Wow, it’s been five days since we last spoke?
Sorry about that, sweetie.
I’ve been playing with my new camera (the footage is beautiful; we’re learning the basics of shading in Journaling Deep this summer, and moving on to lettering and portraits!), working on postcard mail-art to send to those who have sent me lovelies in the mail, and celebrated a friend’s birthday this weekend (overnight! In a big house!).
There’s also a lot simmering under the surface, a lot happening behind the scenes, that I’m not ready to share with you, yet. Things like an e-book full of techniques and projects, a new smaller class, an art journaling class for the chronically ill, less-mobile, tired, or on a budget, live chat sessions, and more! I’ve been thinking of creating a circle, a women’s circle, that meets regularly online (Google Hangouts are amazing!).
When I launched my Mentorship program in March, I even made a slot for the possibility of a circle, but feel the original idea and copy was flawed, and am revising it. Right now. As I type this. If you want to uplevel your journaling, get in the meat of your life, and transform your thinking, drop me a line. I’ll be lowering the price, widening the net, and asking you to be a guinea pig. Journaling changed my life, as you may know; seven years ago, my FMS and depression had gotten so bad, I was suicidal and jumping out of cars with tears streaming down my face. It has changed my life so completely, and for the better, that I don’t want it to take you years and years…perhaps a few months, even!
This isn’t what this blog post was going to be about, but if you write Morning Pages or keep a written journal, you know how epiphanies can just happen like magic when you let the thoughts out of your head in the form of writing!
As the years have passed, my journal has progressively gotten larger, going from a large Moleskine to the 9”x12” Visual Journal I use now. And my paintings are now on 2’x2’ wood, and those are the small ones! It seems as though my work is getting larger and larger….or maybe there’s just more and more I want to include in the visual story of my life.
But a month ago or so, I was sent a 5”x7” Visual Journal by Strathmore (oh, speaking of them, massive giveaway happening really soon!) and decided to toss it in my purse for easier on-the-go journaling. It fits perfectly, along with a pencil case filled with all my sketching & zentangle supplies, and I’ve found myself pulling it out more and more while watching TV, waiting in doctors’ offices, or even, yes, at the party this weekend (I was the only one out there the next morning in PJs and a sketchbook in hand!). I’ve found myself drawing more girls and portraits, working off reference photos, and keeping my own little dictionary of Things Samie Really Likes Today.
It’s not as bright and colorful as my regular art journal, or have as many “finished” pages. I like to think of this as my brain on paper. Raw, unfinished, and all over the place. But I’m beginning to get the hang of it, and feel like I’m unlearning all the stuff I told myself I had to do to make a “good” journal.