The Personal Journal: Daily Pages

During my Experimental Sketchbook Class

I kept a special journal with art notes

& anything related that came up. 

{By the way, I did not pose the shot: 

My new wooden mannequin, (who I think has arthritis)

happened to be there when I was snapping the page.}

Recently I read through my previous personal daily journal.

During the early days of stay-at-home, 

I spent a fair amount of time embellishing my personal book 

with color, borders, paste-ins, & stickers. 

I wondered if it was somehow a waste of my time. 

Looking back I see that it wasn't.

While releasing nervous energy about 

the new, unknown situation we were in,

I was allowing myself to play with color, layout, & content.

I'm now enjoying the record that I have of those days.

Here I recorded some notes from a book for young people

about artistic process: Neil Gaiman's Art Matters.

I usually record these types of art notes in a separate book,

but I liked incorporating them into the "master journal."

Currently my daily pages are fairly unadorned. 

My art energy is going to several projects 

that will be offered for public viewing. 

But they have their own journal pages where I am

working out my journey to finished products.

Experimental Sketchbook Class: Time & Space to Create

Some of my work during the weeklong class.

It was perhaps the best art class I've ever taken at University. 

We were encouraged to experiment.

Push out of our comfortable ways.

I started getting scribbly & messy (not shown here)

so it was a relief to do some minimalist drawings.

Zoom grids became an integral part of my experience.

I wandered out of my familiar box.

I cut up one of my watercolor "still life" grids

and pasted fragments into a booklet.

And then, relief, back to the familiar~ 

except with a bit of a grid.

A grid containing The Tiny Fears of Rita

Les miniscules craintes de Rita

We tried a wax resist/ink wash/charcoal layering technique

that Maine artist, David Lewis, uses.

(His drawings are very sophisticated & refined...) 

We collected shadows by tracing actual shadows.

Some of the students turned their results into imaginative

imagery, unrelated to the original subjects, and then 

turned them into handmade books.

I loved my Swedish Ivy design & didn't transform it,

except to put it into an accordion format.

Last class exercise: Do 20 versions of the same object, 

using various papers & drawing materials.

I got 3 done in our half hour allotment...

But THIS is the idea which I most want to continue

at the moment...20 objects? 50? 100? 

Maybe they would be painted and drawn, then,

hand sewn together into a paper quilt that folds 

into a book. We shall see...

The beautiful thing is that I have SO many wonderful

inspirations & directions with which to continue.

Thanks to my instructors & to the class, composed of

young undergraduates, graduate students,

& some oldsters like me. 

So much inspiration,

& this is only the tip of the iceberg...

Art Journaling Group: Using a Grid

Art Journaling Group. 

It was my turn to present. 

I showed Lyn Frye's Smallies 

from her blog, A View from the Oak. Do visit!

I've mentioned her Smallies in a previous post.  

 For Lin it is an ongoing daily practice. 

I did it for one month last winter.

 I loved choosing my image or event at the end of each day. 

It was like having a special lens with me,

a way to pay closer attention.

(To see my previous post, click Here.) 

 The idea I presented this time, to our Zoom group,

 was, using a grid, to virtually invite 

one another into our homes 

by writing/drawing things that are close to us: 

literally & figuratively. 

Things we would show if we were having 

guests in our homes.

I loved the personal images & stories that emerged.

My own grid ended up fading into the background, 

but created a nice framework for little drawings. 

It was fun to teach a little something again...

Cool Summer Colors. Vibrant Fabric Colors

A little road trip off the beaten path. 

Not the coastal route with tourists & cars 
& clusters of restaurants and hotels.

This was roller coaster ribbon roads, 
forests, farms, scattered country homes.

Occasional views of distant fields 
& faraway mountains.

Destination:
 A fabric store in the city, about 50 miles away.

I've been luxuriating in assembling 

vibrant colors of cloth.

And yesterday I basked in 
cool country colors 
on a wet summer day. 

Sketching: A Pause From Stress

7AM crowded grocery shopping 

once again triggered anxiety. 

An unhealthy looking man, 

coughing & sneezing, no mask,

lingering in the aisles. 

Scared me. 

I talked to our pleasant manager, 

but once home, tension lingered.

So I gathered my art bag

and headed to a bench in City Park.

Highlights on lively small waves,
like 4th of July sparklers, 
sun & breeze. 

View of Penobscot Bay to Blue Hill  

and the distant mountains of Acadia.

It didn't completely take away my stress, 

but for some brief moments

I breathed in healthy air. 

And sketched.

L'opéra de Cendrillon et Il était une fois...

The art of storytelling, is so vital to humans,

maybe more than ever 

during a time of confinement.

I can't travel to gather new stories & world experiences,

but my mind & heart can.

The fairy tale Cinderella came to me recently 

via the Metropolitan Opera website.

Cendrillon de Jules Messenet, written in1899.

I sketched while watching it on my computer screen.

I was brought back to magical fairy tales, characters, costumes & settings

that sustained me in childhood. 

I am brand new to opera. 

What a wonderful way to begin a journey

into a new art form:

An opera for children as well as adults.

 

As a former teacher I loved exploring the Met's 

lesson plan for Cendrillon which led to note taking

in my daily journal

Studying the French language continues 

to be a sort of enchantment for me.

Voilà, this opera is in French!! Double, triple enchantment!!

''

 Magnificent costumes, music, dance, comedy, tragedy...

And, of course, "Happily ever after." 

"Heureux pour toujours".

Goodness & kindness triumph over evil.

Balm for a troubled world! 

The story theme of Cinderella is almost 2,000 years old!!

In my own library I found a version of Cendrillon, 

based on Charles Perrault's interpretation. 

I copied text from it as a French language exercise.

