Author: Emily

Connie over at Dirty Footprints studio is inviting art journalers to participate in a little interview.  Thanks Connie for the opportunity!

–How long have you been Art Journaling?

Not long enough!  Actually, I’m a rookie.  I only started about 18 months ago and honestly, in that timespan, it’s only been an off and on process for me.  However, just this past month, I made a commitment to myself to create a journal page once a day.  Being a part of Kelly Kilmer’s class has helped whip me into shape and have accountability.  I like the idea of having other artistic people participating alongside me,  journaling  and taking the journey with me. 

 –How has Art Journaling impacted, changed, or enhanced your life?

Journaling  has been a way for me to ‘get my art on’ every day.  I’ve been searching for a way to exercise my creativity so I can allow it to grow and blossom into something really meaningful.  By journaling, I can express myself on a more personal level, letting it flow through me and out onto the page.  I can honestly say it’s very much like expensive art therapy.   What is so brilliant about art journaling is it can take as little or as long as I want to create a page and document my feelings.  A journal page doesn’t have to be an enormous time commitment if I don’t have a lot of time during the course of a day.   I also really enjoy using journal prompts that cause me to think.  I can explore things about myself I never really considered.  It’s fun to look inward and see what kinds of things I like, remember or have opinions about.

 –What are a few of your favorite Art Journaling materials to use?

  I like to keep it simple.  My favorite art supplies are watercolor pencils in conjunction with Prismacolor brand colored pencils, white opaque gel pens,  black fine point Sharpies, Avery permanent glue stick, wall paper sample books (I got really lucky…I have over 30 books all discontinued and free from my local wallpaper/paint store!) for all the unusual background pages they contain and focal images, rubber stamps and magazine clippings. . . I also want to try black gesso as a base, I think that might be fun and open up some new art joy for me! 

My favorite journals to use are Moleskine watercolor sketchbooks (I save a bundle by picking  them up at Borders when they issue a 40% off coupon; I stock up!)  I also use watercolor spiral bound pads, too.  The watercolor paper holds up so much better than regular paper…which tends to ripple and bubble up when painted on.

 –Who are some of your favorite Art Journalers?

I like Teesha Moore and Pam Garrison, Aimee Dolich for her lettering style (which is an art in itself), and Kelly Kilmer for her use of images and painted backgrounds.  I enjoy Effy Wild for her honesty and earthiness.  To be perfectly honest,  I really do try not to look at too many other journaler’s work and be too influenced by anyone’s style.  When I see the work of other artists, especially if I find the work to be amazing, instead of enjoying the imagery, it tends to deflate me.   I don’t want the influence of others to adulterate my own style (which is emerging).  I think because art journaling is so deeply personal, it should be treated as such and not ‘judged’ as regular art would be.

 –What kind words of encouragement would you say to an Art Journal newbie?  Use art journaling to completely express yourself, to exercise your art skills, to experiment, and as a place to let the good and bad flow out of you.  Use it for what it was originally intended to be-art therapy for the soul.  Don’t let other’s art and style intimidate you.  Practice daily, and suddenly you will begin to notice your personal symbols emerge and a style that is all your own.  Revel in it.

 –Where can we contact you…give us some link LOVE!!

You can find me at Emily Jane https://eis4em.wordpress.com

 –Short Bio.

I am a 47 year old, happy gal who happens to be an artist/writer, doll designer, wife, mother of 5, a dog lover, cat collector (I have 5), city girl and a Chicago Cubs fan.  I hold a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Columbia College, Chicago. I aspire to one day be a prolific painter and drive a VW Beetle with a daisy poking out from the dashboard.  Currently, I’m toying with the idea of getting my masters in Studio Art.  I just might do it.

Effy Wild proposed the journal prompt, “What’s the point?” to us and asked us to create a journal page showing what we think the point (or not) of journaling is.  Here’s what I came up with.

This is the second prompt on Sarah Whitmire’s Soul Journaling group.  It was so much fun to do…I loved the whole process of putting it together, to the colors and then in choosing the papers.  I’m partial to reds, they are rich and passionate.

Last night,  before bed I began to read a book that had my full attention.  Shortly after I began, I got interruped by very urgent thoughts that seemed to be coming as a stream, and they demanded my full attention.  I grabbed the mini yellow legal pad on my night stand and began to write down the words that came from this persistant voice.  I wanted to share them.  I think they might help anyone who is going through what I am at the moment-flat out in the middle of a mid-life “what the heck am I to do with my life” situation.  For the record, this stuff just flowed out of me.  I don’t know where it came from, but I can say for a long time I’ve been praying and asking for answers.

Slow down.  One step at a time.  Don’t plan, just paint.  Let your art and time just flow and lead you to the next step.

Don’t think ahead of what is to be in the future.  Allow your life to unfold like a blooming flower.  Forcing it or trying too hard to guide it can spoil it.

Don’t think about the possibility of sellng your art just yet.  Take baby steps and begin the daily task of painting and dabbling in your art supplies and just journaling.

It’s not about commercializing yourself.  If you never became a well known artist, or were unable to support yourself on your art, would you still make art?  Sure!  You enjoy it immensly.  I’m sure you would get a day job and wallow in your art supplies in the evenings and on the weekends.

Don’t set yourself up for disappointment.  Your life will lead you where it needs to go .  What is most important is being happy and content.

Don’t focus on the sea of artists out there.  It’s too overwhelming. Don’t concentrate on their successes.  Stay in YOUR zone.  Put blinders on if it helps you stay focused on yourself and your own growth.

