Going Back to Basics - The Artist's Way...

I haven't been following the Sketchbook Challenge too much lately, but I clicked over there this week to see what was going on, and was instantly inspired by the January theme of "Artist Dates."

I first started journaling many years ago, after reading Julia Cameron's book The Artist's Way.  I was really drawn in by her concept of "creative recovery."  It was just what I needed at the time; and I still count The Artist's Way as one of my favorite books ever.  Anyways, one of the two basic tools she recommends is going on a weekly artist date.  An Artist Date, is a block of time that you dedicate to taking your "inner artist" on a playdate!  Julia explains it more in detail in a little video here. I used to go on artist dates regularly, but haven't even thought about them in years; so seeing the topic pop up at the Sketchbook challenge, felt like a bit of synchronicity.  I decided to start going on Artist Dates again, and I'm so excited about it!

I dedicated my Monday Book of Days spread to this topic...

I've also started doing Julia's other recommended basic tool - morning pages.  She describes those in detail in a little video here.

If any of you have read The Artist's Way, I'd love to hear what you thought about it!  Do you go on artist dates?  or write morning pages?

 I turned my Monday Spread into a  multi-day spread, by adding journaling tags for the rest of the week.  Easy peasy...

I hope your week was fantastic, and I wish you a weekend that is even better!

Thanks so much for visiting!

Sneak Peek - Mixed Emotions: Classroom Opens this weekend!

I'm getting so excited about Mixed Emotions, I can hardly stand it!  Class officially starts on Monday, February 4th, but we are opening the classroom this weekend, so that people can get situated, greet each other, and get to know their way around.

If you are still on the fence about whether to register or not, let me answer a couple of questions that others have posed. Maybe they will help you to decide...

1.  Is Mixed Emotions all about the heavy, emotional stuff?   Let me assure you - no!  We are going to have FUN!!!  Mixed Emotions is all about learning fun techniques that you can use to emphasize whatever emotion you might want to get across on your page.  It's all up to you!  We will be exploring all kinds of different emotions, but you choose how deep you want to go.  The emphasis is on having fun and expressing yourself!

2.  Do I need experience in Art Journaling?  Nope.  The techniques in this class are aimed at all skill levels.  Whether you already journal daily, or have never picked up a journal, this class is for you.

3.  What is the cost in U.S. Dollars?  The price of Mixed Emotions is 35 euros, which translates in U.S. Dollars - as of right now - to $47.50.  It is listed in euros because Marit is administrating the registration, and that is the currency she uses in the Netherlands.  You can pay through paypal, and the conversion will be made for you.  It's super easy!

4.  Do I have to buy lots of supplies?  No, the supplies are very basic. We really want you to be able to use what you have.  When your registration is received, the supply list will be emailed to you.  

The workshop consists of 12 lessons. Marit and I take turns, each covering different emotions. Here are a couple of sneak peeks from my lessons...

If you have questions, please feel free to leave them in the comments.  I will answer them in my next post.

For more information, or to register, click here or on the Mixed Emotions widget in the sidebar.

I can hardly wait!!! 

Weekly NME Journal Update...

One thing I am loving about my No More Excuses (NME) journal, is that I have absolutely no expectations for beauty in it.  It's more of a place to learn, practice, and reference.  That freedom makes for messy pages that make me totally happy!!!

Here's my progress from the past week...

Weekly page...

 Free-writing about the theme of the month...

 Sketches...

 Things I'd like to do in 2013...

This was my first time trying Absorbent Ground as a background - instead of gesso.  Apparently, I have a lot to learn about it, because I failed MISERABLY.  HA.  I thought it was supposed to create a paper-like surface, so you could use watercolors and such.  Instead it made a chalky-like surface that made it impossible to blend colors (as you can tell), and it also smeared my waterproof pen.  Hmmmm...  This will take more research.

I hope your weekend was AWESOME!!!  Thanks so much for visiting!

FEATURING, Butterflies, and Art Journal Display...

Hey there everyone!  I hope you are staying warm today.  Michael and I just got back from a drive, which turned into a winter storm while we were out.  Brrrrr.  I'm glad to be back home safe and cozy.

I've got three things to share with you today!  First, my copy of Featuring Magazine arrived, and I'm so excited to see the article about my studio!!!  I love how it turned out!!!

There is also a sneak peek about the article on Featuring's Facebook page here.  I am really loving looking through this whole magazine!  It's got articles on all different mixed media artists; and the full color photos are beautiful!  One of the articles is about the annual Top 2000 blog party, which is hosted by Marit Barentsen, and features one of my pieces along with other artists' including my friends Linda and Glenda.  So much fun!  If you want to know more about Featuring Magazine, click here.

