Art Journaling Wisdom - My version

My good friend Connie Hozvicka held a 10 day free workshop called Art Journal Wisdom. SHe invited us all to impart our own wisdom.  I think what I do daily on the blog is to do that very thing, impart what wisdom I have gained on the art journey that I have been on. So for this project I will share this piece and what kind of wisdom resulted from it. I think that every page in a art journal brings wisdom.

This page incorporates several things I have been working on.  The word stencils I created using my Scan n Cut machine. I have been wanting to make word stencils for awhile and these two were the first ones I tried.  The second piece is the scrap of paper in the center between the two pages. I made that earlier this week on my 3 x 5 gelli plate.  The colors seemed to go with what I was doing so I glued it down on the page. The third thing is that I have been exploring using warm colors.  I can easily do red yellow and orange together but have been wanting to move beyond that and add some cool colors to them. Since green is the first cool color on the color wheel I chose turquoise to experiment with. After taking a picture of this I thought of this is not done at all. There was more that needed to be explored.

This is the finished page, at least for now.  My favorite quote of late is That no painting is ever finished, you just stop at an interesting point. My artist friend Pauline Agnew told me that. The same holds true for a journal page. right now its at an interesting point so I am stopping. Other bits of wisdom. I always experience an ugly stage, where I look at what I have done and think YUCK, what was I thinking.  I believe the yucky stage is just one part and you need to stick with it to find the gem underneath.  Secondly go with your intuition.  I personally do not like at with bent heads, but here I have a bent head women in this spread.  That is how she appeared in the background so I just went with it. When I went back to the painting and added the trees, I thought ah,  just what it needs, of course she'd be in a forest. I think I am the lady on the left and the other women are my painting tribe. They represent all those women I've met in classes online and have come to call friends.

To some up my Art Journal Wisdom

1. There is always a yucky stage just keep going.
2. Follow your intuition.
3. Take risks, add that color you are not sure about. If it doesn't work at least you have learned something.
4. If something isn't working be brave and try something new.
6. If you are stuck, try putting on some music, or go outside for a little bit and come back to it later.
7. Stand instead of sitting, or put your journal on an easel.
8. Mix things up, if you always add circles to your pages pick a different symbol and try that.
9. Embrace the mess, if you still don't like it, turn the page and move on.
10. Let go of your expectations and accept your page for what it is. Its just a moment in time, how you felt on a given day.

I am linking today to Art Journal Wisdom and Paint Party Friday

Kate