An Art Journal Journey

A friend of mine asked me recently, "WHY do you journal?"  There are multiple reasons:

1.  It is a quick and easy way to do something creative if you don't have time to get more involved in another art project.

2.  It is portable.  I can take it traveling with minimal supplies and still get in my creative time.

3.  It is a way to express myself.

4.  If I don't do SOMETHING creative every day, I get cranky and this is an easy fix. (Friends and family appreciate this, believe me!)

5.  I can work on my art journals in small pieces.  I don't have to do everything on a page at one time and 

can work on developing elements a little bit at a time.  (If I'm making dinner and waiting on something, I can doodle a border or paint a background page for example.)

6.  I can use it to artfully doodle if I am bored or need to relax.  Never Underestimate the Power of the Doodle.

7.  It's a great creative thing to do when watching TV--my significant other likes me to watch TV with him, but I'm one of those people who has a difficult time just sitting there doing nothing.  We both stay happy.

8.  When a page or a journal book is complete, it can be a true work of art and a body of work.

9.  It helps me to develop skills as an artist.  I have developed my own style through art journaling.

10.  I can play and try new mediums and techniques without fear of "messing up" something more important.

11.  It is a pictorial way of me to connect with certain events or times in my life.

12.  It doesn't take forever to read.  And I want to look back through them more often.  I don't have to capture every moment of every day or even every day.  

13.  I don't feel guilty if I miss a day or month or even a year of journaling.

14.  It tends (for me) to focus on the more positive aspects of life.

15.  It is a great activity to do with a women's group--everyone brings their art journal and via chatter and connection we also each work on our own works of art.

16.  It is fun.  If it isn't fun, why do it?

I have journaled since I was very young--probably right after I learned how to write words.  I didn't have much to say then and I can tell you my handwriting was atrocious.  My biggest worries were what to play after school with my friend Teresa or whether or not I'd have to do dishes that night.  Not earth shattering stuff, but, maybe, from an archaeological or sociological stand point, the stuff of life.

There are four banker's boxes filled with my journals in storage.  They have traveled everywhere I have traveled.  My journals have logged more miles than some people ever do in a lifetime.  I'm slowly going through those journals and shredding the pages.  I only keep the pages that have true significance to me.  I've given up my grandiose idea that someday those journals spilling my secrets from when I was 12 at camp El Deseo are going to be important to posterity.  The pages that I keep, I can incorporate into my current art journals.

In the past 10 years, I've transitioned from the strictly written journal to the more expressive art journal.  My first art journal really sort of looked more like what they call a scrap book or a "treasure map."  I wasn't very practiced at collage and I really didn't know how to go about creating the visions I had in my head.

(c) Szing. Journal 2001

(c) SZing. Journal 2001

I played around with using digital pages and then pasted them into my journal book.  I also discovered white gelly roll pens.   I still found that most of my art journal pages tended to be heavily laden with text.

(c) SZing. Art journal page 2001

So I continued to create art journal pages.  

(c) SZing, Art Journal page 2003

I discovered that making the transition from text to art was more challenging than I had expected.  I relied heavily on my digital artwork, which I was able to create via a plethora of photographs I've taken over the years.  Still...the journal pages were still feeling encumbered and heavy to me.

I went for a minimalist approach next.

(c) SZing.  Art Journal page 2010

Like any art endeavor, it takes time to develop a "voice" and a "style."  

With years of practice, I've gotten to a place where I mostly like my art pages and feel they are expressing from my heart zone without requiring a lot of interpretation or exploration.  When I create the pages, I am in that creative zone where time stops and I am just humming along.  

Now I teach classes.  If you are in Florida anywhere near the Space coast or Orlando, you might want to check out the Art Journal Sampler Class or the Inspirational Art Journaling--the Divine Art of Journaling on the First Saturday of each month from 1 to 3 p.m. or 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. respectively at The Funky Trunk Treasures, 222 Woodland Blvd in Deland, FL during 2014.

(c) SZing. Art Journal Page 2013

(c) SZing. Art Journal Page 2013

(c) SZing. Art Journal page 2013

In 2014, there are big things ahead for my art journals...one of my art journals, The Art of Words, will be on an art show tour from Brooklyn, NY to Los Angeles, CA throughout the year.

(c) SZing, 2013 The Art of Words Art Journal Book

I also am participating in a participatory art journal project where my journals will be included in a digital library and traveling art exhibitions in 2015 through Artify Projects.  I've just registered and am gathering ideas for it.  This project is called InspiritUS.  There is still time to register for this art journal project (through April 30, 2014) if you want your artwork to be included in the digital library and go on tour.  I'm hoping to be selected as one of the artists featured in Art Outside the Box ezine as a result.

My last reason for art journaling?  It just feels great.  Makes me feel like a kid again--in a good way.

