal Fodder Junkie
I am excited to announce that I'll be part of the 13th Annual Western Loudoun Artists Studio Tour, and I'll be opening my home studio to the public the weekend of June 2 & 3, 2018. After missing the tour last year because of a teaching engagement, I am looking forward to sharing my art once again as part of this annual event that showcases the talents of such a diverse group of Northern Virginian artists.
So save the date, and stop on by June 2nd & 3rd!
This week I focused on continuing to build layers in my journal, and began to add some embellishments as well as some cutouts to many of the pages. I often think of embellishments as decorative elements that I can add without much thought or bother, and during the week, I found myself doodling many of these embellishments while watching television using ink pens and paint markers. They often take a bit of time to add, so evening television watching is a perfect time.
I also, spent some time cutting out some windows in multiple pages. These small rectangular cutouts give a glimpse of the page underneath and create a bit of interactivity to the journal. It's always interesting to see what glimpses are revealed in the widows. I spent time using watercolor pencil to add some layers as well.
Besides working in the big journal, I decided to break open a new, smaller journal to try out something a bit different. I've been developing an idea for a new workshop that I'm hoping to teach in the near future, and I've been excited to try out some ideas. I've been thinking about how words, images, colors and materials can play out across and through pages - how one page relates to another - how ideas can figuratively and literally flow from one page to another. I'm excited to see how it turns out, and I'll share more about the workshop when I have more to share.
I'm a little late getting Part 7 out. I had every intention of publishing it last Thursday, but I didn't quite get it finished. I'm not really certain where January went, but I worked most of the day today to finalize the latest part of The Journal Fodder Junkies Daily Challenge. This ebook has 28 new challenges to get you through February, and it also has 3 pages of fodder that you can print and use in your work.
I hope you enjoy it. Check out the Shop to purchase!
Spring is usually a busy time for me as I travel and teach a variety of workshops, and this year, it's getting started a little early. A week from now, I'll be in Portland, OR to teach at Art and Soul, but things are just going to get a lot busier after that. So if you can't make to Portland, there's a lot in the upcoming months.
After Portland, I'll be returning to southwestern Virginia, as I teach two, full-day workshops at the Chestnut Creek School of the Arts in Galax, VA. You can catch Monster Maker Workshop on Saturday, March 10, and Artful Layers on Sunday, March 11.
For the remainder of March, David and I will be working with art students and educators in a variety of venues. First, we will be heading Roxbury High School in New Jersey to work with high school students on March 14, and then it's off to Seattle the following week for the National Art Education Association's annual convention where we will be presenting a variety of presentations and workshops. To end March, we travel to Harford County, MD to work with teachers.
I'll be teaching two workshops in April, one locally and one in Kansas City. On April 14, I travel to Harrisonburg, VA to teach a full-day Artful Layers workshop at Larkin Arts, and then I'll be teaching a two-day version of Artful Layers at Amanda Jolley's Studio Joy in Kansas City, MO the weekend of April 28-29.
I'll end the Spring in Asheville, NC with a two-day, mixed media workshop, Mapping the Journey, at 310 Art in the River Arts District on May 19th and 20th.
And if that wasn't enough, I'll be teaching a variety of kids and adult art classes and workshops locally at the Round Hill Arts Center, in Round Hill, VA.
So, I invite you to join me, and take a workshop or two over the next few months! I hope to see you!
This week, I continued building on many of the pages that I have started over the past few weeks using mostly water soluble pencil and paint pen. I've also added some collage as well, but the bulk of the work has been building up layers of colors, shapes, and textures. I didn't focus too much on theme, and many of the pages that I worked on this week are mostly bare of words and images. The meaning will come!
The last few days have been filled with making art, teaching art, and seeing art - quite a good way to spend some days.
It all started Friday night with an opening for good friend, Steve Loya's Endangered Species exhibit at the Joan Hisaoka Healing Arts Gallery in Washington, DC. Over the past year, Steve created 50 drawings of endangered species on colorful backgrounds as a way to learn more about these threatened animals. It was great seeing all the work presented together in such a wonderful space. It's an impressive collection!
Congratulations, Steve! Awesome job!
I then spent Sunday afternoon teaching my Artful Layers mixed media class at the Round Hill Arts Center. Eleven awesome students spent 3 hours exploring watercolor, watercolor pencil, collage, and image transfers. I loved seeing all of the different artwork created by the students. I am so grateful that they chose to spend the afternoon making art with me.
Finally, today I trekked to Harrisonburg, VA to check out and exhibit by David and our good friend Sam Peck. As part of their collaborative journal project, they spent the weekend installing their exhibit Draw and Play Here: A tet[R]ad Project at the Institute of Visual Studies at James Madison University. They transformed the space into an immersive art experience where viewers can spend time flipping through the many collaborative journals, create work in some of the blank journals, or simply take in the expansive artwork.
