Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Class Review: Art Journaling 101 & Blog Events

I just finished Art Journaling 101 with Dina Wakley at Get it Scrapped, and it was terrific!  Since I'm not enrolled in any other classes this month, I thought I'd go ahead and post the review now.  The class focused on keeping an art journal as a diary of your daily life, as opposed to keeping an art journal as a sketchbook of ideas. (For some of my thoughts about these two different types of art journals, you can read my post here.)  As such, it focused on translating daily written journaling into art journal pages.  It was a four week class, and each week contained two lessons - one on creating the artwork in your journal and one on the journaling or text portion of the journal.  Dina presented a wonderful method for creating both artwork and journaling, as well as how to integrate them.  There were also weekly videos which presented even more information.  I could not have been happier with the class! I created about a dozen pages, all of which captured events and emotions going on in my life right now.  It helped me develop my artistic skills and work through my feelings about a variety of things.  It truly is art journaling (as art diary) at its best!  The page I featured today is a two page entry about doing laundry.  I know it seems mundane, but I spend a lot of my time doing laundry, and it was fun to journal about it.  You can click on it to see more of the details.  I'm known as the "Laundry Queen" at my house, and the layout presents laundry as a fairy tale because it truly is a never-ending story at my house! 


For my regular blog readers & House Party attendees, here's some updates. I wanted to let you know I updated yesterday's post with stamp credits for all those bird stamps, in case you need to go shopping.  Also, the house kits are starting to land. I'll have a tutorial up on Thursday or Friday. Finally, next week, Ali Edwards is running her "Week in a Life" project, where people are encouraged to capture their everyday life.  I did the project in 2008 (you can see some of it here), and I liked it a lot.  I feel like the art journal from this class is capturing the same thing.  So, next week to play along with Ali, I will post an art journal page each day that represents my daily life!

17 comments:

Amy said...

Ok, today's art is breathtaking! I love it. I could make a scrap page with the same title as it's never ending here as well .... somehow I have the feeling that many of us are going to be saying the same thing today :-)

helena said...

love the never ending story page and looking forward to your take on Ali's project next week - I'm playing along for the 1st time

scrappyjacky said...

These are amazing pages,Rinda... such gorgeous colours you've used...and the theme is one we can all relate to...and definately never ending!!!
Had seen Ali's project on her blog...and seriously considering giving it a go.

Margi said...

absolutely beautiful and amazing pages, I so love your work! my packie hasn't landed yet but I'm sure today is the day for me! LOL Can't wait to see what is on the agenda for Thurs and Fri!

humel said...

Love the art journal and can't wait to see more next week! And yup, we too have a never-ending story of the bottomless laundry basket....

Sian said...

I'm so glad you enjoyed the class. Dina is so inspiring and helpful..when I did it she actually emailed me to ask how to pronounce my name so she could imagine me properly. Wow! Your pages are fabulous and I would love to see them in real life to enjoy the texture too. I'm off to do some laundry now..

Elizabeth said...

Queen of Laundry is an apt name for most of us! Love your latest art journal page, and look forward to seeing how you interpret art journal pages into Ali's class.

Hope said...

I have also taken the AJ 101 class and it is a wonderful class. I learned so much.

Dina said...

Maria..thanks for the awesome review...and thank YOU for all the inspiration, commitment, and art that you share! You inspire me! :)

Anonymous said...

I think these may be my favorite pages ever! I love everything about them, but especially the colors. In our house, my husband has done the laundry for years. Until I retired, I really didn't know how to operate the "new" washing machine. We both had comparable jobs, and laundry was something he didn't mind doing. I was quite glad to "give it up." I took it back last year, but when he retired this year, he went right back to it.

debs14 said...

How appropriate, I had given myself the reward of a few moments blog hopping after ironing a whole baskets of shirts and I came across this post!
Laundry ... one of those never ending jobs, you get it cleared, the next day, the laundry basket is full again ....

Capescrapper said...

Gorgeous art journal Rinda!
I feel like a bit of a Laundry Queen in my house too :)

Lizzie said...

Ah, I love those pages - the clear turquoise shades, with the photo of the white laundry blowing on the line... I also like the little "soap bubble" circles and the starry decorations you used to extend the idea of the washing line into the distance... Very good!
Your "Laundry Queen" reminds me of a little poem in the book "Little Women", describing Beth working away at her laundry tub. I always liked that part of the book!
Even here, laundry seems to be a pretty regular thing - even three people can make a lot of washing!

Anonymous said...

Just wonderful Rinda.. Julie S

Ruth said...

Ah, yes, a story we can all relate to. I love what you've produced on your pages.

Cherry said...

Wonderfully inspiring pages - you create the most vibrant colours and I love that. Just love the idea of journaling the everyday and looking at it differently. Love the photgraphy element.
Clean ozone filled laundry - mmmm. Hugs Cherry XXX

Kimberlee said...

Love your work on the journal. Great job.