My Art Journal Journey,

When I was about 9 or 10, I got a diary for a gift. It had a little lock and key, and I thought it was the coolest thing. I slowly started writing stuff inside and soon would write every day. I can't even remember what I wrote about, probably what I did, my current crushes, my arguments with my father, etc. I soon ended up buying my own diaries and filled them up with all my young drama. Yeah, I went through the typical teenager madness, and felt like I was giving my self a good confessional. After all, I'd rather confess to myself, then some crusty priest any day! But hey, I was just a kid! Of course boys came into the picture and I soon dropped my daily diaries. (why do we do dumb stuff for boys?)

In high school, I was required to keep a journal in my English class. We were had to write for 10 minutes as soon as class started. Ugh, at first it felt like torture, but soon, it would become difficult to put my pen down.

I never had any real consistency in my journaling, and soon, I gave up on it entirely when I got married. I always liked to keep my thoughts private and would not be able to fully express myself in fear that the hubby would read my journal and hold stuff against me. Now after being married over 21 years, I am at that point, where I would not care if he read them, and to be perfectly honest, I don't think he would be one bit interested.

Long story short, I am back to journaling at a sporadic rate, with a personal goal to be more consistant. However THIS time, I am incorporating art in my journaling. Why I never thought of combining the two is beyond me! It's like Durrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

I ran across Art Journaling a couple of years ago, and I put it on my "List to do," because for the past couple of years, I had been spending every extra minute crafting, vending, showing and just gathering as many techniques as I can. It wasn't until recently, that I took a deep breath and said, "Lets go" To keep me inspired and motivated, I joined two Art Journal Round Robins. (we all take turns on each others journals and pass them around, the end product is a fabulous Art Journal with very different entries)

The first one is with 8 lovely chica's I met on Swap-bot. A couple of them are Art Journal veterans and the rest are "newbies" just like me. My 2nd Art Journal swap is with 10 wonderful women across the globe that I met through my online art class with Suzi Blu. I believe most of them are Art Journal veterans and most of them are established artists with amazing skills. No pressure!

Both Round Robin's are in their infancy stages, but I thought I would share the few entries that I have created.











As you can see, there is no right or wrong, because it is your journal, you can do anything! Something I have trouble doing, but I am giving myself permission to just go for it, and do anything. Write, paint, scribble, draw, finger paint, you name it, I am gonna do it. I also encourage you all to give it a try, even if it is just one page.

For more inspiration, The 1000 Journal Project is currently at San Francisco's MOMA, and will be running through next year. One of my homegirls, and I are already planning a visit! I have been intrigued from the moment I first heard of this project. I even registered and joined a few Journal swaps.

Another great piece of inspiration or "word prompt," if you will, is "Wreck This Journal" by Keri Smith. Talk about breaking rules! I have found this book to be funny, and inspiring, as well as shutting up my ego that tells me, "You can't do that!" Pshhhhhhhhhhhh.