Here is my latest Periscope Refresh with Dawn Herring Broadcast where I talk about the elements of My Creative Practice, which includes journaling, art journaling, doodling, watercolor painting, and walks. And I talk about the importance of doing something you love every single day.
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I am an avid nature observer, and my walks are the perfect place for nature-based adventure. I recently went on a walk, and as I trod the sidewalk, I noticed a vast amount of bird song; it was as if the whole neighborhood had gathered to talk about the delightful weather. It was such a pleasure to notice all the beautiful sound (it was like surround sound at its best!) that practically enveloped me and drew me in. But it wasn't just the birds I heard that made that day such a delight. I also saw several butterflies along my path. You know, sometimes I honestly feel as if these butterflies come flitting about me to say hello, and that they don't just happen to be there when I arrive. And of course, I always return the greeting with great admiration, thus the photo above in the first image. And I was lucky enough to get a good shot of my beloved mocking bird amidst all that delightful and joyful bird song, which you can see in the second image. As I walked about listening and enjoying my surrounds, slowing down to take it all in, I managed to capture one of those birds in flight. As I considered my experience of walking in my neighborhood that day, it literally felt as if I was being invited into this intense energy of Rejoicing, like they simply could not contain themselves for their JOY of this beautiful day. And dare I say, it felt Sacred to me. I do so love the birds and squirrels and butterflies and all the nature-based delight around me. It's so full of LIFE. And, really, there's nothing better than Life, is there? PURE, GROWING, LIVELY ENERGY that just fills the heart to overflowing with gratitude and appreciation for THIS DAY. Yes, I found Myself Rejoicing right along with those wonderful birds; and I think that made them happy too somehow. I also captured some of this delightful sound on video which you can listen to below. So, now, you can rejoice with us! Journaling Prompt:
Have you ever found yourself being drawn into something delightful that just lifted your spirit and brought joy to your heart? If so, detail it in your journal, including the when, where, and who you were with if you weren't alone. Share how that made a difference in your day afterwards. Did it change your perspective? Art Journal Prompt: Using the word prompt, Rejoicing, create a visual to honor a time when something delightfully surprising crossed your path, using colors that rekindle that delight visually. Use photos/images if you have them to commemorate such an occasion. The purpose of this video, Creative Curiosity, is to encourage the pursuit of curiosity paths to enhance your creative practice. I include journaling and art journaling prompts. I'm coming from my Dawn Herring Collection Art Studio where I sit to paint with watercolor to share with you my thoughts on curiosity and where it can lead to help us build a Creative Practice worth keeping.
A Total Eclipse. A Recent event with the blood moon, starting late in the evening. When my husband, Bill, mentioned its occurrence, we decided to check it out. We tried the back yard, but with too many trees, we had no visibility. So I suggested we try the front yard. Much to our pleasure, we had a good view standing in just the right spot between our live oaks. The eclipse was well under way but we saw just a sliver of the moon still visible so we were just in time. That was a memorable moment as we saw a rare event in progress, just the two of us relishing our time together. Although blood moons are rare, and so are total ecliipses, this one happening together was a true anomaly. But what about life eclipses...eclipses of the Heart? When we feel overwhelmed or are in a dark or uneasy or unsure place. When we're off our center and need to get back. When we face life challenges, especially those kind that persist, bringing chronic trouble to our weary souls. These are emotional eclipses. And what do they accomplish? They leave us feeling joyless, disheartened, and maybe, sometimes, resentful or bitter. Yuk. Doesn't sound like much fun, does it? No, I didn't think so either. So how do we prevent or reduce eclipses of our hearts? In other words, how do we manage challenging situations without losing our joy and enjoyment of life on a daily basis? Well, that's where daily refreshment comes in...and a refreshed mindset. How we view our challenge can make a difference in how we respond to it. If we see the situation as out of our control, it can be hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel. So we need to get a fresh view and transform those dark spaces into areas of clarity, truth and light. Sometimes this takes time in our journals, expressing just exactly what is bothering us so we can figure out our eclipsing triggers and their source. Getting it down on paper can make all the difference in gaining clarity and figuring out our most effective and authentic action steps toward healing and well being. When we can get to a place where we have a clearer view and a greater understanding of how we can respond, taking care of ourselves and still being responsible, caring individuals, we can experience, once again, inner joy, gratitude and that sense of being Aligned with Who We Are, back to center. This is where we feel relief, release, and rest for our souls and healing to our minds and hearts. And when we take the time to engage in those refreshing activities that speak to our hearts, we can create a place of comfort, of relishment, of honoring Who We Are, which can really enhance our daily experience and, perhaps, even minimize the effects of those eclipses, so they don't have a chance to completely extinguish our joy, but simply initiate more time to care for ourselves more deeply. Perhaps that can be the silver lining, like the silver of the moon, which shines once the eclipse is over. In all of its beautiful glory. Shine on, dear one, and feel that fulness of joy deep in your soul. Journaling Prompt:
