The week between Christmas and New Year seems like a very good time to look back and reflect, doesn't it? So all this week I'll be looking back at my faves from 2011. Today I'm going to share my favorite art journal pages from 2011:
January 2011:
I love it because I love the white and colored chevron pattern. It's always amazing to me what a little white paint can do!
May 2011:
I love it because it was a page that didn't work and I found a way to fix it! Plus, look at all of that journaling! Love that!
June 2011:
I love it because it was a great experiment. A face-a-day for thirty days. Very accomplishable because of the small size. I'm tempted to try for a face-a-day every day for 2012, but how many "every day" projects can a girl have?
July 2011:
I love it because it is the first time I've ever sewn on a journal page! Because of the whole two-sided page thing, it's hard to put those pages in your sewing machine, you know?
August 2011:
I love it because I built this spread over a long period of time using a ton of different techniques and then one day I decided to pulli t together. Proof that slowly and gradually are really good things!
I love it because I sometimes get stuck in one kind of art journaling. It's easy to forget that there are so many other kinds out there! This journal of my vacation to Maine remains one of my faves. All these little "ugly" drawings that look so fantastic now with a bit of distance.
October 2011:
I love it because it is just layers and layers and layers of play!
I love it because for two reasons: (1) it was a great experiment to make an alphabet (2) it makes me think of my "30 Days in Your Journal" class, which was really fun for me to create.
November 2011:
I love it because I went against my "more is more" philosophy and tried something a bit bare and I really like it!
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Looking at this collection of pages I see a few common strands:
- Lots of layers.
- Use of white.
- Colors and lines that fade in and out.
- They're very dense.
- Red/Orange is a favorite color.
- Strong black line.
- Drawing and doodling are everywhere.
- I like circles and grids.
Looking back at a collection of pages like this and identifying the things that unite them helps me figure out where my focus should be in the future. For instance, I keep lusting after the beautiful sparse pages of some art journalers, but in my heart I'm a maximalist and I need to stuff the page full of...well...stuff. I love the collage pages that other do, but it doesn't come naturally to me. I'm more of a paint and draw it kind of girl, and that's okay.
The thing I'm most proud of when I look at this collection of pages is the fact that each one represents a risk I took that was rewarded. An encouragement to take even more risks in 2012!
Thanks for stopping by!
