Blog 1 - Decorating a Book Cover with Paint & Decoupage
"I recently bought a drawing book with black pages to doodle in. However, when I removed the plastic film around the book, I discovered to my horror that the ugly green paper with the manufacturer's name on it, was in fact a sticker! Try as I would, I could not remove it. I decidedly did not want such an ugly cover for my book, even though I only intended to doodle in it. I figured I could do better than to simply cover it. The result was a cover that was decoupaged and then painted with a cute motif I found on Pinterest. I show you how to do this in today's blog, so you can do the same with your own books."
Blog 2 - How to draw: A Spider
When I started out in my brand new book, I had no idea yet that it would soon turn into an art journal. It all simply seemed to happen on its own accord. Therefore the first entry in the journal was really only meant to be a drawing lesson. However, I later went back and turned this into a real journal entry. I added a spider's web and wrote the words from Psalm 25:15-16 all around the web. It deals with how people's plans to ensnare me, will fail and come to nothing.
"Today's drawing exercise is a little more interesting, as we will be working on black paper, which we have not done until now. We will be using a chalk pencil to draw with, and white pens to outline our drawing with. We will then cover most of this white when we use the water-soluble Aquatone we used in a previous blog, to colour the spider. However, this time we use the Aquatone dry!"
"Today's drawing exercise is a little more interesting, as we will be working on black paper, which we have not done until now. We will be using a chalk pencil to draw with, and white pens to outline our drawing with. We will then cover most of this white when we use the water-soluble Aquatone we used in a previous blog, to colour the spider. However, this time we use the Aquatone dry!"
"I am very excited about today's blog. It started off as me just fooling around with my art materials, but quite unexpectedly turned into an art journal. Then, as I was processing the photos for the blog, I decided to fool around with the video making tools on my computer. The result is the first ever blog in video format! I still posted the stills and the steps, as usual, but at the end of this blog, you can find a video with all of the pictures sequentially arranged in it, for easy viewing pleasure."
Blog 4 - Art Journal: Basking in the Sun
"I am thoroughly enjoying the black drawing book I bought myself recently. Today, when I returned from work, I was slightly upset by something that had happened. I decided to sit myself down and focus my mind on more positive matters. I found a picture on the internet that appealed to my state of mind and immediately decided to do a short journal on it. I walk you through the steps in today's blog."
Blog 5 - Art Journal: Bloom in the Rain
"It is a bit of a rough time at work and I have very little time to be creative. Yet, these are the times that I find that I need most to relax with my art supplies. I am therefore not coming up with anything original at this stage, but I am taking time to recreate pictures and ideas that have left an impression on me when I discovered them on the internet. Today, I share another one of these that made it into my black drawing book. Somehow, this once again turned into a mini journal page."
"It is a bit of a rough time at work and I have very little time to be creative. Yet, these are the times that I find that I need most to relax with my art supplies. I am therefore not coming up with anything original at this stage, but I am taking time to recreate pictures and ideas that have left an impression on me when I discovered them on the internet. Today, I share another one of these that made it into my black drawing book. Somehow, this once again turned into a mini journal page."
"Last night, as I was praying, a picture of a dragonfly on a waterlily leaf came into my head. I felt an immense surge of peace as I became aware of the picture and knew that I could sit back and trust God to keep His word and promises in my life. Today, the image remained in my head and I decided to draw it. It became the next page in my art journal. I show you how to draw a dragonfly step by step in today's blog, before painting it in soft pastels and charcoal."
Blog 7 - Art Journal: Uniquely Talented, like the Ostrich
"I love drawing and painting ostriches. They are such unique creatures, as they are all bird, yet no flight. I was pondering this idea today, when it occurred to me that I could do a page on this for my art journal. I share the simple steps for drawing the ostrich with you and then take a passage from the book of Job to reinforce the sentiments I had been toying with in my mind throughout the day."