Have you experienced a Total Eclipse of your heart with a disheartening or challenging situation? Detail your eclipsing triggers with the intent of getting to the heart of the matter. **Describe your emotions and record any resonating situations that you may recall in connection with your current situation. Then detail how you can take action to transform this dark spot into a place of clarity and light. Art Journaling Prompt: Find images of an eclipse to Honor your Challenge, validating your emotions but also with the visual purpose of gaining clarity, with whatever colors, textures and text that resonates most powerfully for you. Let this be a healing process that brings you to where you feel you can shine once again. **Please note: If you find this activity too overwhelming, you may want to speak to a trusted friend or therapist if necessary. Copyright 2015 by Dawn Herring Copyright 2015 Graphic Header by Dawn Herring Welcome to my first Doodle Dynamics post at Refresh Daily!
I am a huge doodle fan; I've been creating nightly doodles from the summary word I reference to extract the deepest understanding of my daily experiences. I have been having so much FUN creating word doodles, which I started back in January of 2014 (in conjunction with a fun creative course by Jani Franck) and added COLOR with Winsor Newton Watercolor markers to make my doodles sing back in November of 2014. So it's been almost a year that I've been in the colorful side of my doodles. And I just can't get enough of it! :) I've decided to share an occasion doodle with you directly from my personal journal, especially ones where the design and color scheme really please my eye. I had such fun with this one, discerning. That day I felt my "discerning" vision was very telling and insightful, whether through direct observation or inner consideration, thus the "eyes" in the background, one being more visible, the other more hidden. I used pretty straightforward lettering, but had some delight with embellishing using small circles like little jewels. I filled the letters with Yellow Ochre and then used Sap Green and Cerulean Blue Hue for the jewel areas. I love the contrast between the letter shade and the "Jewel" colors. Journaling Prompt: Recall a day when you had "extra vision" initiating discernment that helped you understand yourself and your world better. Detail what you learned from that discernment and any decisions you made as a result. Did you find that discernment "eye opening?" Art Journal Prompt: Use images of eyes and/or use the word Discernment as a word prompt for your visual spread, choosing colors that initiate clearer "vision" for you. I always love it when I find something unexpected when I shop at my favorite stores. Several months ago I ran into some sock wear at Target that really caught my eye: Vibrant Colors and Patterns reigned! My artist self was gleeful at such inspiring accessories, I just Had to check them out. I decided to get just one pair just to see if I liked them and if they fit well. The orange slices was my first choice. What fun fabrics to add to my already-colorful wardrobe! I couldn't wait to find an outfit that would suit these socks just right. It didn't take long for me to find an appropriate day to wear them with my sneakers for my morning walk. Although it's hard to see them when I'm wearing long pants, when I take my shoes off, they are all in their colorful glory. But just knowing I had them on made me happy since I knew I was wearing my favorite colors, and I happen to have a painting I did with watercolors my first year of keeping an art journal and it features orange slices! (See image below!) After several wears, with these socks that are mostly polyester with a bit of stretch, I did notice a bit of pilling when they came out of the dryer. I think they do better when hung to dry. I also noticed that the top band that really holds the sock up is a bit tight and leaves an indention in the skin, but I found this to be a minimal issue. Several months after I purchased my first pair, I was back at Target and I saw that socks were on clearance, so I checked to see if those vibrant patterns were in the mix, and to my pleasant surprise, they were! And at a bargain price! Here was one pair I purchased that remind me of a patchwork quilt. The image above is the full sock and the one on the left is a bit larger for detail. Cute, huh? I love the designs all mixed up and with some of my favorite colors! These would probably fall into my "crazy wear" category of wardrobe finds which is just fine by me! I love the zig zag patterns and the flowers and the stripes, oh my! The socks featuring the leaves pattern to the left and below were also in the mix and I was really happy they were, since they would have been my second choice after the orange slices. I just love all the greens and the layers of leaves and it looks like the sun is shining through in parts. I love the way that looks on the trees in my front yard. That's probably why I like these so much. I couldn't wait to share with you these Fabulous Finds with vibrant colors that I love to wear and to paint with! It's so much fun to incorporate what I love into many dimensions of my life, honoring Who I Am as an Artist and Lover of Color. Journaling Prompt:
