Days Spent Asleep

 

 

I've been really, really sick, so here are a few shots from around the studio. This is all I've managed in about five days of trying -- one day, I was only awake 5 hours! So I'll be back soon, I hope, as soon as I can kick this...whatever it is...

Journal Page as Rough Draft

When I was little, I used to vacation in the Wisconsin Dells. A river runs through there, and you could pan for “gold” or collect stone and rocks. You couldn’t really see what was hidden underneath, so I went for the ones that called to me. Only after some time in the rock tumbler did they revel their beauty. 

This is exactly like working on a journal page. 

Approach it like a rough draft. 

When you’re working on a rough draft, the goal isn’t to create a perfect finished project, but get all your ideas out of your head. 

 

Whenever I sit down to write, whether it’s an article for a magazine, a blog entry, or a story, I want to create a beautiful disaster. I want to make a mess of things. I want mistakes and funny-sounding sentences and paragraphs that ramble. I want a big mess. I want every idea and thought down on the page. I aim to create just this, which, in turn, takes away much of the pressure to be perfect. 

And I put this to use when working in my journal. Don’t think, just do. Extra points if it’s a disaster. 

The magic comes into play once you’ve gotten everything out of your head. Take a step back. Grab a cup of tea. Go for a walk. Come back with a pretty colored pen or paint and start refining. Paint over bits that don’t work Find shapes in your random brushstrokes and draw them out. Build up layers, covering what doesn’t work and accenting what does. And in the end, you can start over. 

Each step is one in the right direction. There are no steps back. 

I'll be discussing this idea more in-depth in this week's issue of Journaling Deep. 

Open

 

Spending the night curled up with good stories. Some days, the best we can do is be open to the new blessings in our lives as they finally begin to banish the liquid dark.

A Worthy Accomplishment

 

 

I originally filmed a video for this, but decided the unresponsive file wasn't worth the extra time and frustration. By now, my hands are feeling the effects of a typing vacation, so we can continue on. 

A few of you have asked what NaNoWriMo is, so allow me to explain it via my personal experiences over the past nine years:

For the month of November, you tell others to leave you alone, chain yourself to your computer or laptop, and write. A lot. There's an incredible amount of writing. 50,000 words, to be exact, all to be written in 30 days.

Think about that. How many words do you write daily? If you keep a blog, how long are your entries? In order to reach the goal of 50,000 words in 30 days, you need to write, on average, 1,667 words a day. And while I can't tell you how many pages that is, I can tell you 50,000 is about 115 pages.

And here's another thing: you don't have time to plot things out. The pace, usually fit in around school or work or family obligations, doesn't give you time to think about a plot, or do research, or second-guess yourself. You just write. Even if you're so tired, you're falling asleep. Or have a cold. Or don't know what to write. You just write. 

It's all worth it, though, when you finally reach that finish line, cross over into the ending of your story. You have something you've written. It's come from your sweat, tears, and hastily made food, not to mention you've ignored everything and everyone else for awhile, and are, once again, stepping out into the sun. 

But it is so, so worth it.

Here are a few things I learned this month:

 

  1. Stop over-thinking your project and do your secret desire.
  2. Joy is infectious.
  3. Just because you don't plan something doesn't mean your mind doesn't know where it's going.
  4. A great team of cheerleaders can make or break a project.
  5. Working through the blocks is hard, but helpful.
  6. When you're at the halfway point and want to give up, don't throw away all the hard work you've already done.
  7. That sense of accomplishment at the end is so amazing, you'll cry.

 

I'll expand on these more this week. There's so much more I want to say. But for now – I finished! 51,000 words or so of a story I wrote in a month. 

And now, my hands would like another break. I had to battle horrible arthritis, carpal tunnel, & numb fingers. If I can do it through that, so can you!

New! Journal Girl In the Studio!

I'm teaching my brother the tricks of the trade, as it were -- both shooting video (he shot much of the beginning of this!) and journaling, as, when I sat down to start painting, he asked if he could, too! So have some fun sitting in the studio with me (and him!) as we play around and make art. (And remember to go HD; I uploaded this in shiny 1080!)

(If you're interested in the heart punchella, let me know by next week -- I'm only making one trip, y'all!)