Thanks so much to Founder Marit, and the staff at Featuring, for doing this article so beautifully!  I am honored!


The second thing I have to share is this week's Multi-Day spread in my  Book of Days.
I was inspired by this pic I found on the internet...

 

Isn't he gorgeous? I love the color of his wings, and the striped antennae too!

Here's how my spread turned out...

I drew the butterfly with pencil first; then adhered the text collage bits around the drawing. The black outline and body are done with Golden Liquid Acrylic.  The insides are mostly Letraset Aquamarkers, with a little acrylic paint mixed in.

I am sooooo enjoying the process of making these multi-day spreads.  It's fun to think of different ways to make room for four days of journaling.  Kinda like putting a puzzle together.


Lastly, I finally got around to making a place upstairs to display my art journals!  I've been wanting to do that for months now.  I had a shabby antique bookcase downstairs that was holding boxes and other "junk."  I brought that upstairs, cleaned it up and put it in the bedroom.  Now it holds almost all of my completed art journals...

After all the time I spent filling them up, I love having a special place for them. 

 

 I will leave you with a picture taken just now, of my friend Willie.  He is enjoying the snowy day from the comfort of a warm scraproom...

Have a wonderful Sunday my friends!  Thanks so much for visiting!

Excavating Hidden Treasures...

This week's topic in Soulistry, is "Aging."  To be honest, I didn't really want to think about it - ha!  Ever since my mom died, I think about death too much, and the subject of aging just brings me right back to the idea of being closer to death.  NOT FUN.  Part of why I loved last week's topic "living in the moment", is that it helped me stop doing that - thinking about death I mean. 

So anyhoo, I followed Effy's lead, and used the "pulled art" method of exploring the topic.  If you're not familiar with pulled art, it's a really neat concept.  You paint a messy background, and then look for shapes within it, kinda like looking for shapes in the clouds (one of my fave things).  Lo and behold, it lead to a spiritual awakening...

When I first completed my messy background I couldn't see a thing in it.  So I left it overnight.  When I came back to it the next day, I immediately saw an angel!  And then I saw a woman planting a garden! and then lo and behold, a big old RAVEN appeared right in the middle!  This was so exciting!

Here's a photo of the background.  I had just started to outline the images in white chalk...

 Can you see them?

Here's how it looked as I started to pull the images out...

 As I was doing this, it was amazingly enlightening.  I was thinking about the images, and what they represent, and it all made sense. 

Here's my completed page.  It represents January 23rd in my Book of Days...

 The woman is me planting seeds for change.  Always planting and tending to the garden of my life.  The angel represents how the universe has and continues to watch out for me, guiding me in the right direction on my path.  And of course, the raven is me!  Ravens are symbolic of creativity and transformation, so she fits right in with the theme.  Thinking about this totally affected my feelings about aging.  I am letting the fears go.  I am embracing all that is good and wise in me.  The best thing about getting older is that I am FREE to be who I really am.  What could be better than that?

If you are interested in learning more about the pulled art technique, check out Tracie Hanson's 21 Secrets workshop called "Journal Quest."  She graciously now offers it free on her blog.  Click here to go to the post.

More on Book of Days can be found here.
More on Soulistry can be found here.

Thanks so much for visiting my friends!  I wish you a super creative magical weekend!

Life Book: Scales of Light..

This week's Life Book lesson was called "Scales of Light," and was taught by Dion Dior.  It's meant to represent the beginning of our Life Book journey.

Here's how mine turned out...

The lesson was actually in black and white, but I couldn't resist making mine pink.  I'm in a total pink phase lately.   It's all done in colored pencil on black cardstock. 

So. Much. Fun.  I'm loving Life Book 2013 even more than I thought I would.  Seriously big FuN!

Thanks so much for visiting! 

Book of Days: Transformation...

Hi everyone!  Over at Book of Days, we are exploring the topic of "Who Am I Right Now?"  As I pondered this, the thing that kept coming back to me is that I am in transformation.

Here's what I came up with...

The woman is a stencil that my talented friend Jessica Sporn designed for StencilGirl Products.  I really wanted her to stand out against the colored background, so I used modeling paste through the stencil. I just LOVE the way she is standing.  She felt perfect for what I wanted to express here.  Other materials include: acrylic paint, stamps, distress stains, gesso and gelatos.  Oh, and some spray ink.  Basically every medium I had in orange and/or pink got thrown on there.  Ha.  The doodling was done with a Sakura Glaze pen in black, and sharpie poster paint pens.  The title was done with india ink and a brush.