Blog 8 - Art Journal: Life's Simple Outlines
"I found two pictures on Pinterest where the original artists have made use of the absolute minimum lines to create very effective pictures. These always fascinate me endlessly, as I can not help but to marvel at how easy the brain finds it to associate these few lines with their actual real life counterparts. Today, I was contemplating how often in life we do not have a clear idea of what is expected of us. Instead, we get only a bare outline and it is left to us to fill in the detail. I decided to use the two pictures I found on Pinterest to create an entry for my art journal in which I explored this idea."
Blog 9 - Art Journal: Life's Exciting Moments
"Have you ever blown a huge bubble when chewing gum. I'm not talking about the kind we blew as kids, when we trying to outdo each other. I'm talking about now, in your adult life, when you were absentmindedly sitting and chewing and without even planning it, you blew this bubble that caught you completely by surprise and left you in awe. And perhaps slightly embarrassed. I was thinking about how often we forget to enjoy these little moments of excitement in life, being too focused on what others might think of us. I decided to journal these thoughts of mine and share the steps with you in today's blog."
Blog 10 - Art Journal: All Children Matter
"I discovered this cute work of art on Pinterest a while ago and saved it to my PC, not knowing if I would ever use it. Today, I was contemplating the important role that we as adults play in children's lives, especially me, as a teacher. It reminded me of this picture and I went in search of it. I decided to use this in my art journal for the day. I show you how I went about it in this blog."
Blog 11 - Art Journal: Praise Him!
"Today I once again became aware of how much our Father does for us, how much Jesus has sacrificed so that we could approach our Father without hesitation, and the presence of the indwelling Holy Spirit, who strengthens us, gives us peace, and teaches us of love. The art journal blog I compiled is a result of the awe I felt at these thoughts which inspired me to praise Him."
Blog 12 - Art Journal: Fishers of Men
"It occurred to me today that I sometimes get so busy living an everyday mundane life, that I allow this to swamp the Life I am actually aiming for, and that is eternal life in Jesus. We do need to check every so often if we are not perhaps too busy with the things of this world. Take a step back and reconsider your own priorities today, when I take stock of mine. While we're at it, let's remind ourselves that we are also supposed to make time to do some fishing, especially the kinds that catches man for God."
Blog 13 - Art Journal: Wading Through Deep Waters
"I have discovered in life that most of life's challenges are easier to face if we don't have to do it alone. Having a friend or two at your side when you are facing deep waters, makes the wading through seem so much easier. Today's art journal blog is a tribute to great friendships and good friends."
Blog 14 - Art Journal: The Birds & The Bees
"Being alone is not the worst fate in life. Too often I speak to people who are caught in abusive relationships which they struggle to escape from. Yet, I also see relationships that make me long for someone I can call my husband and partner in life. In today's art journal blog, I take time to acknowledge this longing for someone special."
Blog 15 - Art Journal: Rest In God's Provision
"I am on leave. It is a wonderful time of rest and silence after a very busy and hectic term loaded with conflict upon conflict. I have to marvel at the amount of conflict teachers are confronted with. It is conflict with the learners, conflict with the parents, the system, the school management team, and then, as if this wasn't enough, there are the internal conflicts with peers. I had to contemplate whether this was all worth it. Today's art journal is a comment on this. I suppose a shift in focus is necessary. I take my lesson from the birds."
Blog 16 - Art Journal: Celebrate Life & Mourn the Dead
"There seems to be a tendency these days to acquire accolades without putting in the hard work. We start this at school level already, when we give kids medals and trophies for simply participating, instead of motivating them to put in the discipline and to practice so that they can attain an award on merit. We do the same thing when we loose someone. Nowadays, we get invited to Life Celebrations, instead of a gathering of friends and family at the church after a funeral or cremation. It is as if we wish to skip the stages of grief and head right on to happiness, in the process neglecting to acknowledge our own feelings, or those of others. I contemplate this in today's art journal blog."