Do you find yourself purchasing items that inspire you in some way due to a feature that draws you and makes you happy even if all the elements of that certain something aren't perfect? Detail you latest find that fits this description and share why you choose to get this item even with its imperfections and how that makes you feel. Would you purchase that item again, knowing what you know about it? Art Journal Prompt: Use a page or spread in your art journal to showcase a recent purchase of something that truly honors Who You Are in any life dimension and include detail as to how it honors you and why you purchased it. You may want to mention any imperfections it may have. Copyright 2015 by Dawn Herring Copyright 2015 Header Image by Dawn Herring Copyright 2015 Photos by Dawn Herring Note: Fabric design is not my own. Special Thanks to the artist who created this design! The brand of socks featured in the post are Photoreal by Xhilaration. 9/22/2015 Refresh Daily Interview: Life Coach and Journal Keeper, Jill Winski, of The Artist's NestRead NowI am so excited to share with you an interview, or what I like to call, a Creative Conversation, with one of my favorite people, Jill Winski, dear friend and fellow journal keeper, previous Special Guest of #JournalChat Live a few times over, and active member of our #JournalChat Live Facebook Group. She is a Certified Martha Beck Life Coach and Creativity Coach and founder of The Artist's Nest; and I had such a fabulous time talking with Jill about journal keeping, creativity, and positive change that leads to personal empowerment. Jill shares an insightful and profound journal keeping journey. I trust you will enjoy what follows with the juiciness of what it means to be At Home in our Journals and Aligned with Who We Are. Without further ado...the creative conversation with Jill Winski: Dawn: I just re-read your post from our #JournalChat Live OPEN HOUSE in June, 2015, Hearing My Voice In a Noisy World, and it still touches my heart about how your journal is Home and a Safe Place for you. When was the very first time you wrote in a journal? How old were you? And how was that different from the time you were 12 at school? What kind of a foundation did it help you create in your childhood? Jill: I think the very first time I wrote in a journal was when I was about five! It was a "diary" with a lock and a key. I believe I was just learning to write and I wrote things like "what I did today" or "my favorite foods." A little later, when I was maybe 8 or 9, my mom bought me some blank books and I used those to write stories that were based on my own life. So you could say they started out as journal entries but as I wrote they became fiction! Looking back, I do think these blank books created a foundation of writing things down as a way of expressing myself very early in my life. I don't think the "true" journaling took hold until I was 12 and began to write in depth about what I was feeling and started to use the journal to process and understand my inner world, as I described in that blog post. Dawn: LOVED your journaling start, Jill. The details of the beginnings of a diary/journaling practice can be so inspiring, especially when you can see clearly what benefited you in that very early time...which led to more writing for you, even fiction. From the time you were 12 and began a deeper, more introspective journaling, were there other activities that you engaged in that really inspired you and refreshed you as a young person? And was the journaling a part of those activities, such as describing those experiences in your journal, or were they entirely separate? Jill: One thing I did a lot as a child was organize my classmates and neighborhood kids into putting on plays and other sorts of productions. I remember a lot of running around barefoot in the summer telling people what roles they were going to play. (I think I was considered rather bossy!) I also loved reading -- particularly Judy Blume and Madeleine L'Engle at that age -- and being with animals (still do!). And rollerskating and collecting Breyer model horses. :) Now, here's the interesting thing -- at around 12, I began to become pretty critical of myself. I think I became very aware of and concerned about what other kids thought of me, and, interestingly, this is when the journaling began to overlap with those other activities. So, the journaling came to my aid at that time -- it was a way of sorting out this self-consciousness and judgment I'd begun to feel toward myself. As I remember it, the journaling was very much integrated with other activities and I'd reflect on how things went. Actually, when I was packing to move just a couple weeks ago, I found a comic book I'd written at age 12 about a superhero rabbit. That was the kind of thing I'd do at that time, and it's likely I brainstormed that idea in my journal and then probably journaled about whether I was happy with the result or not! Dawn: What delight to learn of your "directing" role with your friends in the neighborhood, putting drama as center stage! Love it. So, when you became more conscious of other's opinions of you, that's when journaling took on a more vital role, helping you gain clarity on what was working and how you felt about each life experience. Brainstorming ideas was a great way to see what you wanted to experiment with. Do you think that your journaling played a role in determining your identity as a person? Did it help you discover on a deeper level Who You Were and Who You Were Becoming? Did you stay motivated to keep a journal as you entered your youth? Jill: Oh, most