I've optimistically used the plural in the title with the idea that there will be other Thursdays of Journals. We shall see.
After listing my creative intentions, I was all fired up of course. I had Wednesday off work, so made a start on what I wanted to get done this week, creatively. I didn't get as far as I had hoped, but farther than I would have without a list. I finished personalising my pages for Move More, Eat Less so that I could start as I mean to go on, and have well designed pages to record my progress. I worked on my Life & Times 2010 photo book and hope to send it to print this weekend, although it needs a little more time.
What I am most excited about though is sorting through my journals and getting them back on display and in use. I knew I had several journals underway, but none that I could just grab and go. It was stopping me journalling and I've missed it. You can see how out of hand it is:
So what's going on here?
1) The book -
I made this in Julie Pritchard's Art Journal Super Nova class. The cover paper is an experiment I did with layering up my own carved stamps a la Anne Bagby. It's got great paper in it, and I was trying out acrylic backgrounds from Julie Pritchard's Layer Love class (seriously, check out her classes, they are great).
Why I'm stuck -
I want to finish working through her techniques, and I want the book to have a consistent feel, so I'm stuck until I do more backgrounds.
So?
If I set it up in the kitchen, I can work through the lessons over the next week or so and then put the journal aside until it's needed.
2) The book -
A moleskine watercolour sketchbook I used as a travel journal in Nova Scotia in 2009
Why I'm stuck -
it isn't quite finished, and even when it is, it won't be even a quarter full I don't think.
So?
See if I can't finish it off, a focused evening should do it. Then when I go to NS this year I can carry on working into the same book.
3) The book -
A mini-book I made in a Shimelle class as a journal of another trip to Nova Scotia
Why I'm stuck -
I'm not so much stuck as I totally forgot that it wasn't finished.
So?
I should be able to finish it off pretty quickly, although I will need to dig out the paper scraps and feather stamps I used. (I'll show you the book when it's finished, I think it's really pretty.
4) The book -
Another one from Art Journal Super Nova. I love this journal, and it chucks in a bag very nicely.
Why I'm stuck -
I've started it with watercolour backgrounds (quite new to me) and I want to carry that through. The watercolours are inaccessible at the moment and I only have one more spread prepared.
So?
While I'm tidying the studio in the next few weeks (yes, weeks!) find the watercolours and set them up in the kitchen (it's not a big kitchen, we don't even have a table, but we manage to live with my having a little bit of counter for a painting station and more gets done there at the moment). Then I can carry it around with me as my journal of the moment, but keep ahead of myself background-wise.
5) The book -
Oh I love this journal! It's made from an old battered dictionary and I just love how it looks and feels.
Why I'm stuck -
I love it so much that I got that weird perfect thing going and now I only do weirdly stilted work in it.
So?
I have to be brave and kind of mess it up! Then I will be able to use it properly and be real.
6) The book -
My journal from Artfest 2007, the first I attended.
Why I'm stuck -
Artfest was so amazing and overwhelming, that I had no words at the time, so it is mostly empty.
So?
I have some photos and sketches from that trip, so I'd like to finish it off retrospectively, tell the story of what happened, rather than beating myself up for not doing it at the time.
7) The book -
The final book from the Art Journal Super Nova class. This one is in use for the Simple Things Project over at It's A Creative World. We've been doing a word each month, and some months I haven't been able to participate.
Why I'm stuck -
I let myself get intimidated by some of the other work being done. I think we've all been there, and I know how important it is to work through that stage.
So?
One word at a time, in time for the big reveal later this month. I can set it up by the sofa to work on in the evenings.
8) The book -
A standard moleskine. For years I always had one on the go, wherever I went, and that's what I'm missing.
Why I'm stuck -
I started using this one for Susannah Conway's Unravelling class. It is pages of personal writing alternating with mandalas. It's slow work, and I like the idea of it being saved for that meditation and contemplation.
So?
I give myself permission to keep this journal separate, for handwriting and mandalas. I'll put together a little kit to keep with it, with the pen, any writing prompts I want to use and the protractor and compass and for the mandalas.
Whew! Thanks for sticking with me while I worked through it. It is such a waste for us to feel guilty about stuff like this, to feel like a failure because we've lost our way with a project. I am going to go and display (and enjoy!) my finished journals and start getting these set up so that I can enjoy working through them in the ways that I need to in order to find the happy.