Pinning for Inspiration

Yes, I said Pinning. Not Pining.  Well, maybe a little of both.  If you have not yet discovered Pinterest, I highly encourage it.  It is an excellent means of “collecting” ideas and inspirations.  I think of it as my very own, personalized (by me) catalog of what I'd like to have in my life/world. My expanded treasury or wishlist, if you will.

My screen capture (sorry, a little grainy) of some of my current bulletin boards on Pinterest.
(c)SZing, 2012

I’ve only actively been using the actual Pinterest website for the past six weeks or so.  But the idea is not new to me.  For years I have collected and cut out inspirational words, photographs of things I like or that inspire me to create, and ideas for future projects.  These research files or treasuries, if you like, grew to such an extent that this past winter I finally culled my files and created a three binder system.  I’m in the process of going paperless so this culling was necessary. I may eventually even move my binders to a digital format if I can find a methodology that I like and trust.

More on that later.

Binder one is called ART INSPIRATION. It is simply the hard copy cut and pasted pictures of artwork that I like/love or find beautiful—these range in every medium, every timeframe, every color scheme.  I have a very eclectic love of artworks.

Photographs of my actual hard copy art inspiration binder,
photos from magazines cut and pasted in. The non-digital version of Pinterest.
(c) SZing 2012

The other two binders are Art Articles and a mix called Art Biz, Glass and Public Art.  Art articles are articles about artists, shows, techniques.  The other binder includes articles about the business of art, and photos and articles of glass and public artworks.

Yes, I would like to get to where I am paperless, so my eventual goal is to take these items to a digital format.  But as I mentioned above, I have to trust the format.  I don’t want my items to be lost in some program that I cannot get access to once technology changes.  I am sure that my efforts will most likely turn out to be Adobe format or jpg format.  Perhaps I will create my own ebook of favorite articles and photographs. 

My other hard copy versions of Pinterest. 
These will someday be digitalized,
but since they include articles, never Pinned. 
See how big and bulky?  And
such a loss of tree life.
(c)SZing 2012

But in the interest of avoiding creating additional paper, I use Pinterest as a method of collecting and “pinning” those items that are of interest.  I love this because if I’ve pinned from a specific website, Pinterest saves that information and all I have to do is double click on the item and I can get back to the original page. VERY helpful if I am wanting to purchase something for example, such as art supplies or something that will help my studio be more effective or efficient.  Or if I want to purchase a gift or something for my home.  There does not seem to be a limit to the number of bulletin boards I can create with their own unique themes and my own pins, I get to see the pins of everyone I follow (and vice versa), and in the process, I inevitably find things that inspire me to create.  I love to surf the internet for new and interesting artworks and “stuff” so having a place to collect it all for future reference is very interesting to me.


The one drawback I see to it is that, at this time, there is no way to save the boards or to download the information in any sort of off line product.  This worries me in the sense that if Pinterest goes under, gets sold or changes, I may in fact lose my digital bulletin boards, waste lots of time having put items on them and lose so much that inspires me.  I don’t actually think Pinterest is going to go away, and I have hopes that they will improve and increase functionality to protect my “pins.”  But, when I need a little jolt to my brain, reviewing my own boards or looking at what others have pinned never fails to get my creative thinking cap back in operating order.  I figure in 10 years, we will all be friends with everyone and everyone will be following and liking everyone else’s stuff on these social pages.  It is truly a small world.  Feel free to follow me.  I’d love to see what you find of interest too.

Feeding My Addiction to Pinterest

I've been saving photos for a long time of things that I love and which inspire me.  I've made "treasure maps" and struggled with how in the world to keep all those lovely images close at hand to inspire me and help me to bring them into my world...tra-la-la, another victory for technology.  The answer is Pinterest. 

If you're a Pinterest-er, you might like some of the many items I've discovered.  If you like what I find interesting, I hope you will follow me.  I will return the favor as I am interested in what others are attracted to.

I figure at some point, everyone will like everything everyone else likes.  But in the mean time, I'm finding it a great "file folder" for my gardening and decor ideas, Do It Yourself (DIY) projects, and art supplies that I find intriguing, among other topics of interest.

I like to think of Pinterest as the "Best Practices."  I do hope that anyone whose photos I used here are happy to have more exposure.  I do not in any way claim copy rights or take credit for either the creations or the photos of the creations.  The links for each piece is attached to my Pinterest PINS in my boards.   I love Pinterest and am certain that a significant number of those items I have pinned will eventually become a part of my "stuff."

For a country with a growing number of storage facilities and hoarders, Pinterest is, perhaps, a symptom of that mind set. 

As for me, I love the many bright colors, beautiful crafts and artworks, the ingenuity, and the sheer plain fun of daydreaming.  I hope you'll agree.