definitely journaling played a big role in my identity -- and the journal has been a sort of "witness" as my identity has changed over the years. I think the deep processing I've done in my journal over the years has been key to my understanding myself, and integrating what I'm going through and discovering about myself into the whole of who I am and my life. As I got into young adulthood, that's when journaling began to take on an even bigger role for me. Around my early 20s was when I started to do a deeper kind of journaling, where I was really using it to understand myself. I think it became a form of meditation for me -- like other practices that can help you connect with the self, but then also something greater than the self. So yes, I stayed with journaling quite naturally as I got into my teens and on into my 20s. It's always been something I feel compelled to do -- there's no "motivation" involved. I do it compulsively! :) Dawn: What you said about being compelled to journal feels so resonating to me, since I'm the same way with my journaling practice. I don't need motivation either; it's just part of Who I Am. Speaking of that, for you, Jill, seeing that journaling is such a powerful and essential tool in your life in developing your identity, have you been able to recognize, through your journaling practice, when you have not been aligned with Who You Are and how has journaling promoted positive change to help you Stay Aligned? Jill: Yes, one of fundamental values of journaling for me is that I am able to see more clearly what I'm thinking and feeling, on the page. And that has the effect of quickly allowing me to see where I'm not aligned with my essential self. It can point me to where I'm in pain and not addressing that pain. Sometimes I'm like, "Hmm, I notice I've been writing that I'm feeling bothered about such-and-such for a week now ... what's going on with that?" In fact, there are certain things I've let go of in my life much more quickly than I would have if I hadn't been addressing them in my journal. And, things I've moved toward more quickly because journaling helped me tune in to what I was really wanting. There are also times where I'm simply not ready to make the changes I know I eventually need to make that come through on the pages of the journal. And in those cases, the journal gives me a safe space to be totally honest about my fears. Just the act of being able to express what I'm feeling in completely open way, without ramifications, keeps me congruent and in touch with myself. Which, for me, is always the overriding goal. Dawn: I love what you said about being in touch with your essential self and how that is your ultimate goal with your journaling practice. Can you share how Journaling has enabled you to appreciate yourself for who you are, especially when you deal with those fears that sometimes can hold you back from positive change? Does journaling help you be more gentle with yourself when that happens? Also, are you able to validate your emotions and feelings to help prevent being too hard on yourself through those challenging changes? Jill: I think "hearing" my own voice on the page when I journal has allowed me to get to know myself really well, and that has caused me to understand over the years that I have a very particular process that I can trust. So even when it seems like I'm "stuck", there's something going on beneath it all that makes a lot of sense. And that knowing has helped me be kinder and gentler with myself, because so much of what the critical part of me thinks is stuckness is actually just me taking my time to get to where I need to be! I do struggle at times with not being hard on myself -- it tends to be a "default" reaction for me because I learned it so well when I was young -- but there's something about putting my feelings down on the page that allows me to detach from the harshness and see it for what it is. So, the journaling creates awareness, and from awareness, I can shift quickly into kindness. That's a practice for me -- shifting into kindness whenever I can. :) Dawn: Wow. Knowing ourselves on a deeper level can be challenging and yet rewarding at the same time; I love what you said about understanding your inner process and recognizing that it can look like the illusion of being stuck when it isn't that at all; it's simply the way you deal with change and inner change is already being initiated. That is truly powerful. I love how journaling creates that awareness so that kindness can become your prominent focus as you work through that change. With all this powerful, life-enhancing change going on, do you have specific ways of nurturing yourself, either in conjunction with your journaling or an activity or engagement all on its own? How, as an adult, do you find ways to nurture and nourish your self in any life dimension and how does that nurture affect how you leave your meaningful mark in the world? Jill: For me, much of nurturing myself involves slowing down (which you did a wonderful video on recently). We live in a very hard-driving culture which moves very quickly, and I have a fast-moving mind which jumps quickly from one thing to another. So a lot of nurturing myself involves remembering to come back to my breath, to the present moment, and reminding myself that it really is okay to slow down and savor things and tune into myself. This can mean taking walks where I really notice my surroundings (I love combining getting my morning coffee with taking a walk). Time with my cat is very nourishing as well. I've always found the presence of animals so healing, somehow, but cats especially, maybe because of the purr (which is said to have healing qualities). And then, connecting