ART
journaling journ 175+
JOURNAL PAGES
A COLLECTION OF
TINY T INY J JOURNALS OURNALS
BY B Y TTORRIE GASS p. 118 ABOUT FACE:
GAYLE PRICE’S DELICATE PORTRAIT TECHNIQUE Qp.U114E
DYAN REAVELEY’S
WHIMSICAL WORLD R LD p. 20
Stampington & Company JUL/AUG/SEP 2017 s DISPLAY UNTIL 9/30/17
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I AM INSPIRED: NICHOLE RAE’S DAILY AFFIRMATION JOURNALING PRACTICE ICE
ARTJOURNALINGMAGAZINE.COM
p. 74
A TRUE
Transformation BY MELISSA JOHNSON
8
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Summer 2017
I
love taking online art classes. With my hectic schedule, working at my own pace through a course is the ideal setting to learn and try new techniques. So when Donna Downey (donnadowney.com) opened up her Metamorphosis class, I was super excited. I’ve always been a fan of her work, and I think she’s a fantastic teacher. This class offered something I had never seen before and was interested to learn more about. We were going to create a journal from muslin that ends up feeling and looking like it’s made from leather — how fascinating! Of course, I signed up right away. MASTERING THE LEATHER TECHNIQUE Using muslin, drywall compound, gesso, paint, and acrylic ink, Donna taught us how to create a beautiful journal. For someone like me who is all about instant gratification, the process is a lesson in patience — but the results are worth it. Then my art nemesis arrived: the image transfer. I’m not sure why, but I’ve always had so much trouble doing image transfers, but magically, this time, it worked like a charm. The transfers came out perfectly and added just the right amount of muted color. » artjournalingmagazine.com
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JOURNALING FOR AN
Epic Journey B Y VA L E R I E T E E L E
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FOR ME, THE
creation OF THE LITTLE guidebooks BECAME A WAY TO ENJOY THE
anticipation and excitement OF THE TRIP BEFORE THE ACTUAL VACATION DATES.
W
e have never been very successful with family vacations. I always wished for an idyllic trip with my son and daughter that looked just like a Disney cruise vacation commercial. Instead, we had “adventures” such as having my son thrown out of a Hawaiian hotel lobby for snorkeling in the lobby koi pond while his friend caught it on video. Or there was the time both kids were in casts at the same time, so I received stares like I was an abusive parent. Or perhaps the time I spent our only day at Disneyland in the infirmary with my daughter after a bad Caesar salad. Or even the time we paid for a door that acquired a hole resulting from a shoe that missed its intended target. I’m not sure whether time dulled my memories or I was still clinging to the hope of a harmonious family vacation, but the schedules and circumstances in the lives of, what are now, four adults seemed to align. Carpe diem! We were heading to Italy. » artjournalingmagazine.com
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TIPS t Reading reviews and recommendations on travel sites is a great way to find out what is in the area where you will be staying. It is an easy way to find great restaurants, the closest grocery store, and most accessible transportation hub. Record that information on index cards and make it an art project! t Plan your travel art kit carefully with only the essentials and take it for a test run before you leave. There are a ton of great ideas on Pinterest. t A small, portable Wi-Fi printer, such as the Fuji film Instax Share, the HP Sprocket, or the Polaroid Zip prints 2" x 3" photos instantly from your smartphone. It’s so much fun to put them in your journal with decorative tape! t Think beyond traditional scrapbooking and photo albums for your printed photos. Pockets for loose photos or mini-accordion booklets are fun to make and easily attached to larger pages. While on vacation, try to keep up with daily entries. Even if you write a few words or key phrases, it will help you to remember in greater detail when you have more time to journal. It’s surprising how quickly events start blurring together! 44
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The covers are cardboard that’s been wrapped with dark green embossed leather that I had left over from a project in my past life as an interior designer. And the end papers are marbleized Florentine paper that I bought on the trip. Originally, I wanted to store them all together, but the size of the hybrid book made that impractical. Instead, I decided to store the other books in a cardboard suitcase found at HomeGoods. The shape and size were right, but it was in a zebra print. No problem — I painted it to look vintage and finished it off with some faux luggage label stickers and a hang tag. I knew that this trip would be a once-in-a-lifetime adventure and I wanted to experience that joy for as long as possible!
By using what I now call my three-phase paper method, I stretched a two-week vacation into a much longer experience that now brings back so many wonderful memories. Oh, by the way, except for some crankiness due to jet lag, we finally had a very successful family vacation. I wonder if I can convince them to do it again?
