Connect, Inspire, and Grow

 
IMG_5535.JPG
 

It’s been quite a while since I sat down, and created an honest to goodness blog post. I was posting Journal Friday videos here for a while, but that has slowly tapered off simply because it’s easier to post the videos directly to social media. check out my Facebook and Instagram pages for them.

Still there’s a part of me that loves to share more in depth through the blog — to sit down and allow thoughts to stream out, but it seems that I’m too busy, too tired, are just too lazy. The unfortunate consequence has been that the blog has been a bit neglected, so I decided to sit down today and share a bit about what’s been going on in my world lately.

Since September, I’ve been teaching and traveling quite a bit, trying to share my art and my process with as many people as possible. That has meant workshops at the art center that I manage, traveling to the beach for Art and Soul, and partaking in several art education conferences in different states. It’s meant a lot of driving, some flying, and a lot of good conversations along the way. I finally have a lull in the action.

 
IMG_5559.JPG
 

I love connecting with folks, and though I love connecting virtually through social media, this blog, and my podcast, I love it even more when I can connect face-to-face with folks, and not only share my words, but share my art and my journals.

I won’t go into all of the details, but there was one major take away from all of this traveling and teaching — art is a very powerful, transformative process. Again and again, I heard from people how art, especially the visual journal is a life changer and a life saver. I’ve always known that from my personal experience, but connecting with so many people in different places really drove it home for me. I think I may have lost sight of that, and these past couple of months have me rethinking and reevaluating my approach.

The gears have started to spin, and ideas have started to flow. I can’t wait to share more as time progresses. Until then, thank you so much for being a part of this journey!

Journal Friday #118: Stories Connect Experiences

fullsizeoutput_1341.jpeg

I wanted to try something a little different today, so I started with some ink drawn ovoids and used a color that I don’t use often — orange. I eventually through in some red and brown, and ended up with a color scheme that I use often. I looked back at some older journal pages and decided to stencil in the numbers and letters and to use some thick outlined squares.

I wasn’t certain of the words or theme for the spread, so I quickly flipped through my current everyday journal, and came across notes that I’ve been taking as I re-read Seth Godin’s This Is Marketing. Although Godin is talking about marketing, I just love the message the three phrases convey.

I finished off the spread by using some white paint to a transparent film to the squares.

I also want to share a flip through of my first Journal Friday Journal. I’ve been using a Strathmore hardbound mixed media journal to create the spreads for my Journal Friday time-lapse videos, and I’ve filled my first one. This week’s and last week’s Journal Friday spreads were done in a new journal, so I wanted to do a quick flip though of the filled book. I hope that you enjoy!

Journal Friday #117: Magnificently Creative

Today’s Journal Friday spread was inspired by some ideas that have been bouncing around my head recently. I firmly believe that everyone is creative, but unfortunately, many people don’t believe that they are creative. I think it’s always good to be reminded that we are truly creative.

I used my Derwent Inktense Travel Paint Pan sets to begin the spread and slowly built up layers. The spread ended up more open than my usual spreads, and I’m not certain if I like it or not. The spread feels a bit unfinished. But that’s part of the challenge of making these time-lapse videos. I keep them to a minute so that I can share them on a variety of social media, and that can mean that sometimes spreads can progress at different rates.

Journal Friday #116: Change It Up

 
IMG_5453.JPG
 

For today’s Journal Friday, I wanted to do something a little different — something to change things up a bit. I began by limiting my materials to just water-soluble graphite, some pens, and a little collage. I then decided to use marks, lines, and shapes that I don’t use all that often. It’s good to try new and different things, especially when things seem a bit stagnant and stale.

I’m not 100% happy with the results, but that’s the nice thing about art. There are always more art to make!

Journal Friday #115: Where I'm Going

 
 

So, once again I’m late in posting my latest Journal Friday. I created the video on Friday, and posted it to social media, but I didn’t have time to make a blog post. But here' it is now. My schedule has gotten a little less hectic, so hopefully, I’ll be better about posting Journal Friday on Fridays, and also posting more content in general on the blog.

But this spread uses my typical arsenal of materials — watercolor, Inktense pencils, pen, collage, and paint marker. But I wanted to do something a little different this time, so I incorporated some observational drawing into it. I created a continuous contour drawing of myself from a photograph. With this technique, I didn’t lift my pen as I drew, so the idea is that it’s drawn in one continuous line. I did forget to draw a small portion at first, so I had to go back and add an eyebrow. I tried to put the pen down where I had picked it up at last.

Though this spread doesn’t have any words or journaling, a phrase kept going through my head from a song lyric by hip-hop artist Sage Francis. In his song Runaways from the album Personal Journals, Sage asks, “If I don’t know where I come from, how do I know where to go?” Though not explicit in the final outcome, I love how it informs the work.