Tuesday, June 15, 2010

update on my art journal calendar

as you know, i embarked on a daily art journal calendar on january 1. i started off very enthusiastically and really enjoyed the process. i wasn't sure where it was taking me, but i liked the ride. february went well and i began to get into a groove. march, with our impending move, got a little more rocky, but still i persevered. and now i'm here to admit that it kinda fell apart for me in april. although i made a little mini-stash in an old suitcase, and had all sorts of good intentions, my daily art journal was what had to give.

the portable stash in a modified (by me) vintage suitcase
april 1 - 2, 2010
april 1 - was when i photographed paul's beautiful rug for british home & garden
april 2 - i was on a weaving kick, so i wove fabulous washi tape (bought here). i love that stuff.
april 3 - 4, 2010
april 3 - still on the washi tape thing. i'll admit sabin inspired this.
april 4 - washi tape tree (also copied from inspired by sabin).
that's pretty much as far as i got in april - wrote this note of assessment may 1.
may 1 - 2
may 1 - new house, new resolve. so i started with a little sketch of the new plants in the garden.
may 2 - had discovered loads of rhubarb in the garden and was holding out hope there would be asparagus (there isn't).
may 3 - watching one of those fabulous BBC nature shows with sabin.
may 19 - was the day i discovered that gorgeous little nest in a bush in the yard.
and that's as far as i got in may. restarting my daily practice proved difficult in the new surroundings. and it's rather ironic, because i think that with the stress of moving, i have more need than ever for a daily creative act. there are so many adjustments at once - house, job, routine, kitchen, garden, sabin's school, caring for a horse - and so many new demands on my time. but i haven't given up on myself and have decided that looking back on these couple of months (let's hope it doesn't stretch into june as well) of empty pages will also be a record of the time and place i was in. they say when you fall off the horse, you have to get back on, so i'm trying to persevere with june's little moleskine. i'll be back with more on that when the month is over.

5 comments:

mrs mediocrity said...

love the new look! I have been in the same place lately, and sometimes things do have to give. And there is nothing wrong with that, a journal is for YOU, give yourself permission to do it when you feel like it, and not do it when you don't...I am trying to do more and more of that whole permission thing lately, my garden is a jungle this year, and this past weekend I gave it, and myself, permission to let this be the year of the jungle. The world won't end.

spudballoo said...

Why not give yourself June 'off' as a holiday, an offical art journal holiday. Then restart on 1 July. That's a good, clean date to start...second half of the year and the promise of a FULL book for that month. Possibly a half done June might be dispiriting? Maybe not.

So I vote for electing june a holiday with a view to restarting 1 July with renewed vigour!

xx

Gwen said...

your pages are so very pretty and zen. i can see why you'd miss it. but, dude. go easy on yourself, kay?

Deb said...

love seeing the journal too! The sweet flowers are so fun and graphic...the frog made me smile...stealing from Sabin made we laugh...how wonderful you do art together.

Lisa-Marie said...

I found mine bound me in too much. It helped me get the flow, and now i draw or paint or sew most days, but it's not contained. I'm used to doing big peices of at that take hours, so i've decided that as long as i do one of them over three weeks or so, and make or draw other things, it's relatively good practice.