Valerie Teele is a former interior designer turned mixed-media artist living on the San Francisco peninsula with her supportive husband and two spoiled Cavaliers. She is currently building a home studio, where she also plans to teach. More art can be seen on her website at ateliervalerieann.com. You can follow her on Instagram (@valerieteele). artjournalingmagazine.com
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T H E N AT U R E
of Growth B Y PAT T Y R A D I S H
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Summer 2017
T
he last couple of years have been a time of loss, joy, renewal, and reorientation. I have become increasingly drawn to the healing energies of nature by walking in our local woods and neighborhoods. I love to get out into the fresh air as much as possible and enjoy all the sights and sounds and, of course, take many photos along the way. Taking the time to enjoy the outdoors, not just to garden but also for the sake of being outside, has been the biggest part of my healing and personal growth. These ventures have also become a wonderful way to add a new dimension to my art journaling. Incorporating collected items found in nature and inspirational images, along with my own photography, has given my pages more life and has taken my art down a fresh new path. I still enjoy using vintage images, and combining these two styles can be quite challenging but also a lot of fun. MARRYING TWO STYLES Surrounding my writing by beautiful images is such a departure from writing endlessly in generic lined journals like I used to do back in the day; this is how I feel art journaling is set apart from traditional journaling. Sometimes words flow out of me in torrents, other times three or four words are sufficient, and some of my favorite pages are created around a quote that has inspired me. But it’s the images and artistic touches that complete the narrative. Marrying these two styles of journaling by being able to get it down on paper while still having room to create art is the perfect fit for me.  artjournalingmagazine.com
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SEEING
Me
BY THERESA GLASS
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Summer 2017
D E TA I L
I
started art journaling a few years ago. I had no idea what I was doing, but I really wanted to get into it. I watched many YouTube videos and tried a lot of different techniques and styles. It was so much work trying to make art like someone else, but I wanted to try different things to find what I liked. Then I joined an art journaling group on Facebook called Colour Me Positive. This encouraged me start a new journal; for this one, I decided to let myself go and do whatever came to me. I remember flipping through the first few completed pages of that journal and realizing that I had found the way my soul wants to speak. I saw myself in each page! Âť artjournalingmagazine.com
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I AM:
A C R E AT I V E D A I LY JOURNALING PRACTICE BY NICHOLE RAE
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I
carry the words I AM. These two words are the foundation of my creative daily practice, the Art of Daily Practice. This affirmation has grounded my creative spirit to practice — to go toward my vision with love, with space to try new things, to cultivate my confidence — and it has evolved into my own creative routine. The Art of Daily Practice began three-and-a-half years ago when I set an intention to bring more positivity into my language, both what I was thinking in my mind and speaking out loud. For many years I heard a heavy negative inner voice that it was holding me back. This intention unfolded as I began using the affirmation I AM along with positive words — brave, enough, whole, evolving, creating. This was what I most needed to find and believe in my journey. I began to journal 108 I AM affirmations so I could connect with my present self using positivity and inspiration. For 15 or more years I have been on a journey to collect and document my life through mixed-media art. This lifts my creative spirit and is the foundation of my art journaling practices. Over the years my creative practices have shifted and evolved, and those three-and-a-half years ago I was not actively creating. As I unfolded into my practice of affirmation, it cultivated my creative spirit to begin making again using my art journaling process. » artjournalingmagazine.com
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IT FORCED ME TO
re-evaluate
MY PROCESS. SUDDENLY I SAW
the power AND purpose OF AR T JOURNALING!
DISCOVERING DIVERSITY With my newfound awareness, I realized I had a powerful gift to share. The friends asking for lessons brought a myriad of motivation for journaling. One wanted to document her old family photos with stories, another wanted to track her field research about frogs, another wanted to learn about mixed-media layering. I decided that offering a variety of samples might be a viable solution. I noticed that some students felt stressed about making art. I found a solution in a child’s ray-gun, which lit up in bright colored lights with crazy sounds. When doubt and fear took hold, I zapped their inner critic. The unexpected action shocked them into laughter and jolted them back to their creativity. Currently, I ask students to imagine themselves as a child in awe or a mad scientist experimenting in her art laboratory. If you are simply playing or experimenting, there can be no mistakes. I encourage students to let intuition lead the way. Take some deep breaths and cultivate the art of allowing. Releasing control can move one into a more relaxed state that is less analytic and more creative.  94
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KEEPIN’ IT
Simple
BY JENNY PETRICEK
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“Keep it simple, sister”— AND IT DAWNED ON ME THAT PERHAPS THIS
philosophy COULD
BE APPLIED TO MY
journaling PRACTICE!
A
s a full-time schoolteacher and the parent of a very active high school freshman, my life seems anything but simple sometimes. My career requires that I work long hours as well as take work home at the end of the day, and my role as a stepmom means that I am frequently called upon to help my stepson with homework and attend his extracurricular events in the evenings. Although these pursuits are very rewarding, they leave precious little time for one of my favorite mixed-media passions: art journaling. Sometimes, at the end of a busy day, I feel frustrated that I don’t have enough time or energy remaining to sit down and create in my journal. Last summer, as I looked ahead to the beginning of yet another hectic school year, I decided it was time to devise a new strategy for fitting art journaling into my daily routine. I’m a big believer in the acronym K.I.S.S., which I interpret to mean, “Keep it simple, sister”— and it dawned on me that perhaps this philosophy could be applied to my journaling practice! » artjournalingmagazine.com
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