I’ve been debating for the past week or so since Julie announced her intention to art journal every day whether or not I could do the same. It’s not that I wouldn’t like to. It’s just that I never seem to make the time. It’s sad that I don’t spend more time working on my art journal. I have some of the coolest toys at my disposal. I have a hard time disconnecting from the distractions of my life. I want to be downstairs in the living room with the rest of the family. I want to hear the kids bickering with each other and the never ending drone of cartoons and have all the wonders of the internet in front of me. When I’m working in my art area upstairs it’s just me and my project. A welcomed occurrence once I finally get started, but a huge negative when I’m trying to psych myself away from my desk.
So I’m going to treat this like the kick in the pants that I need and I’m going to participate. Even I can stand the social isolation for only 10 minutes a day. I probably won’t be diligent about blogging about what I’ve done every single day, but I’m going to strive towards posting at least twice a week from now on. Even I can think of that much to talk about.
To cement this new goal of mine, I spent nap time working in my art journal. Nap time is almost sacred in our house. My 3 year old can NOT function unless we adhere to his schedule as much as possible. On days that errands keep us from following our routine he is unbearable to be around. It’s a mixed blessing since he is a dream to put to bed as long as we follow a strict regiment of bath-> teeth brushing –> tuck in. When we can’t do that… *shudder*
When the older boys are home on the weekends or school holidays they have quiet time too. For two hours it’s peaceful. Normally I spend that time doing anything that having the kids around would make tough. That usually translates to watching a movie or playing a game. But what I’m going to start doing is using at least part of that time to nurture my creativity. Maybe I could benefit as much as my child from having a routine that I don’t waver from.
I created a spread about my goals for 2011. I’ve seen some pretty fierce hate about the word “resolutions”. So call them whatever you’d like. These are just some things that I’d like to work on this year. I think every day is a good time to bring positive change into your life, but there’s just something more exciting about doing it at the start of a new year.
My goals are totally attainable this year. This is not a total list. There are so many things I could add. Like finally finishing my Remains of the Journal I started last year. Learning to crochet a granny square is on there too. Still haven’t figured that one out.
I just used bits and pieces of things I had sitting on my desk. The stripped tape along the right edge was scavenged from something my son was working on. He took a strip of my “fancy” tape and colored between the stripes. I was a little bummed since I horde the stuff like it’s gold, but it’s my fault for leaving it sitting on my desk with all the stuff he knows it’s ok for him to use. I like to use little pieces of his art in my own. The heart image is a packing tape transfer that I made a month or two ago for a project that I never started so I nabbed it from the scrap heap. The quote came from a magazine that I got in the mail the other day. It’s a mystery as to why it was there, addressed to me at the correct address even. Like I’d ever turn away more collage fodder. The journaling is done on left over pieces of paper I throw into a flat box to dig through for just such occasions.
I had some fun with a shape I cut out with my Silhouette (which hasn’t worked as expected since I got the dang thing, but that’s a post for another day). I painted over it on the left side with watered down paint and then lifted it up before it was totally dry which resulted in a lot of puddles of color just sitting there. I didn’t want that to happen again so on the right page when I did a layer of gesso I let it dry better. Much to my dismay, it stuck to the page. I scraped off as much as I could and I was left with an interesting texture. I don’t love it, but it’s ok.
I felt the need to do some personal journaling, but not necessarily anything that I wanted anyone else to be able to read. I wrote my thoughts in pencil over a section of book text, turned it sideways and it became my title when I painted on it with black ink. I played a little with an extremely used set of kid’s watercolors.
This embellishment is one of those things I like to include in my art journal whenever I can. The yellow circle is the top of one of those little popper things that are filled with streamers that burst out when you yank the cord. The butterfly is punched from a Dr. Pepper can I drank last night. It’s visually interesting, but still meaningful. Layers aren’t just about paint and collage. I think layers of meaning and symbolism are really important too.