with people I love who truly support me is key to nourishing myself. I'm noticing that seeing people in person is important, especially when so many of us spend so much time in the online world. There's a particular way I feel nourished when I've been with a friend in person, or even had a great phone conversation, where I feel their presence in a way that is important to me. So reminding myself not to substitute online connection for physical world connection feels relevant to nurturing myself right now (though I do love connecting with wonderful people online!). And that said, one of my favorite ways of nurturing myself IS by going online and reading blogs and articles and essays that connect me to who I am and what matters to me. I adore having books and artwork around me, too, that help me stay connected to what I care about. The more connected I am to what matters to me, the better I feel, and the easier it is for me to tune into others and connect with them. Dawn: Slowing down, savoring the moment and creating connection with people and nature and things that have great meaning for you...delightfully authentic and nourishing for the soul. I agree it is important to have a balance between what good we derive from the online world and having important connecting time in person. I also enjoy finding folks and resources in the online world that resonate with me and what matters to me... Connection seems to be key in creating a life that is full, rich, meaningful and authentic. When we are personally empowered, we are fully Who We Are, in the zone, creating our best work and forging those most meaningful connections with people and other things we value. Can you share with us how all the elements of your life dimensions you have shared that help you create positive change in your life lead to personal empowerment? How do you know when you are personally empowered and when you're not? What does personal empowerment feel like to you? What is your most direct path toward staying there? Jill: What a great question. I love this question because the way we FEEL is really what creates our lives. So, how do I know when I'm personally empowered? Because I feel connected to myself -- I feel good! When I say good, that doesn't necessarily mean "happy" (though it could). It means I am in integrity -- the way I'm living is in sync with who I am and what I value. Of course, the journey of life, for me, is about questioning what it means to live "congruently" and continually closing the gap between feeling "incongruent" and "in sync with who I am." So it's always ongoing. I'll never be "done"! For me, the most direct path toward "closing that gap" is to keep checking in with myself, through practices like journaling. And walking. And simply being. You might have heard of the idea of "do-be-do-be-do." I think that's what it's about -- taking actions (doing) and then moving back into being, connecting with myself, checking in about how that action went, where it pointed me, what sits right and what doesn't. And then taking the next action that occurs to me. And then checking in again. Always remembering to check back in with myself. This is so much of what I work on with my coaching clients -- how do we take inspired action, as opposed to just taking actions out of fear or frustration? Inspired action is when we're acting based on personal wisdom, or simply a sense of curiosity. It feels much lighter and freer than fear-based action. So when I feel light and free, I know I'm on the right track. Dawn: I could feel the good vibes coming from your answer to personal empowerment and the do-be-do connection you explained! I love it--checking in with yourself each time you take an action to be sure it's aligned or congruent with your values, and not responding out of fear or frustration. Indeed. There is such an innate difference between the two, isn't there? Light and free is what we want to be! Starting from a place of lightness and freedom is a great place to live from in our creativity. Jill, as a Life and Creativity Coach, can you share with us why creativity is so important and how you handle creative blocks? How do you stay consistently creative without feeling overwhelmed? How do you know when you are satisfied with the amount of creative expression you are putting out? Jill: Well, I always define creativity in a broad way -- the definition I like is that creativity is the life force moving through us. So if our creativity is feeling a little bit sluggish or blocked in some way, that points to some area where we are feeling sluggish or blocked in our lives. These "life issues" tend to show up in our creative work. So it's great to keep our creative energy (life energy) flowing. Of course, it's not possible for it to flow all the time -- in fact, when it stops flowing, there's often something really important for us to learn there. (This is what we might call a "dark night of the soul", in some ways.) I also feel strongly that we are all the creators of our own lives -- it's not only writers, artists, musicians, etc. who are creative! We all are, no matter what we do. That's what I love about journaling -- we can all do it, it's about the expression of who we are. That's really why creativity is important, to answer your question -- because we crave that expression of who we are, and we want it to reach others who appreciate it. In that sense, it's about community, but it's also about remaining connected to ourselves. As for how I stay consistently creative without feeling overwhelmed -- well, I don't! I do get overwhelmed at times and I am not always consistent. Having moved recently, I realized how much of that creative life energy sometimes needs to go