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30 Dogs 3o Days - Art Journaling

This is a pile of a few of my journals. From the top-down, a handmade book (class taught by Fonda Clark Haight), a Ranger journal (yellow and orange), a handmade hardbound book (class with Ingrid Djikers, with button embellished page), an altered book (pink and red pages), an altered children's book (with the stencilled design), a handmade book by Mary Sanders Lazenby(with the wolf spread), a second Ranger journal (b&w page in lower corner).

In 2009 I had already been teaching art journaling, a combination of visual marks and text, to elementary aged students for a couple years. Their enthusiasm to explore mixed media pushed me to seek other examples, and that was how I discovered Dawn Sokol's book 1000 Artist Journal Pages.

The title (which I've loaned to someone, so sadly cannot include photos) includes full color reproductions of 1000 pages from various artists' journals. It is a fabulous introduction to the breadth of art journaling itself. It also gave me opportunity to reach out to some of the featured artists and ask for instruction.

My students' parents were intrigued and asked for their own classes. Here we are ten years later, the younger artists have grown and moved on, but the parents have remained. We have an enthusiastic journaling group that meets monthly. Many of whom originally protested that they were not creatives. They now embrace that label. Our sessions are basic - I present a concept or set of tools, and they play with them. We have 2 hours with no expectations at all other than to explore, discover and share.**

The only rule in journaling is that there are no rules in journaling.

I highly recommend starting your own art journaling club. Lessons can be found online or in a variety of publications, and materials can be as basic as a ball point pen and paper. Journaling can happen on napkins or in handmade books. Reach out to me if you are looking for a bit more direction, and I can share the names of some journalers I have personally worked with.

Thanks as always for following along with my art journey,
Fondly, Kim

**If you are within driving distance to Lake Orion, Michigan, message me to get added to the mailing list for my grownUPs Journaling sessions. We meed on the third Thursdays of each month, excluding December. We always welcome newcomers.

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