As soon as I fell in love with the concept of commonplace books, I knew that I had to figure out how I could use one as an artist. While a commonplace book is typically associated with writers and thinkers, there are various ways in which a visual artist can use a commonplace book to enhance their creative process. source Here are a few ideas: Inspiration and Reference Collection: Artists often gather inspiration from various sources. A commonplace book can serve as a repository for collecting visual references, ideas, and images that spark your imagination. You can include sketches, photographs,... Read more →

I have a new obsession: commonplace books! source I accidentally stumbled upon them while researching Morning Pages. And I'm in love! What are commonplace books? I'm so happy that you asked! source A commonplace book is a personal compilation of knowledge, ideas, quotations, and observations collected by an individual. It is a notebook or journal where one gathers and organizes information from various sources for future reference and reflection. They are more like a database than a diary. In the past many people used commonplace books as a way to order their ideas and make them easy to refer back... Read more →

Lately, I've been doing a lot of redacted art work. I start with a painting and then add something contrasting over it. This could look realistic or be totally abstract. As you probably know, my art journal of choice is a self-made "junque journal" -- created with leftover bits and bobs from my art studio. I prefer a junque journal because I hate starting with a blank page. This particular journal I'm working in happens to have a lot of white paper in it. So, I've been giving myself an underpainting to react to. You can watch the process in... Read more →

If you're new to Art Journal Every Day, the concept is simple: It's a commitment to take ten minutes each day to do something in your art journal. No need to finish anything or even like it. It's about making the time to nourish your creativity every day! If you have the time to flip through your phone, you have the time to Art Journal Every Day. If you'd like to share what you make, use the hashtag #artjournaleveryday so that we can all take a peek. You can find new Art Journal Every Day posts here on the blog... Read more →

If you're new to Art Journal Every Day, the concept is simple: It's a commitment to take ten minutes each day to do something in your art journal. No need to finish anything or even like it. It's about making the time to nourish your creativity every day! If you have the time to flip through your phone, you have the time to Art Journal Every Day. If you'd like to share what you make, use the hashtag #artjournaleveryday so that we can all take a peek. You can find new Art Journal Every Day posts here on the blog... Read more →

While I was on vacation in California, I posted a photo of what I was working on: The caption says: I’m on vacation with a bag full of paint pens and a tiny #artjournal. 🙌 When my little guy takes a nap, I use the time as an opportunity to muck around in my little hand made book. Most days I don’t have a goal in mind. I simply sit down and respond to whatever is there. A few doodles. A little bit of collage. It’s all part of maintaining an art practice — no matter what. 😁 And in... Read more →

I finished this painting a few weeks ago. But I started it in 2012 -- a decade ago!! In 2012, I took an online class all about intuitive painting and painted my very first set of larger paintings. Slapping paint on a 24x24 canvas felt crazy and intimidating and amazing. This is the piece I made (and you can read my original 2012 blog post about it): Three years later, in 2015, I hated the painting and went back to re-do it. Here is that re-do (and the 2015 blog post about the re-do): And now, in 2022, I made... Read more →

I looooove making books of all kinds. Today I thought I'd share a short tutorial for a no-sew book you can make with just paper and a pair of scissors. I'm planning to use mine as small art journals/sketchbooks. These also make great gifts! Watch the video for the how-to: My class, "A Year of Gelatin Printing" shares 14 different bookbinding tutorials -- some simple and some complex. If you love bookbinding, I hope you'll check it out! Thanks for stopping by! Read more →

Yesterday's Member Livestream was another great hour of art instruction, information, and play. Among the topics we covered were... Whether "not thinking" while creating was a good idea. I talked members through the creation of this journal spread as I explained my stance on the matter: We also discussed sealing collage artwork. I demonstrated how I seal my work using this small work-on-paper as an example: We covered the pros and cons of the Pilot Frixion Erasable Pens. Anything you write with them, "erases" either using the attached erasing tip or with the addition of heat, and reappears when placed... Read more →

If you're new to Art Journal Every Day, the concept is simple: It's a commitment to take ten minutes each day to do something in your art journal. No need to finish anything or even like it. It's about making the time to nourish your creativity every day! If you have the time to flip through your phone, you have the time to Art Journal Every Day. If you'd like to share what you make, use the hashtag #artjournaleveryday so that we can all take a peek. Check the blog archives for posts going back to the first Art Journal... Read more →