I hope your week is going great!  I will be back tomorrow with a Life Book page to share.

Thanks for visiting and I will see you then!

No More Excuses 2013...

I'm so excited about my No More Excuses journal for 2013!  I've taken bits and pieces of all the different NME workshops, and I'm combining them into a journal that feels just right for me!

Here's a peek into my NME journal for 2013.  I'm using a tangerine MomAgenda as the base.  I'm making my own tabs (there are more to come...)

And here are a few of the pages...

For more info on the No More Excuses workshops, click here.

Project Life: November 12 - 25...

I just realized it's been over a month since I've had any Project Life layouts to share with you - eek!  It's about time I guess, eh?

Here are the last two weeks I've finished for 2012...

The week of November 12 - 18...

 Closeup of left side...

 The card that says "cozy" is one of the ATCs I made in 2009 when I was doing one every week.  They are coming in handy now!  The bottom left 4x6 is an image I pulled off the internet, when the voting for the Netherlands Top 2000 Songs of all time was going on.

 Closeup of right side...

Ephemera here includes the bag from Blick art materials, that my paintbrushes came in; a piece of the box that my Brush Basin came in, and a screenshot of our last challenge at STM.

And here's the week of November 19 - 25...

A closeup of the left side...

 

The beautiful card that says "Happy Thanksgiving" was a free download from Julie Fei-Fan Balzer (thanks Julie!)

 Closeup of right side...

The top left image was taken from the internet.  It was one of the daily Bing wallpapers.  I just thought that was so sweet.  How often do you see a lamb kissing a turkey?  LOVE IT.

Now, I've got to get started on the month of December 2012!  I've been saving my Noel Mignon December kit (pictured above) to use. 

How are you all doing on your Project Life albums (if you do them)?  Are you all caught up, or behind like me?

Thanks for visiting!  I will be back tomorrow with a No More Excuses journal update.  Have an awesome Sunday, my friends!

Multi-Day Spread...

I decided to do a multi-day spread for Tuesday thru Friday in my Book of Days this week.  Kept the format simple.  Just paint and writing...

I really enjoyed the process and will probably repeat it next week.

In other news I FINALLY got my Seafoam Project Life Binders - yeayyyyy!!!  I must say they are really beautiful!  I'm halfway through making January pages, and will share at the end of the month.  I've got a few weeks from December that I can share before then tho.

Also don't forget, it's not too late to sign up for MIXED EMOTIONS!!! (see widget in the sidebar) If you have any questions about this art journaling workshop I am teaching with Marit Barentsen, please feel free to leave them in the comments, or email me at michellelapoint@yahoo.com.  We'd love to see you join us!!!

Take care my friends, and Happy Saturday!!!

Soulistry: "Look Well To This Day..."

I had a lot of fun thinking my Soulistry topic through this week.  It was all about "being present in the moment.  The prompt was a Sanskrit Proverb...

"Yesterday is but a dream and tomorrow is only a vision.  But today, well lived, makes every yesterday a dream of happiness and every tomorrow a vision of hope.  Look well, therefore to this day."

It made me think of my dog Dacotah. We nicknamed him "Zen Master," because of the way he was when we took him on walks.  He went very slowly, stopping to sniff each flower; greet each person he saw, and listen to any bird sounds.  It made me slow down too and appreciate those things.  What a sweetheart he was.  Anyhoo, I was thinking of him when I made this...

 The new thing I tried this time was a water-soluble pencil for the title.  I loved the effect so much I went crazy and outlined everything - ha! So much fun!

P.S.  This was my sweet, huggable Dacotah...

photo is from 2005

Thanks for visiting! 

Life Book Week Three with Christy Tomlinson...

I love Christy Tomlinson's style, so I was excited to see what she had in store for us this week in the Life Book workshop.  I have taken several of her classes and she is a creative whirlwind.  She works quickly and is fun and full of ideas.  She never fails to inspire me, and this lesson was no exception.  We learned how to make beautiful flowers out of tinfoil!

Here's how my page turned out...

The title came from this song by Amos Lee, which I've been listening to this week:

The man's got SOUL!

P.S. The new Project Life Binders are FiNALLy available on Amazon!  I ordered two of the Seafoam style, and I should have them by Friday.  So exciting!

 P.S.S.  Mixed Emotions starts in less than three weeks!  I'm so excited to be teaching it again with Marit!  We are going to have a blast playing with different ways to put emotion into your art journal pages!  Whether you are new to art journaling or have been doing it for years, we welcome you to join us!  The six-week workshop starts February 4th.  For more info or to register, click here or on the widget in the right sidebar.

I hope your week is going well!  Thanks so much for visiting!