Absolutely Everything: Dedicated to Creativity

I was completely inspired by Dyan Reavely at the recent winter buying show. She uses her bright sprays and great stamps and stencils to do her art journals and altered books. I am going to get us started (or I should say, re-started, as we have done this before , but not for a while.) on this great activity. I have put together a small gate-fold album with different types of paper. We will have a class where we will make the album, and do some experimenting on a few of the pages.
It is a two-ring binder book, so each page can come out for playtime, and then go back into the book. In subsequent classes, we will work on more of the pages. All of the work we learn to do for the art journals can also be used in the whole world of altered books.

Art journals can be anything you want them to be. Some people feel that it isn't their style as they don't really want to be writing a whole bunch of stuff--no worries. You can have an art journal filled completely with techniques...add notes or don't...it's up to you. It can become a resource for you to keep at home, or to take on your travels. This first journal we are making is a small size, with an opening in the middle of the front. Here is a photo of the journal I am starting with.

We will be adding all sorts of "stuff" to the cover, as well as starting on a few pages in the first class. The journal measures 5"high, and about 6-7 inches wide.
In the course of time, as we fill our books, we will try out all sorts of mediums: gesso, inks, stains, paints, gels and molding pastes, panpastels, alcohol inks, watercolor crayons, pencils, Peerless watercolor papers, sprays, mists, Perfect Pearls, pearl pens, Twinkling H2Os, embossing powders--this list is endless...

And we will use all sorts of surfaces: watercolor paper, cardstock, manila papers, handmade papers, adhesive foils, sticky-backed canvas, stampbord, metals, clear acrylic...and on. I will teach specific techniques related to all these supplies, but you are free to go off on any tangent you want to.As you might tell by now, the sky's the limit.

This is the beginning of a very artful journey, and you are all invited. Your journal is your own, for your own purpose. I will be here for guidance and encouragement, but as the artist, you are the final judge of what goes into the journal.When the journal pieces arrive, I will announce the dates for the classes. I will offer the classes twice each, once on a Saturday, and once on a Sunday--probably not on the same weekend, though.

I have no idea how many classes there will be. Let's just see where this takes us. I am anticipating that we will go for at least a year, experimenting every 3-4 weeks with a new class. I am going to post this article here on the blo so that anyone can leave a comment here, telling me if you are interested, or with suggestions. I would be delighted to receive your thoughts. This endeavor will accomodate all levels. You can be a pure beginner, or an experienced art journaller. We will all get tons of ideas from this experience!