Don’t forget God.  Prayer journal.  Shame on you Emily.  Go back to it.

Walk Lilly.  She needs you and you need her motivation to get you off the chair and outside burning calories.

Don’t abandon your sewing.  Make things-simple things and don’t let anyone make you feel like you don’t sew well enough.  You sew fine.

Make your 40 birds for the retreat.  It will make those ladies so happy.

Paint your large angel and add a tree with paper birds (from the pattern).  This needs to get finished.  you’ll be proud of it when it is completed.

Love yourself and give yourself a breather.  Don’t think about it all the time.  Relax.  Do. Enjoy. Learn. Reap rewards.  Good will come. You have the desire and the love in your heart to accomplish what you want from life.  You can’t get it immediately-it’s a building process.  One step at a time.

You can and will do it.

Stop confusing yourself with what other artists out there are saying.

Listen to me.  Listen to your heart.

You will be fine.  You will be healthy.  Don’t worry.  I know you are trying hard to live a healthier life.  You will not be really thin, but you will be healthy-and happy.

Don’t forget me.  I am here with you. Always.

Breathe deeply.  Stop worrying.  Don’t be stressed over Larry.  He knows now what he’s done.  He is trying to be easier to live with and kinder.  Give him a break.  Forgive him and loosen your shoulders and don’t tense up.  It will be okay.

Be kinder and more loving.  You need to work on that.  Lately, you’ve been way too edgey.  Relax and allow yourself a chance to stop feeling guilty.

Sewing is good for you Emily.  It enables you to think clearer.  Thought processes unfold before you and ideas gel when you work with your hands.

What you’ve been doing for the last several  months is stressing over your uncertainty over your future direction.  You are wasting your ‘now’ time by constantly focusing and planning and worrying about what will be.  Doing this is causing you to waste the ‘life time’ you have at the present moment.  Remember, baby steps.  Just do and then follow to what leads you next.  Don’t imagine the next step.  Be calm, carry on and the step will come to you on it’s own.  You will be surprised.

Enjoy the present moments.  Savor them.  Listen to music.  Read stories to inspire you.  Stop seeking out mumbo-jumbo self-help books for answers.  Your head will just spin and make things all that more confusing for you.  The answers will arrive in due time.  Just sit back and wait.  Don’t cloud up your brain with crap.

Right now you’re not going to create art for other people.  It is strictly for you.

Allow me to give you peace and strength.  Ask for it when you need it-will power, too.  I’ll try.  But you have to try to do it yourself, because you will be a better person for it and isn’t that really what you have been praying for?

For quite a while (as many of you already know) I have been struggling with finding my true path.  I know one thing for sure, art is the road I want to take. But which one?  I have heard a theory about how to go about ‘finding’ myself by just tuning in to ‘my whispers’, a way that lets my subconscious relay messages to my conscious brain to enable me get there.  For me I hear the whispers, but they are not giving me direction.  They are telling me where my heart truly is….but not how to achieve  a means of getting to my intended goal.  It’s like I’m spinning in circles….utter mind confusion.  Do you have this problem, too? 

I received an email this week from Robert Genn Twice-Weekly, an artsy newsletter I subscribe to.  You can find his website here and scroll down to the bottom of the page to subscribe to his twice weekly newsletters.  What he wrote this week brought me such clarity-it was like I got donked on the head.  Here’s what he said. 

Recently, Judith Meeks of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, wrote, “I’ll soon be chairing a panel discussion called ‘Finding Your Voice.’ In your understanding, how do we translate our life experiences into our paintings and express who we really are? We may have good work habits, but how do we become clear about what we want to say? And how much can be done with a conscious plan?”

Thanks, Judith. This is one of those sticky head-scratchers that can cause the loss of sleep. First off, and contrary to what I’ve said before, plans can actually derail the voice-finding process. Further, you have to know what you mean by “voice.” Voice in style is different than voice in cause. Ideally, style develops over time. Cause is based on attitude and issue. With growth and development, causes change. A predetermined voice shackles creativity. To find your very own voice, I think you need to have a few things going for you:

You need to make stuff. Artists who put in regular working hours find their voice. Work itself generates clarity and direction. It’s like invention–one thing leads to another. One must only lurk for voice. Unfortunately, along the way, most drop the ball. Like the dilettante inventor of the soft drink “6-up,” they just don’t stick around long enough.

You need hunger. It can be the hunger for knowledge or for self-knowledge. It can be the desire to find an antidote for some injustice or human miscalculation. Perhaps you need some inexplicable, deep-seated compulsion to keep moving forward.

You need curiosity. Wondering how things will turn out is more powerful than having a pretty good idea beforehand. Wondering if you can do it gives you reason to try. Curiosity is the main juice of “ego-force” that keeps you keeping on.

You need joy. You need to feel joy in yourself and you need to feel you’re giving it to others. As Winston Churchill said, “You may do as you like, but you also have to like what you do.” A disliked job is soon abandoned.

This is just what I needed to read. It’s not the fancy flourishs of words I’ve been hearing about ‘whispers’, like most good things, it speaks simply and to the point.   It’s so  clear it’s obvious.  What I have to do is just do it.  Every day.  I need to make stuff, and by doing it daily, my style will emerge, my ‘voice’ will show through and I’ll be able to figure out what it is I want to paint and what techniques work for me and which ones I don’t care to use. 

Thank you Robert Glenn….you’ve brought the sunlight to my darkened space of mind.  I hope he has helped you, too. 

 john mayer’s ‘Clarity’