art journal

(Re)Purposing with a purpose

I’m realizing anew the value of creative outlets. They’re food for the soul, and fuel for this writer. With that in mind, I’m art journaling again. And I’m trolling for fresh ideas at My (Re)Purposed Life.

I like the idea of breathing new life into discarded objects…of shaping something new from something old. It’s earth-friendly, this recycling. Plus, you don’t have to be highly skilled–oftentimes, a tiny tweak makes for major impact. You can spend big bucks, or you can do it on a limited budget. It’s fun (for the most part), and the results are (almost always) gratifying. And if you don’t like the results, hey, you can always re-gift it!

‘Nuf said. Here are some of the projects I’m working on right now.

1. This vintage Red Flyer wagon, which I want to spruce up a bit for spring. Right now, it sits under the strawberry tree in the far reaches of my garden. It was filled with cheerful pansies a short season while ago, but now it’s overgrown with weeds. So sad and forlorn.
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Once I’ve brightened it up with flowers and such, I’ll post “After” pictures.

2. I love filling my garden with playful things…objects that invite me to linger and encourage me to smile. So I was very happy to find this "Time Out" chair in a thrift store. It cost me all of $4.00, and for that price, I won’t feel at all guilty when it gets watermarked and sunbleached. 

 

It’s even more special for the crayon scribbles on the back. Something tells me this "Time Out" chair once served a useful purpose…

3. Oh drat! I keep meaning to post pictures of my de-cluttered, re-organized office! I snagged a rosewood desk on Craigslist for a song, plus an armoire and a couple of small tables. Simply gorgeous, and I was delighted to see the massive (hand-me-down) oak furniture go!  Natch, I had to paint the walls before bringing them into the room. I chose a creamy vanilla color, which Behr calls "Baked Brie." The orange-ish "oak" (read: laminated. See also: ugh.) bookshelves got painted the same color. Begone, microblinds…hello, silky-sheer curtains and unobstructed views. Ahhhh, it’s so much more relaxing in here now. Cleaner. Brighter. More me, if you know what I mean.

4. I discovered a handcrafted footstool in the same thrift store. Three measly dollars, and it was mine. It’s rough-hewn rustic, which I like. Plus, it’s shaped like a musical instrument–a cello, I think, without the neck. I also found a cute wall shelf that might someday hold treasured objects. Add to this motley collection of what-nots: a vintage hymnal rack from an old church pew. I’m refinishing all of them in a light color (maybe white?), and perhaps adding a crackle finish or a glaze. I should have posted "Before" pictures, but oh well. Too late now! Here’s Stage One, in which I apply two coats of primer.
 

I’m guessing this picture will cause a bit of hand-writing on the part of people with OCD who prefer a more orderly work space. Am I right? Also, note to self: Use an old sheet next time, instead of laying things out on newsprint. 

So…are any of you into re-purposing? And if so, what are you working on right now?

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Friday Five: April Fools

In honor of April Fool’s Day, I offer you four truths and a lie. Can you separate fact from fiction?

1. I received this beautiful package in yesterday’s mail. Note the crochet-inspired pattern on the wrapping paper, which I love. And isn’t that gift tag amazing? Would that I could be so crafty!

 I ripped that puppy right open, and lo, look what I found!

*squeals of joy* Thanks, Master Winchester, for drawing my name. And a million thanks, [info]candice_ransom , for hosting such a generous contest. I love my new journal, and I’m already thinking up new things to scribble & doodle on its pages.


2. This lovely gift came my way via a kindred spirit, [info]inknbeans . You might remember that I borrowed a similar scarf for my trip to Connecticut (tea for two–Jeannine Atkins and me– in Salisbury). I loved it so much…it was like wearing a warm hug–and I hated that I had to return it. Handcrafted crochet items remind me of my Nana. (For some reason, she rarely finished any of her projects. But boy oh boy, those hands were always flying!) So when Emjae sent me a scarf of my very own, in a color palatte customized for me, I wore it around my neck for about two weeks straight, no kidding. I’d be wearing it today, if it wasn’t already 80-some degrees outside and climbing.

Warm hugs back at you, Emjae. I’m grateful for your amazing gift, and for all that it represents.