to making big changes in my life, and then I don't necessarily have as much of it going toward "tangible" creative output. But in moving, I've been creating a new living space for myself, so that's creating, too! But I would say the biggest thing that helps me stay consistent and keeps overwhelm at bay is to begin with kindness toward myself. In other words, self-acceptance is always the underlying factor. And that means noticing when perfectionism comes in and sort of cracks a whip over me and demands that I do more. If I feel like I'm forcing or pushing it, I know it's time to stop for the day. I like to stop writing before I get to that point! There's kind of a "sweet spot" where I can feel that I've challenged myself and I've reached a certain edge, but if I get into pushing beyond that too much, I can bring on burnout. And this is something that simply takes time and practice to understand in oneself. Everyone has a unique point at which, if they pay attention, they know they're satisfied with what they've done, or they're not! We just need to pay attention. And using our journals to record what we notice about this can be incredibly helpful. Dawn: I love your definition of creativity...and I so agree! Everyone can express themselves creatively since we ALL have creative energy...to do what each of us do well. And It's Awesome. And when the energy is not flowing, there is always something important to be learned. I think that's one of the reasons I love art journaling so much, because it gives me that space to listen when things aren't flowing. And it's important to give ourselves space during change. And yes, Journaling is the PERFECT PLACE for that creative expression of Who We Are. I couldn't agree more! I love how that brings us back to kindness, Jill. This is such a powerful place to be. It can truly make all the difference when we feel overwhelmed and need to get ourselves back to center. And noticing is so key to understanding ourselves on the deepest of levels, which is so vital to our creativity, our personal empowerment and to Knowing Who We Are. How Sweet It IS when we are loving ourselves from the inside out by paying attention, recording our understandings in our journals and giving ourselves space to express ourselves creatively while being kind and gentle throughout the process of bringing about positive change. Jill, can you give us a final word for those who want to start a journal practice and for those still looking for that sweet spot of creative expression? What is your recommendation in a nutshell? Jill: The main thing I would say for getting started with journaling is to simply trust that whatever comes up onto the page is perfect. There is no way to "do it right". Trust that you have a unique path with your journaling and stay open to discovering it. One of the most exciting things about journaling is that, if you stay with it, you will be led to that "sweet spot" of creative expression. You'll know you're there because you'll feel it. But, like with any practice, you need to MAKE it a practice by staying with it. The benefits only come from doing it repeatedly. So if you're interested in journaling, try it for at least three weeks, or a month -- that gives you a chance to do it enough to start experiencing where it can take you. You can start very simply, by writing down what you see in the room around you, or out the window, what that makes you think of, how that makes you feel. Try it for even five minutes a day. And see where you go! Dawn: Thanks so much for that fabulous final word, Jill, as we conclude this delightful conversation about journaling, creativity and learning to listen and be Who We Are in all of this wonderfulness! We appreciate all you have shared about your journaling practice and your learning process when dealing with change and creativity.
Do check out Jill's Bio and her social media so you can connect with her; I also highly recommend Jill's The Artist's Nest where she shares about her creative and journal keeping process; it's simply fab and insightful! Jill Winski's BIO: Jill Winski is a writer, a creativity coach, and a Martha Beck Certified Life Coach. Her own fears inspired her to create The Artist's Nest, a safe place to talk about creativity, self and getting unstuck. You can CONNECT with Jill on Social Media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jill.winski Twitter: https://twitter.com/jillwinski Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/jillwinski/ The purpose of this installment of my Refresh Daily Rewind video series is to encourage the enjoyment of the creative process without the feeling of overwhelm due to our concern about how much we are producing. Gentleness and Relishment are key to creativity.
Welcome, Art Journal Enthusiasts! I have a new Art Journal Spread to share with you; I've titled it, The Dividing Line. This particular spread features Modeling Paste, home-made by me. I used a mix of gesso and baking soda, which can be really crumbly and messy if you don't use enough gesso to make it look like cement. This takes practice, messy practice. *wink*
My goal with this spread was to test out this home made-modeling paste to see how well it would work with a stencil, and this time I made a stencil of my own with long dividing lines. I knew pretty quickly I was going to use them across the top of the page, but I also decided ahead of time that I wanted to put some color down first since when I used modeling paste before without color on the background, I didn't like it as much. I used a brayer to lay down watercolor paint; this is the FIRST time I've used a brayer to lay down color. I have used brushes, sponges and even my fingers, but not a brayer.
