I've been playing with pattern and paint lately. Here's a quick peek at what's on my art table: What's on your art table at the moment? Thanks for stopping by! Read more →

The very first class I taught at the CREATE Mixed Media retreat in New Jersey was Painted & Printed Papers. We had a ton of fun making a huge painty mess. Grab a cup of coffee and check out all of the pretty patterns and colors! And here is a photo of all of the silly, talented, wonderful women from class: I'll share more pics from the two other classes I taught very soon! Thanks for stopping by! Read more →

I taught five classes at the CREATE Mixed Media Retreat in New Jersey. Today I'm sharing some photos from two of those classes: Stamp Carving 101 and Lovely Lettering. I love stamp carving. And it's one of those things that looks difficult but is actually quite easy. I think you'll see from the photos what spectacularly creative students I had the joy of teaching. Do you recognize that design? It's the Balzer Designs "Echoes" stencil as a hand carved stamp! And here's a photo of the whole class: Awesome work all around! If you're interested in learning how to carve... Read more →

If you're new to Art Journal Every Day, there is a short introduction here. All of the previous posts can be found archived here. There is a flickr group for sharing right here. Remember, it's just ten minutes of nourishing your creative self every day! No need to finish anything or even like it. If you've done some art journaling this week and you've blogged about it, or put it on flickr, please leave a link in the linky list at the end of this post. Thanks! I wanted to share some more daily pages from my art journal. I... Read more →

Along with a permanent collection, the Jewish Museum in Berlin has lots of special exhibits. Today I want to share a bit about one of them. "Bedřich Fritta. Drawings from the Theresienstadt Ghetto" is an exhibit of the work of Bedřich Fritta from 1942 to 1944 while he was living in the Theresienstadt ghetto. The drawings are full of emotion and story and deep sadness. They speak to me of bleakness. A life spent with suitcases and the ever present specter of death. Gaunt faces and big eyes that stare back at you. Haunting portraits of a terrible existence. And... Read more →

Are you museum-ed out yet? This week on the blog is turning into quite the museum tour and I've got one more for you today. It's part one, because there's so much to share. Nathalie and I went to the Jewish Museum in Berlin. You can read her excellent post on our visit here. It's a fascinating museum where even the architecture tells a story. There are all these odd spaces and windows at quirky angles. Those things that look like doodles are windows. And it does change your perspective. That is part of the art of architecture -- you... Read more →

While I was in Hamburg, Nathalie and I went on a whirlwind tour of the Kunsthalle Museum. Our first stop was the Paul Klee "Angels" exhibit. There were no photos allowed, but we snapped a few when we got to the participatory portion of the exhibit. There were pencils and paper and you were asked to draw an angel and leave it in a box. They had many of the drawings other people had done hanging up. We had to give it a try! We started with blind contour drawings. That's where you draw without looking at the paper or... Read more →

Last week I went to the Museum of Modern Art to experience their Rain Room exhibit. It was an epic-ly long wait in boiling hot heat, but I'm so very glad that I went. Essentially, it's a large dark room. Only ten people are allowed into the exhibit at a time. There is rain coming down from the ceiling. However, wherever you walk, the rain magically stops. Here are some photos: And I put together a quick video from my visit: Rain Room from Julie Balzer on Vimeo. I've thought a lot about what the "art" of the exhibit is.... Read more →

Greetings from New Jersey! I've taught four classes in the past three days, with one more tomorrow morning. It has been a wonderful whirlwind of paint and laughter and happy students. Today I thought I'd share five photos I've instagrammed from the CREATE Mixed Media Retreat! There are more photos on instagram and I'll be sure to share lots more pics when I get home. I hope you're having as much fun as we are! Thanks for stopping by! Read more →

If you're new to Art Journal Every Day, there is a short introduction here. All of the previous posts can be found archived here. There is a flickr group for sharing right here. Remember, it's just ten minutes of nourishing your creative self every day! No need to finish anything or even like it. If you've done some art journaling this week and you've blogged about it, or put it on flickr, please leave a link in the linky list at the end of this post. Thanks! I wanted to share a few pages from my daily journal with you... Read more →