A New Project ... Art Journaling!

I've started two different types of art journals recently.  When Terri Sproul announced that her online class was going to start an art journal series I went out and bought my first book in anticipation!  A book full of blank pages just waiting for me!  It's been a fun first couple of weeks.

I have always been a little intimidated by acrylic paint.  I have at least a dozen of the colorful little bottles and I've used them on card backgrounds, but I have never considered myself a "painter" so they have been sitting around waiting for me to get brave enough to use them.  When I came up with my idea for the first page entitled "My Art Journal", I laughingly told my husband that my brain was always wanting me to do things my hands had trouble doing.  He was very encouraging and told me that of course I could do it and he never doubted that there was an artist in me.  What a wonderful thing to hear!

After the first class, I got out my paints and went to work.  I started by penciling in the bottles freehand.  Then I took a deep breath and painted them!  I completed the background and other little touches over a week. 

I've worked on this page three separate times to add, tweak and FIX!  That's right, when you're learning to do something new, you can count on making mistakes.  But it's not just a journal, it's a journey.  I'm learning new things all the time.  It doesn't have to be perfect.  Mistakes are okay.  You can see the paint bubble in this photo that happened when I was drying the paint on page two.  I used a paintbrush and USArt Quest's PPA glue to seal over the bubble to try and prevent peeling.  Now I have learned not to get too close to the page with my heat tool.  So there it is...page one!  I am very proud of how it turned out.  I'll be posting others soon.

If you need a creative outlet I really recommend starting an art journal.  They're great stress relievers.  I've started a second (smaller) journal that I take to work and draw in on my lunch.  It's filled with doodles and it's a wonderful way to spend a lunch hour.

Drop me a note and let me know where/what you doodle or how you best express your art.  Or you can follow my journey.  Just use one of the links below.  Thanks for stopping by!