First tip with a brayer: always make sure it's clean before you use it! I had to put down many layers of watercolor before I was satisfied with the coverage. Plus the color was very washy, not thick and dry. (This is not acrylic paint, so there's a bit more effort put in since watercolor isn't opaque and takes more applications for good coverage.) But once I used the brayer, I found that I LOVED the textured look I got from using it, versus laying down color with a brush. Once I had the color down, then I applied the modeling paste with my hand-made stencil. Very messy procedure but I loved the result. That's when the name of this spread came to me, since the lines were creating divided space. So I decided to tear some good 'ole colored construction paper into pieces and stamped out the letters individually, then adhered them with matte medium. I later edged them with more watercolor; love that look.
As I filled in more of the space, It almost felt like a cliff with a dam of water both visually and viscerally, so I decided to emphasize a separation between the top of the page and the bottom. I tore some gold colored magazine pages into pieces and used those to create a division. I also used a small round sponge on a wooden stick to add more watercolor after I used the brayer and created lines of "water" coming down in a circular motion; as I did this, the idea of a turning came to mind. Then I realized the connection: The Dividing Line Becomes a Turning Point! Wow.
I absolutely love it when this happens; do you know why? Because when I play in my art journal, I gain understanding of myself and my life experiences, bringing the subconscious to the fore. The realization with this spread is a perfect example of what I mean. Once I had this idea solidly in mind, the rest of the spread just fell into place. From the application of the words "Becomes a" to the words, "Turning Point." For "becomes a", I used a white Uniball pen on stamps for the letters, reinforcing the letters with pen directly on the page for solid coverage. I LOVE the contrast of white on the darker bluish hue. It really POPS.
For the "turning" word, I wanted it to express itself with its meaning, so I stamped it out in a turning manner. And for "Point," I wanted it to have a directness to it, so I included an arrow pointing at the end and highlighted the letters with my white Uniball pen. I also painted the dividing lines with a gold color. I love the contrast of the gold with the bluish hue.
I really enjoyed the process of creating this spread, the realization of learning more about myself, about making decisions and how those decisions can become turning points toward authenticity. We all want to be authentic, don't we? Each decision we make can help us be more authentic than ever.
Sometimes when we face a life challenge, it can feel like a dividing line, especially when we determine to say NO to something we were once saying Yes to. But once we make that decision, knowing it brings us into our authentic path when we do, it becomes a turning point of truth in our lives. When we know the truth and live it, we are free, aren't we? Journaling Prompt: Have you recently experienced something that felt like a division or a change of direction for you? If so, detail it in your journal, including how you felt and responded to the realization that you needed to make a change of direction toward authenticity. Affirm your choice to Stay Aligned with Who You Are.
Art Journal Prompt:
Dedicate a page or spread to a recent decision you made, changing from YES to NO or from NO to YES; you may want to use the NO or YES as your starting point and stamp out the meaning behind the decision. Copyright 2015 by Dawn Herring Copyright 2015 Art Journal Images by Dawn Herring This Refresh Daily Rewind video focuses on dealing with False Starts and what we can learn about our creative process with the decision on where to go from a place of uncertainty and finding the value in every courageous step we take in our creative lives.
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Dawn HerringDawn engages in many roles: As Writer/Blogger and Artist/Creative and Founder of Refresh with Dawn Herring: Where Art and JOY Align, She enjoys sharing from her vast experience as award-winning, life-long artist and leader in the field of written journaling, offering encouragement and proven tips to other journal keepers. Dawn's focus is on written journal keeping, artistic expression and finding your Creative Voice, and positive change that leads personal empowerment, encouraging you to leave your authentic and positive mark in the world. Dawn is a Commercial artist, hand letterer/illustrator and writer/blogger and enjoys sharing insights, humor, and encouragement as she shares from her life experiences as a woman, wife, mother of two grown daughters and as a Grandparent to a special needs grandson. She enjoys keeping a journal and reading spiritual texts to help keep the light on. May JOY Align with Your Creative Heart. Archives
August 2019
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