Art Blog for The Inspiration Place

This blog post is part of a series that takes a deep dive into the strategies I use to quiet my monkey mind and stay focused on my art making, One morning ritual I find invaluable is the daily journal practice. I have a bunch of journals that I use to help me stay mindful.

Since I sell my art online, write a blog, teach online art classes, volunteer within my community, and have two teenagers, I am constantly getting asked, “how do I find time to ‘do it all?’”

First of all, you don’t “find” time.

Art journaling serves as an important took for goal setting and keeping goals visible. Just the act of setting the goals down on paper is a small step that most people neglect and yet it makes it twice as likely that you will reach your goals just by writing them down. It is like creating a contract with yourself. I also love a place to revisit my goals during the year and the fancier I make my...

Every year I have been making very fixed goals... I define a goal as a very specific, measurable, actionable outcome for the future. But I also set some intentions for the year. The difference between an intention and a goal is that intentions guide the present whereas the goals determine the future. Get inspiration for your art journal by setting your intentions for yourself. Intentions are...

For the past few years, I have been choosing a word for the year. This words serves as a beacon for how I want the year to go. In order to keep my intentions visible, I create art journal pages around my word. For this page, I experimented with all the ways I could write my words for the year "light."

You can do this exercise as well. See how many different "fonts" you can come up with in your art...

My grandfather had a saying which he loved to repeat while enjoying his morning bacon and coffee and that is "Every age has its compensations." It was an expression that I heard and dismissed as I longed for each milestone as I grew up... old enough to drive, old enough to drink (legally), etc... and then started dreading new ones....turning 30...turning 40... but now that I am 47 I don't really...

Even more so than January, springtime signals to me a time of new beginnings. The dreadful dreariness of winter lifts and the promise of flowers, warm weather and sandals awaits me. It's no wonder that as we come out of hibernation, we want to clear out our nests. Declutter Art Journal Prompt In this blog post, I share with you my "declutter" list as well as the declutter lists of some of the...

Guest blog post by artist Carolyn Dube

Washi tape is known as "masking tape" in Japan but they have brought masking tape to a whole new art form. Each roll of tape is made from rice paper and has a low adhesion, meaning you can place the pretty pieces on things and lift them off easily.  Washi Tape Addicted I am so addicted to these pretty rolls of tape and make lots of excuses to buy them and use them whenever I can from wrapping...

For the last few years, I have been using my art journal as a goal setting tool and it has helped me realized my craziest, juciest art goals. In my free 4-part video series, I will show you an overview of how I do that. Interested?

Can you believe it’s 2016! That means you’ve probably created some goals for the new year already or you’re in the process. Or have you already broken them?

If you have…...

In my last post, I asked what you love about art journaling. Here's what you had to say:

Lettering techniques you can learn in Painting with Words

1) No Rules!

Pam: I love art journaling because there are no rules - you make your own, and you can change them any time you choose to! I love playing with my art supplies and my journals are my playground! Best way to destress!!!
I am a Kindergarten...

I make no secret how much I love Art Journaling magazine. The beautiful pages are eye candy for my soul and I love devouring each one. I know I should read the articles but I rarely do. In fact, more often than not, I will rip up the magazine and use the pages as my first collage layer.

So that poses a dilemma for me when I get my art published in the magazine. Do I keep it pristine and preserve...