Blog 7 - Art Journal: Uniquely Talented, like the Ostrich
"I love drawing and painting ostriches. They are such unique creatures, as they are all bird, yet no flight. I was pondering this idea today, when it occurred to me that I could do a page on this for my art journal. I share the simple steps for drawing the ostrich with you and then take a passage from the book of Job to reinforce the sentiments I had been toying with in my mind throughout the day."
Blog 8 - Art Journal: Life's Simple Outlines
"I found two pictures on Pinterest where the original artists have made use of the absolute minimum lines to create very effective pictures. These always fascinate me endlessly, as I can not help but to marvel at how easy the brain finds it to associate these few lines with their actual real life counterparts. Today, I was contemplating how often in life we do not have a clear idea of what is expected of us. Instead, we get only a bare outline and it is left to us to fill in the detail. I decided to use the two pictures I found on Pinterest to create an entry for my art journal in which I explored this idea."
Blog 9 - Art Journal: Life's Exciting Moments
"Have you ever blown a huge bubble when chewing gum. I'm not talking about the kind we blew as kids, when we trying to outdo each other. I'm talking about now, in your adult life, when you were absentmindedly sitting and chewing and without even planning it, you blew this bubble that caught you completely by surprise and left you in awe. And perhaps slightly embarrassed. I was thinking about how often we forget to enjoy these little moments of excitement in life, being too focused on what others might think of us. I decided to journal these thoughts of mine and share the steps with you in today's blog."
Blog 10 - Art Journal: All Children Matter
"I discovered this cute work of art on Pinterest a while ago and saved it to my PC, not knowing if I would ever use it. Today, I was contemplating the important role that we as adults play in children's lives, especially me, as a teacher. It reminded me of this picture and I went in search of it. I decided to use this in my art journal for the day. I show you how I went about it in this blog."
Blog 11 - Art Journal: Praise Him!
"Today I once again became aware of how much our Father does for us, how much Jesus has sacrificed so that we could approach our Father without hesitation, and the presence of the indwelling Holy Spirit, who strengthens us, gives us peace, and teaches us of love. The art journal blog I compiled is a result of the awe I felt at these thoughts which inspired me to praise Him."
Blog 12 - Art Journal: Fishers of Men
"It occurred to me today that I sometimes get so busy living an everyday mundane life, that I allow this to swamp the Life I am actually aiming for, and that is eternal life in Jesus. We do need to check every so often if we are not perhaps too busy with the things of this world. Take a step back and reconsider your own priorities today, when I take stock of mine. While we're at it, let's remind ourselves that we are also supposed to make time to do some fishing, especially the kinds that catches man for God."
Blog 13 - Art Journal: Wading Through Deep Waters
"I have discovered in life that most of life's challenges are easier to face if we don't have to do it alone. Having a friend or two at your side when you are facing deep waters, makes the wading through seem so much easier. Today's art journal blog is a tribute to great friendships and good friends."
Blog 14 - Art Journal: The Birds & The Bees
"Being alone is not the worst fate in life. Too often I speak to people who are caught in abusive relationships which they struggle to escape from. Yet, I also see relationships that make me long for someone I can call my husband and partner in life. In today's art journal blog, I take time to acknowledge this longing for someone special."
Blog 15 - Art Journal: Rest In God's Provision
"I am on leave. It is a wonderful time of rest and silence after a very busy and hectic term loaded with conflict upon conflict. I have to marvel at the amount of conflict teachers are confronted with. It is conflict with the learners, conflict with the parents, the system, the school management team, and then, as if this wasn't enough, there are the internal conflicts with peers. I had to contemplate whether this was all worth it. Today's art journal is a comment on this. I suppose a shift in focus is necessary. I take my lesson from the birds."