 This book is interpreted by Marlene Jobert,

 illustrated by Matthieu Blanchin

 I saw an interactive exhibit at the Musée de la Civilisation 

in Québec in 2012 called Il était une fois, Once upon a time...

Children donned costumes & played fairy tale characters.

I was struck by the similarities of my Cendrillon sketches 

to those from my visit to that exhibit.

To visit my blog post of 8 years ago, called 

Children's Museum Exhibits & Language Learning, 

which featured "Il était une fois," 

Click Here.

(Thank you Leslie for sharing your love and knowledge

of opera!)

Home-Time in My Small Town

Since retirement, my home-time is very pleasurable. 

I have "stations" around the house for:

Painting • Drawing • Zumba & Exercise

Special Projects • Writing • Reading.

I am grateful for a working kitchen.

This is one time where being an Introvert comes in handy.

My life is less disrupted than are many others' lives.

In my small town the changes don't seem drastic to me,

 even though we do run out of toilet paper. 

We are lucky that we can afford to be calm & accepting.

We walk outdoors, & passersby are pleasant.

We are still a town of Hello's & waving to strangers. 

Yesterday as I was walking the Harbor Walk,

 a woman on a bench called out to me:

"We can still do this!" & she did a thumbs up,

& I replied "Yes, we are lucky!" 

and raised my thumbs to her.

 Kathy at the blog Catching Happiness 

(click Here) 

has a post about "Staying Positive..."

She mentions "Stress Cleaning."

I've been enjoying "Stress Organizing," like

taking inventory of my colored pencils. 

At some point I will do a phone order/roadside pick up 

at Fiddleheads,

my local art shop, which is closed...

Temporarily.

 Oooh, order & labels for my fountain pen inks!

(the small ones are samples I get from Goulet Pens.)

 Writing in my journal remains a daily pleasure.

On this day I was listening to France Bleu radio

& decided to create a sort of dictation & to search words
in the dictionary (Reverso online).

I just started a new Rhodia daily journal.

A new Lamy "Turmaline" fountain pen arrived from Goulet 

just before things shut down. 

Goulet is a small business with heart, 

that is paying its employees during this time. 

Voilà. 

Nice to reinforce good feelings via online networks 

in a time of physical isolation. 

How are you occupying your time 

in your "confinement" and "sheltering."?

Sketching Small & Fast: Boston

Train trip to Boston. View from the window.

I've been longing to go for many months,

with my Midori Traveler's Notebook, 4 X 51/4 "

The Italian North End. 

Dense with cafe's, restaurants,

& pastry shops.

Bricco • Cafe Bella • Ristorante Fiore

Cafe Paradiso • Ristorante Quattro

Trattoria il Panino • Ristorante Saraceno

Lucca • Dolce Vita Ristorante

And 19th century churches. And Sunday church bells.

 A distant view as we walked 

from the North End to North Station.

 Museum of Science. The Butterfly Garden with 

a hall of terrariums outside their giant room

is alone worth the admisson.

I mean, have you ever seen insect eating plants,

or a Stick Insect (that looks just like a twig/branch!!)?

Science, nature, art, enchantment, magic

as colors sparkle and flutter through the air. 

Knowledgeable & eager student assistants

are like butterfly encyclopedias.

Better than Google~ the real thing!!

It's like we were in a giant tropical terrarium.

And you had to check yourself before exiting

to make sure a butterfly hadn't landed on you! 

Butterflies on a city view window

with the Charles River right out back. 

Exhilarating day, indoors & out!

Sketching made it more so!

Art Journaling On the Go

A new 8 X 11" page in my art journal,

created at the weekly Library Art Journaling Group.

Sharing & working together, they call it "synergy."

I call it magic.

This was my first "To Go" page in my Daily Journal. 

After watching a ton of videos

about the Midori Travel Journal system,

& about approaches to Bullet Journaling,

I modified my Rhodia A5 size dot grid book

(the best for fountain pens!)

by adding colored elastic cords under which I slid 

loose, folded sheets of blank paper. 

On the go, I can pull a sheet out, draw, write,

& then stick it back in! It worked!!

Below, I'm loving seeing the accumulation of Jan. days 

on my Mini Memory Calendar!

The squares measure 1 1/4 square inch.

The calendars are on premium color copy paper.

Nine days ago...

Today! 
One day at a time a month happens!

Happy End of January!

What I've Been Up To...

A little sketching with the Sketchers...

At a most magical shop in town, Brambles...

The owner always welcomes us! 

(I have previous posts/sketches from Brambles...)

Quick sketches when I'm out. 

Still carrying the book everywhere.

This was lunch at the Coop, a great Sketch-Op.

Enjoying my Prismacolors. Here,

they were basking in winter sunlight that streamed in

through the back door blinds.

 Prismacolors on my new "mini memory" daily calendar, 

inspired by the great sketch blog of Lin, View From the Oak
& her "Smallies". Do visit her blog! 

A great form of journaling!

Card calendars for my bulletin board.

Been playing with collage a bit.

Ongoing Daily Journal ritual. Every morning with coffee.

I'm adding more color, drawings & paste-ins

than before.

 

This was the bottom corner of a page. 

That's Washi tape as the base.

Envelope-pocket-journal-folio books, 

taught by local paper craft artist & teacher, Robinsunne. 

Current one in progress.

Elements taped with temporary cellophane tape.

 I mostly didn't send out holiday cards.
I gave a few of these to folks in my Zumba class. 
I hope you all had a fun holiday season.

 My new cork board on the mantle. 
A reminder that I want to paint more without ink line...
A challenge, & outside my comfort zone!

Above, some are mine, some are inspirations by others.

Great time of year for making art!