3. I’ve got tickets to hear His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet, talk with us about "Compassion and Global Leadership."  Seats sold quickly, so I’ll be perched among the pigeons. Doesn’t matter. I’m glad for for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

4. I play an April Fool’s Day joke on my husband every year. And without fail, he falls for it. Hee, poor guy. This time ’round, I switched out his nondescript ringtone for "Soul Man" by the Blues Brothers. Then I cranked up the volume to its maximum levels, for the benefit of passers-by his listening pleasure. Well now! My husband is brilliant, but he problem-solves in a linear-sequential way. So as you might imagine, this switcharoo threw him for a loop. He turned the phone over and over in his hands, as if inspecting it for defects. "So strange," he marveled. "Sprint must have pushed out another upgrade." Fish in a barrel, folks. Fish in a barrel.

5. It’s supposed to snow here this weekend! Whoa, pretty random, right? An extremely rare occurance…a wonder to behold. White on white: a clever disguise for my camilias.

Happy weekend, everyone! I love you all, no foolin’.

All Through The Night

‘T’was four nights before Christmas, and all through Chez Shore, not a creature was stirring…sigh, except for me. (See also: insomnia, side effects, Prednisone.)

So in the wee hours of the morning, I decided to create a Christmas journal page. Too bleary-eyed for self-editing, fa la la, I let my pens and scissors fly.

Behold…my holiday Wish List! 

Christmas journaling: can you come out to play?

The ho ho holiday’s upon us: 5 days, can you believe it?

I’ve got a to-do list longer than Santa’s Naughty List. But you know what? The world won’t end if I can’t find the Holy Grail of Christmas gifts; the tree won’t topple over if I don’t place the ornaments just so; and if I don’t get around to baking my blueberry buckle this year, none of my guests will starve. So…because peace and joy are the essense of Christmas, I’m allowing myself time to play.

Psst. Wanna join me? I propose we set aside some time this week for a Creative Journaling play date!

Yes, this week. Any time of the day or evening, or even on the fly. Don’t think too hard, just do it. And invite your friends along.

You could collage your favorite Christmas memories. Or maybe illustrate your Christmas wishes. Looking for more inspiration? Check out these holiday journal pages and how-to’s. Ho ho ho–you’ll feel like you unwrapped some presents early! 

Creativity is all about the process, not the "product", so let’s not to get hung up on what our pages look like! But if you feel like sharing, hey, let’s can light up LJ with our hand-crafted journal "ornaments"!

christmas smileys for msn 17

Image credit: Journaling Your Christmas

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Creative Journaling: forgetting how to play

I apologize for being AWOL on LJ this week. I’d like to say that I’ve been writing, wrapping presents, and decorating the Christmas tree. But no, I’ve been sidelined by cooties. Oh, woe is me! I’ve missed two weeks’ worth of voice lessons, and my tambourine is temporarily silenced.

Still, I managed to drag myself to a creative journaling workshop, and oh, I was really glad I did. Stace introduced us a new technique: washing diluted Gesso over watercolor-penciled, collaged backgrounds. I love how it mutes the colors, how it gives images a dream-like quality. Look at the little girl on the right…can’t you almost imagine you’re glancing at her through a frosted windowpane? I wonder what book she’s reading, where that hummingbird is headed…

 

Now turn your attention to the page on the left. I’m not loving it–you either? It’s pretty clear that my vision got lost in translation. Instead of thinking about the overarching theme,* I got fixated on the tiniest of details. And, um, it shows. There’s no overall cohesiveness, and the images are blurred beyond recognition by the gloppy layers (upon layers) of products I used to cover my "mistakes."

Creative journaling is supposed to be playful, more bouncy Tigger than thinky Pooh. Unfortunately, I lost sight of that this week. We talked about this in the workshop–how we so often focus on product vs. process. When we take it (or ourselves) too seriously, we rob ourselves of recess.  

No worries, though: I’ll carry that (re)discovery over to the next set of pages. And hmm…if I squint my eyes and tilt my head just so, I’ll probably find a few writing lessons in this, as well!

*Themes/metaphors are totally unnecessary, by the way. But hey, that’s how I roll.

