Monday, January 9

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.



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.

Silhouette moleskine by Tarashton on Etsy.  This could have been "the one" the year I read all of Jane Austen's novels.

Amazing Ideas moleskine by Emily (available here on Etsy)

Emily also makes a Harry Potter moleskine... love it!

Map of Paris moleskine by Movetheneedle on Etsy

Feather moleskine by Sue Brown.  My favorite so far, but I'm not sure my art skills are at that level!

Do you keep a paper journal?  Have you ever tried art journaling?

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