Art Journal Page: Your Inner Critic Part 1
Monday, April 12, 2010
Continuing through "Journal Spilling," the next few exercises involve "Taming the Critic." It's an old cliche that we are often our worst critic. We analyze our work in excruciating detail and stamp it "Not Good Enough" compared with some vague and indeterminate vision that we alone possess of what it "should" be. While we'd never dream of judging someone else's work by that same ethereal standard, we discount our own without prejudice.
Since I am a great lover of words, I did a little study of "criticism" and related words. We generally think of the first meaning: judging harshly or finding fault. But it also has an evaluative meaning as in simply making an assessment. A critic evaluates and issues criticism, which can be negative or positive, as in "critical acclaim." Another interesting word from the same Greek root is "criterion" which is the standard by which something is judged. When a critic evaluates, he is measuring against criteria, broad or narrow, specific or general, for success. 
It's really not possible to "silence the inner critic" as some suggest. We will always evaluate our own efforts, and we should! Without reflection on our work, we will never have the insights needed to learn and grow.
What we can change is the criteria against which our inner critic judges. If my standard for success is to create, learn and enjoy the process, then I only fail if I don't create, don't learn or don't enjoy.
Open Door Tryptych Book
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
I took a class a couple of years ago and learned to make this unique book. It makes a great statement displayed open, so it's perfect for a special art journal, scrapbook or wedding guest book. I've had couples use one side as a guest book and the other for candid photos from the wedding. The coptic binding allows it to lay completely flat for signing, painting or journaling.
I've been snatching up all the pretty books I could find with identical front and back covers just for the purpose. Old Readers' Digest Condensed Books work well. Not the waxy ones from the 80's but older. Anyway, I've finally gotten on a roll and made a few that I wanted to share.
The trick to making these is getting the angles in both the covers and the paper to match perfectly. If you have a paper trimmer sturdy enough to cut binder's board, I've discovered a method that gets it right every time. I started by marking the angle I wanted on one cover and carefully cutting it on the band saw leftover from my woodworking days. The little triangle you remove becomes the key to getting all the other angles right. I couldn't begin to give you step by step instructions for the rest of the procedure, but a picture is worth 1000 words . . .
The only trick is marking the height of the spines from your first cut on the other front cover piece and adjusting the paper guide on your cutter so that it lines up to cut the right height. Once that adjustment is made, the back cover is a cinch. Prepare and fold the signatures, then cut them the same way, reducing the height by about 3/16 with one further adjustment of the paper guide.
More Journal Spilling
Monday, April 5, 2010
I was so happy that Journal Spilling author Diana Trout found my little blog and commented on a couple of posts! Be sure to spend some time at her Hub Bub blog. She's got some great video tutorials and wonderful encouragement for art journalers and artists. Thanks, Diana!
Last week, I created some background with a few different techniques she suggests. The first is just to make a page NOT WHITE! I started with some marbled paper scraps and just slapped on paint. The second was alcohol spatter and the third salt sprinkled on wet watercolor paint, a look I've always liked. Here are just tiny pictures of all three methods:
Here's another page that didn't specifically come out of an exercise in the book but ended up being fun. I was thinking about what it means to be disciplined and diligent, common themes for me these days. I'm a competent, rational adult, but there are a few areas of my life (diet, exercise and time management) that I seem to continually struggle with being disciplined in. I was thinking about what it takes to actually make a change. As I painted the background, I noticed a figure emerge. I sketched it out, and the rest grew from there:
Reinvented Journals in Action
Friday, March 19, 2010
One of my wonderful customers sent me some pictures of journals that I have made for her to show me how she's using them. It made me so happy to see the blank pages filled with stories and pictures from her life! Living in the Boston area, which is apparently the used book mecca of the US, she sends me the most amazing books to be made into journals for her own particular purposes. Always beautiful and often with a sense of humor, they portray a woman with a sense of her own personal style.
She and her husband took this journal . . .
on a trip to Germany last year for her 40th birthday. She said it was great to write about the trip and store memorabilia WHILE the trip was happening rather than try to do it after the fact.
I like to use "found pages" in my journals, themed with the book's title or purpose if possible. She sent me some pages from an old German child's book to include, and I added some maps and pages from the Germany section of an old encylopedia. Generally these pages aren't big enough to form a complete folio, so inserting them results in a 1 - 2 inch tab in the signature opposite the page. She said those turned out to be really useful for attaching brochures.
I understand that even in the big city, she's quite the farm wife, growing and preserving her own veggies a la little house on the prairie. This is her garden journal . . . .
She also has a journal for use at work meetings, one to record the bird action in her yard and, my personal favorite, one for she and her husband to keep track of compromises that they make so it is "in writing." I'd keep that one in the safe deposit box just in case!
Her husband is running scared these days, since she recently sent me nine (yes, NINE!) more covers to make into journals. Judging by the titles, most of them obviously intended for travel. I'm trying to make a deal with him on the side to dole them out slowly as his travel budget allows!
Thanks, Lisa! I'm inspired by you!
Bunnies from the Bin
Friday, February 26, 2010
It's been a hard winter for a lot of folks in the US this year. Lots of snow and cold and nasty bugs going around. Let's all take a quick break from winter, shall we? Even though it's a bit too cold to venture into the garden, now's the time to lighten and brighten your creative life and make beautiful things in preparation for spring's arrival. It'll be here before you know it, with its attendant tulips, dogwoods, butterflies and chocolate. (Oh, don't play dumb. You know the Easter Bunny is coming, and you KNOW what he's bringing.) So to celebrate the not-as-eminent-as-we-might-like arrival of spring, here are a couple of remarkable bunnies made by super clever artists on Etsy from unlikely recovered materials. You know how I love recycling!
This charming bunny pendant from BettyJoDesigns is made from scraps of salvaged linoleum and embellished with vintage buttons and bits of doilies.
Loranscruggs has made a perfect pink pull toy rabbit from a reclaimed almond roca tin. What a great alternative to a chocolate bunny! Wait . . . what am I saying? What a great gift to give along with a delectable chocolate bunny!
I hope these inspire you to start thinking about the lovely things you can create now to be ready to welcome spring when it comes!
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