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Creative Journaling: playing it forward

In a couple of previous entries, I mentioned the ways in which Creative Journaling helps inform and inspire my writing efforts co-mingles work with play. (If you missed those entries, you can access them here and here.)

I’m not the only one, of course. Earlier this week, author R L. LaFevers wrote a related entry for the Shrinking Violets’ blog. Here’s an excerpt of "Envisioning the Coming Year" (reposted with permission):

No lesser authority than Carl Jung has claimed that our best work originates in play.

The dynamic principle of fantasy is play, which belongs also to the child, and as such it appears to be inconsistent with the principle of serious work. But without this playing with fantasy no creative work has ever yet come to birth. – Carl Jung

Now before you roll your eyes and think you left all that back in grade school, let me gently point out that collages and vision boards are a highly effective tool in helping focus your creative energies—either in a personal direction or in a project-related one.

There are a couple of different ways to approach a vision board. You can create one that focuses on:

Personal growth aspirations for the coming year
Professional goals
Creative goals
Spiritual areas you’d like to work on.
Qualities you’d like to more fully embrace or invite into your life
Whatever whispers to you, that’s what you should use for the focus of the board.

But perhaps you’re more comfortable working on something to do with your work-in-progress, and that’s fine, too. Some story collages capture the overall mood and feel of the book.

They can also be representative of certain scenes or parts of the book, maybe even parts you’re having a hard time nailing down. When you work on a collage, you let your subconscious take over and then, watch out!

We’d LOVE to see some of the vision boards and collages you create! If you get motivated over the next few weeks (even after the holidays) please do send us a jpeg of your collage/vision board and we’ll feature them here on the blog. (We can absolutely share them anonymously!) And while sharing your project is definitely not required, we might even have a prize drawing for all of those who participate. If you’d like to share, send your jpeg to us here at Shrinking Violets, and we’ll do the rest.

So there you have it: an invitation (with incentives!) to try it on for size.

I think I might adapt the idea of a vision board, maybe glue the images into the pages of my sketchbook instead of creating something poster-sized. The possibilities are endless–form and function, entirely up to me. Smile



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Thankful Thursday: This little light of mine

Last week, I needed to coax myself out of a dark, barren corner. (We’ve all been there, haven’t we?) I’m thankful today for Creative Journaling, which helped me reconnect with the shadow-dispelling Light Within.

Two hand-crafted pages in a tiny sketchbook. Not Fine Art by any means; perhaps meaningless to anyone else. But for me, the symbolic value is incalculable.

I also owe a debt of gratitude to Staci Dumoski, who encouraged me to try Creative Journaling. For more information about her monthly workshops at It’s A Grind coffee shop, click here.<!– Copyright (c)2006 Site Me



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Creative Journaling: first efforts

My good friend[info]cartazon introduced me to creative journaling a few weeks ago. She explained its usefulness for writers, which is all well and good. But lo, when I laid eyes on her splashy entries, I coveted them wanted to try it for myself.  

And still, I resisted, mainly because 
a) I’m not an artist (have I mentioned the ‘C’ grades I earned in elementary school?)
b) my perfectionist tendencies might make it more work than play

But when I kept coming back to the idea, I figured I’d might as well give it a try. I bought a spiral-bound sketchbook–small, so I won’t get intimidated by the broad expanse of blankness. And over the weekend, I emptied my bank account filled a shopping cart with art supplies. (Disclaimer: You don’t really need more than a few colored pens and pencils. See also: b, above.)

Long story made short: I’m in love. It’s another avenue for self expression, one that connects the right side of my brain with the left.  Plus, the very act of creation invites more inspiration, which has a spill-over effect on my writing. My enthusiasm far exceeds my skill level, I know that. But really and truly, I don’t think that matters. Whether or not the pages are beautiful, the process itself brings me joy.

Since it’s Teaser Tuesday, I’ve mustered up the courage to post my debut pages. The images you see here are representative of "His Eye is on the Sparrow,"  my chapter about Nana. They’re not perfect by any means, so I’m certainly open to suggestions. And if you haven’t already, I invite you to create an artistic journal of your very own.

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