beyond the aisle: A New Year, A New Journal

One of my goals for 2012 is to start art journaling again. In college, I watched a community called jr__nal on Livejournal, and took several classes that stimulated my artistic side- my J-Term drama class where we did a lot of abstract artwork to explore the cultually shared emotional associations we have with certain colors and shapes (which is applicable to set and costume design!) and the class I took on graphic novels and art installations. I have some nice art journals which are now gathering dust and haven't really been at it since I started teaching. Well, I believe that creativity begets creativity- spend some time painting, and then later you might feel like writing a poem or working on a bit of fiction. 2011 was really all about the wedding for me, so that's where all of my creative energy went- the centerpieces, the chalkboards, the birdcages and such. This year, I guess I want to be selfish with my creativity again- to make art for the sake of being able to live through emotions again and again.

This weekend, in addition to a family movie outing to see Sherlock Holmes: a Game of Shadows, we took a little detour to Barnes and Noble, where my sister-in-law and I did some journal shopping. She found one with illustrated pages, which should really spark some creativity. I kept going back and forth and finally settled on old faithful: a black, softcover Moleskine with unlined pages and just the right size for sticking in my purse.

The LBD of journals?

Since a black cover is not inspirational to me at all, I've been looking at photos of decorated Moleskines on Etsy and the web. Here are some that I love:

Alice in Wonderland moleskine by OrchidsHeart on Etsy - this would have been my dream journal in 2009, which was the year of my Alice obsession thanks to Syfy and Tim Burton.