Creating Beauty in the World

 

Wow, have I had a whirlwind of a few months. 

Sitting with Dawn over hot chocolate the other day, I talked about how I feel like myself, finally, for the first time in months. She smiled and said, “That’s the fibro-fog. You were stuck in it.”

Isn’t it always when someone else says something, you suddenly realize you knew it all along?

I started July with two family members in the hospital. I battled with 100F+ temperatures to film and complete True to You 2. September saddled me with carpal tunnel + fibro so bad, I couldn’t use my hands for two weeks. At all. I only got full use of them back in October, and by then, I was so buried by months of being behind, I was digging myself out.

Here’s the thing about fibromyalgia -- it’s always there, in some way, every day. As I type this, I have orthopedic gloves on, a wrist brace on my right hand, and my wrists are on a nice, bead-filled wrist pad for my keyboard. I’ve all but given up on typing on my laptop, and have tried to cut down on IMs, if only so I can save my hands for my 2,000 words a night for NaNoWriMo.

But I’m doing it. I’ve finally dug through all the sludge and come out on top, ready to tackle the world, a little wiser. Here are a few things I’ve learned these past few months:

1. Better safe than sorry. When my hip started to hurt, riding my bike wasn’t the best idea. And I could have spared my wrists if I’d only been kind to them instead of pushing myself.
 


2. Journal all the time. I couldn’t write for a bit in there, but I could paint with my fingers and cut things out. When in the hospital, I had my journal on my lap to relieve stress (you can see my visitor’s badge from the ER on the cover of my current journal). There is SO MUCH you can do even if you can’t use your hands, or are tired, or are in pain. I am blessed to know so many strong ladies who do art every day with FMS and other chronic conditions.

3. Know it is okay to say you can’t handle things. This is a lesson I’m still trying to learn. Especially with trying to make a living online, and thus having to deliver content and actual items. I dropped the ball with journal orders and prints in the Etsy shop. I am so, so sorry. And don’t say that I don’t need to be, because I do. I need to be more up-front about what’s going on. But always know I am doing my best.

4. I’m thankful. If it weren’t for my FMS and surgery in college, I would have never picked up a pen and started to draw. Or a paintbrush to learn watercolors (simple, simple watercolors!).

I know there isn’t much art-talk in this post, but that’s okay. I’m writing to those of you reading this who can identity with these journal pages. To those who struggle. To those who overcome.

Tomorrow, I’ll broaden my gaze. But tonight, I want to give you all a hug and show you that you don’t have to let your circumstances or illness keep you from creating beauty in the world.

 

 

All Packed Up & Ready to Journal

Yesterday, Shannon asked if I could share the contents of my art-journaling-in-public bag to help her narrow down what she would pack. I can’t say that I’ll be helping too much, but here’s mine, freshly unpacked from Saturday’s adventure.

I carry it all in one of Papaya!’s lux totes that I was gifted a few years ago when I entered a competition they hosted -- it’s perfect for carrying all my supplies, looks gorgeous, and is made out of oilcloth so it won’t get ruined if something leaks!


Here’s what I had inside:

1. Current issue of W Magazine. I grabbed this last-minute in the grocery store last week because the cover was gorgeous and the inside full of collage fodder. Imagine my surprise when I found out you can get a year’s worth for $10!

2. My take-along case.

3. My little pouch of washi-tape & tombow adhesive.

4. Light modeling paste.

5. Brushes/pen/pencil

6. My current journal + my new journal (as my current one is almost full!)

7. Fabre-Castell gel sticks

8. A hodgepodge set of Nupastels by Prismacolor. I adore these!

9. Chipboard alphabets (This is my new favorite thing that I’ll be posting about in this week’s Journaling Deep)

10. Painted papers for collage work and a few printed papers.

11. Stencils!

I also usually throw in a bunch of paint before I run out the door -- maybe 5 or 10 colors, but no more than that. Part of the fun is seeing what you can create away from everything you own. How can you stretch yourself? 

Plus, Becca and I (and Meg, who’s joined us a few times!) usually share supplies, so this isn’t all I used on Saturday! Hopefully, though, this has given you an idea of what to pack for your own public art journaling day!