Congratulations, Dave and Sam. Very impressive.
I can't believe that the end of January is quickly approaching, and though I haven't worked in my journal everyday this week, I have found some studio time and some time watching tv to add to my pages. I've continued adding watercolor, watercolor pencil, ink, and collage to my pages as I continue to build layers and continue the accumulation process. Some of the pages are starting to become quite developed and are starting to take on direction.
Although I have been doing fairly mundane things in the journal, the layers are starting to build, ideas are beginning to emerge, and the power of the journal is completely evident. After 18 or 19 years of working in the journal, I am still utterly amazed at the power of the visual journal to reveal truths and change lives. And so it has been, as I have continued working on my Mapping the Journey spread.
The journal is a place to reflect not just on art and what's happening in the journal. It's a place to reflect on life and the bigger issues and concerns. The idea behind the Mapping the Journey is to use yourself as a source for art making, and as I have been going through the process, I have discovered the enormous gratitude that I have for my life and all that I have accomplished. But I had to uncover that gratitude!
One of the things that became evident as I worked and reflected is that I have often lived my life with a rather pessimistic view, and much of the time, I find it hard to see the good in situations. A lot of it has to do with doubting myself and my abilities. It's easy to see the accomplishments of others and feel like you don't measure up. But as the new year began, I really wanted to change that outlook, and I even made and shared a video on Facebook about it. It really hit home for me as I reflected on the key moments of my life, and I began to see all of the amazing things that have happened in my life. I won't go into it too much here, but from coauthoring two books, to traveling all over North America, to working with tens of thousands of students and teachers, it has been quite amazing. It's been too easy to focus on the things that haven't happened and not see all that has. And to think that I get to live a life doing what I love to do. So many people never have that chance.
So, it's with great gratitude that I say thank you to everyone who has supported this adventure in one way or another. I can't wait to see where the journey takes me!
If you're anywhere near Harrisonburg, VA over the next month and a half, make certain to check out the Tet[R]ad exhibit at James Madison University. David and our good friend Sam Peck are having an exhibit of their ongoing journal collaboration project. The opening reception is January 29th from 11am - 1pm.
I'm so excited for them, and I can't wait to check it out!
It's been a busy week, so I haven't had a chance to work too much in the journal. But I've done a little bit, mostly building layers on top things already on the page using some of the same materials - watercolor and watercolor pencil.
I have a tendency to use watercolor pencil to create structure on the pages by adding repeated lines and shapes, but instead of filling in the shapes with color, I shade around the shape and spread the pigment into the negative space.
I also started a two-page spread as a demo for a workshop that I taught during the week all about building layers in the journal. Often the techniques in the demos are a bit sloppy and not as carefully done as techniques done in the studio. But I like the spontaneous nature of the marks, and it'll be interesting to build on them later.
Finally, today I started a two-page spread using ideas for my upcoming Mapping the Journey workshop in Asheville, NC in May. I'm also toying around with the idea of turning it into a more in depth online workshop.
I love how the layers build up on a page and solidify the structure of the composition. I'll probably start working with more themes and images soon.
In just under a month, I'll be heading back to Portland, OR for Art and Soul. Portland is definitely a favorite place for me to visit, and I'm excited to be heading back there for the third year in a row to teach three awesome workshops. I invite you to join me!
On Monday, February 12, I'll be teaching Stencil Savvy as an evening class from 6:30pm - 9:30pm. This class is all about learning the basics of hand cut stencils, and we'll tackle everything from designing simple, yet effective stencils to strategies for successful cutting. So come on out and create your own unique stencils to use over and over again in your art.
On Tuesday, February 13, I'll be leading another evening workshop when I teach Monster Maker Workshop for the first time to an adult audience from 6:30pm - 9:30pm. I've taught it as summer camp for kids, but monster making is fun no matter what age. This mixed media workshop is all about drawing, painting, and collaging monsters. It's going to be an awesome way to spend an evening. So, strap on your mad scientist apron, and come make monsters with me!
Finally, on Wednesday, February 14, I'll be teaching my Luminous Liquid Layers class as an all day class from 9:00am - 4:30pm. I've taught this class several times over the past year here on the east coast, and I'm excited to be taking it to the Pacific Northwest! This messy class is all about building layers using liquid acrylics. We'll use a whole slew of non-traditional and experimental techniques to create paintings that seemingly glow. Spend the day scraping, stamping, stenciling, and much more.
Art and Soul is going to be some creative fun! And I hope that you can join me!
