Spring Has Sprung - My Art Journal is Blooming

It is the first day of Spring !

How marvelous !

It is glorious here today.

Spring-y in very way.

I am happy to say that I have completed my "Journeys" Art Journal slide show and it is here for you to peruse.

Looking through it really makes me feel like my garden is blooming !

This is my third completed journal and most definitely, my favorite.

Some things I love about it...

The vibrant colors,

How much of the content is all my own,

The discovery of India ink,

How it shows how far of a journey I have made since I started it just over a year ago.

I guess these are like snapshots and postcards from my trip. :)

Enjoy the show !

**Edit - Here's a song I feel is like the soundtrack to the slide show...

Hope your garden is blooming too...

Happy Spring, Beautiful Ones !

Shelving Another One - "The Heart of Life" is DONE !

(early page - The Heart of Life)

So I just marked my art journal titled "The Heart Of Life" as "DONE!"

I actually saved one blank page in it...I think I will write about what I have learned from this one on that last blank page. Like that this journal was a lot "darker" than my first completed one. Or that there are some re-occurring themes throughout it, like the search for self-love, getting to know the inner you, the heart, pain as a catalyst for change, etc...that very much reflect what was going on in my life during the eight months or so it took to fill it up.

(recent page - "What do you ant to teach your daughters ? All the Best Cowgirls have Chinese Eyes.")

This is the second Strathmore Field Watercolor Pad (bought at Michaels with 50% off coupons) that I have filled up. I like the size I think (7x9") - not too big, not too small. I also like the combo of watercolor and sketch paper in each pad. I do some pages in larger sketchbooks with gessoed pages sometimes when I need more room. But there is something so very satisfying about having these completed journals in the same format both now sitting on the shelf in my studio.

(recent page : "Caution - Falling"

I created this slide show for this journal finale which was fun ! A little time consuming but fun! If you have a chance to look through my pages, maybe you could leave me a comment about which pages struck you the most or were your favorites. I love having this document of parts of me, and I know which pages mean the most to me as their creator. It would be kind of cool to know how my "audience" has felt when I have shared these "friends of mine.".

Happy Wednesday !

Un fait accompli - My First Completed Art Journal

So I have done it ! I finished the last page of my art journal this morning ! I started it on October 15th, 2007 and now have 54 pages covered in little pieces of me ! It really does feel like an accomplishment to have filled all of those pages. It makes me want to share it with the world (except for the more secret things that I only want to share with people who I really trust) ! I guess by putting pieces up on the blog along the way, the whole world does have access anyway ! Cool !

Here are some pictures of recent pages, the new cover of my book and also my "finale" pages.

Art Journal Cover - A photo from my trip to West Virginia makes a great cover, don't you think ?

Page One - "Which way does the wind blow ?"- Done October 2007

"Friends in the Wood" - A recent page celebrating my new friend Sonia and our time at "Camp"

"We Laugh" - A recent page done for me and he - I love this shot of us !

"What Do You See When You Look in The Mirror ?" - A recent ode to PMS

"Letting Go" - Still working on this, big time ! (The concept, not the page !)

Finale Two Page Spread

I used a sheet of the rubbing and resist paper I made for the GPP Street Team Crusade #21 for the background and quoted the lyrics from the Coldplay song "Twisted Logic" for "The End".

The background is another rubbing/resist paper. I recently came across the same picture of this gorgeous red head that I had used on "Page One" in an old Oprah magazine and had to use it again on page 54, "You go backwards, but then, you go forwards again". The end of something is always the beginning of something else, right ?

So there you have it ! Mon chef d'oeuvre - my masterpiece ! (Mistresspiece ?) And now on to the new journal. I have bought it. It's empty pages lie on my worktable full of possibility! The same format as this one (a field watercolor book) because I love the idea of eventually having a whole series of the same sized book on my studio shelves, filled with little pieces of me ! Good job, Kimbo !