When I stress, I may pull out my yoga mat and light a candle in a darkened room. I may eat an entire canister of Pringles and get nasty if someone suggests I share. If it's really bad, I resort to obsessively picking my cuticles until they bleed. But I always, always reach for my art journal.
I have been art journaling for about 18 years. What is art journaling, you ask? It's a combination of diary and sketchbook, where anything goes. The creator decides the balance of text vs art, and can bring any media they wish to it's pages. Journals come in a variety of sizes, shapes, bound vs loose pages. It's all about using what you have to express what you feel. Really, the only rule about journaling is that there are no rules about journaling.
What do I put in my journal? I am a compulsive list maker, so there's plenty of those. I press flowers and tuck them into tiny folded envelopes of wax paper. Stickers from my morning banana. An overhead view of the route I walked the dogs, along with a feather discovered that morning. I collage all sorts of things into my book – ticket stubs, receipts, cancelled stamps. Need a dose of magic? - then I paint a couple pages shocking pink, and wait for some new inspiration to eventually come along for me to add overtop.
I also fill my journal with emotions and responses to the world. I use color and marks symbolically to express things there are no words for. It's surprising how often that happens, being at a loss for words but having an excess of feels.
The world is a pretty terrifying place right now. This coronoacation has me teetering between reality and feeling like I'm in a really bad B movie. I've had my journals close at hand through it all. As I learn to navigate this new normal, I will make marks in my books and document what I'm feeling. With you, via these little videos and conversation. I'll talk inspiration, process, share prompts, and build a space where we can play, learn, and express ourselves together. All the while practicing social distancing, of course.
I've invited friend and fellow creative Ardith Goodwin along for this ride. She's got a crazy wild imagination and a fantastic journal practice of her own, and was pretty excited to plan prompts and various sorts of content. I know that you are going to love her artwork and her leadership. As a matter of fact, it was her hashtag - #journalthroughit – that birthed the idea of an online community (that would be us, right here!) finding their creative voices and learning a new practice to serve them for eternity.
Here's what will play out: at least 6 days a week, one of us will bring you a live feed (or prerecorded video, depending upon the pace of our lives) from our home studios. We'll share a little about our inspiration or prompt, show you a piece of our process or nudge you with a bit of inspiration. The feeds will last about a half hour, maybe an hour, but will be a means to get you (and your crew – all fellow quarantinees are welcome!) started on your own work.
You do not need special art supplies or a particular book. While we will share some of our favorite tools and materials, because journaling is such a personal thing, you will find that you naturally gravitate towards your own preferred materials, many of which you already have on hand. Things like loose paper (lined/blank, junk mail), a partially filled sketchbook, an old book already on your shelf, pencils, pens (there's a huge variety of differences between gel pens, ballpoints, flairs, etc!), markers, crayons, chalk/pastels, watercolors, glue stick/elmers glue, tape (masking, packing, scotch). We'll suggest a few things to gather as we start each session, and discuss ways you can approach the concept with a different set of materials, too. So don't stress about getting out to purchase anything extra.
Ardith and I have each personally experienced first hand the healing that art journaling provides, and we want to gift that opportunity to anyone interested in learning the practice. It is important to us that everyone have the opportunity to participate, regardless of their individual circumstances. It just feels like the right thing to do, offer this as a tuition free experience. We both want to make this accessible to all.
Content will be shared via Facebook, on both Ardith's and my own feeds. We will share a schedule for the upcoming week, so that you know when and where to tune in - bear with us as we build that in the coming days, along with the infrastructure of the project. We are responding in real time, gathering ourselves and our tools, as we begin to publish the content.
Journaling can be a very personal thing, and as such, noone is ever under any obligation to share what they create. However, when or should you feel the desire to share, please do, however means you feel comfortable. And please, when that happens, use the hashtag #journalthroughit so that we can all delight in each other's efforts.
So please consider yourself invited to join Ardith and I as we #journalthroughit .
Thanks for coming along.
Let's #journalthroughit.
Love you all, Kim
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