Blog 16 - Art Journal: Celebrate Life & Mourn the Dead
"There seems to be a tendency these days to acquire accolades without putting in the hard work. We start this at school level already, when we give kids medals and trophies for simply participating, instead of motivating them to put in the discipline and to practice so that they can attain an award on merit. We do the same thing when we loose someone. Nowadays, we get invited to Life Celebrations, instead of a gathering of friends and family at the church after a funeral or cremation. It is as if we wish to skip the stages of grief and head right on to happiness, in the process neglecting to acknowledge our own feelings, or those of others. I contemplate this in today's art journal blog."
Blog 17 - Art Journal: Be Kind
"Statistics tell us that people all around us are struggling with immense burdens. Some of these are of their own making, but some are entirely out of their control. I was contemplating this today, and then my thoughts made it into my art journal. I show you how I went about expressing my thoughts in both words and pictures in today's blog."
Blog 18 - Art Journal: Life is Complex
"It is not always easy to make sense of life. The issues we are confronted with, are often tremendously complex and challenging, making it difficult to differentiate between right and wrong. It is also not always to discern whether it is time to go, or to stay, to push ahead, or to wait. It was these thoughts that led me to today's art journal. I share the steps with you in this blog."
"Statistics tell us that people all around us are struggling with immense burdens. Some of these are of their own making, but some are entirely out of their control. I was contemplating this today, and then my thoughts made it into my art journal. I show you how I went about expressing my thoughts in both words and pictures in today's blog."
Blog 18 - Art Journal: Life is Complex
"It is not always easy to make sense of life. The issues we are confronted with, are often tremendously complex and challenging, making it difficult to differentiate between right and wrong. It is also not always to discern whether it is time to go, or to stay, to push ahead, or to wait. It was these thoughts that led me to today's art journal. I share the steps with you in this blog."
Blog 19 - Art Journal: Love Each Other
"As an outsider, someone who is not in a committed relationship with another person, I often look at the relationships people have with their life partners, and I can not help being amazed at how simple the 'fixes' seem to be, and yet how difficult they appear to be to implement. In today's art journal blog, I muse over this."
"As an outsider, someone who is not in a committed relationship with another person, I often look at the relationships people have with their life partners, and I can not help being amazed at how simple the 'fixes' seem to be, and yet how difficult they appear to be to implement. In today's art journal blog, I muse over this."
Blog 20 - Art Journal: Praise not, stones!
"In Luke 19:40 Jesus tells His critics that if the people did not shout out His praises, then the stones would do so. Today I once again became aware of just how much we owe God and how very dependent we are on Him. My soul burst out in praise inside of me as these thoughts crossed my mind and I decided to devote today's Art Journal entry to this."
Blog 21 - Art Journal: Freedom
"Freedom. This is such a sought-after concept. People sacrifice salaries to experience freedom, if only temporarily. We call these vacations. What is freedom. Is it the ability to escape the lives we ourselves have created? In today's art journal blog I explore this longing we all have for freedom and discover where it is that I feel most free."
Blog 22 - Art Journal: Life's Baggage
"Today I was contemplating the burdens we carry with us through life. I especially thought about the words we take with us, spoken by others about us and over our lives. And I wondered why it was so much easier for us to cart the baggage of the naysayers around rather than those who spoke positively into our lives. I decided to develop this idea in today's art journal entry."
"Today I was contemplating the burdens we carry with us through life. I especially thought about the words we take with us, spoken by others about us and over our lives. And I wondered why it was so much easier for us to cart the baggage of the naysayers around rather than those who spoke positively into our lives. I decided to develop this idea in today's art journal entry."
Blog 23 - Art Journal: Life's Tango
"Loneliness. This is such a strong emotion, which can be so completely overwhelming, that a lot of people will settle down with almost anyone, if they could only avoid feeling lonely. It is only when you have committed yourself to that other person, right or 'wrong,' that you realize that loneliness is not something that is found in the absence of someone else, but rather in a disconnect within yourself, and that no one else will ever be able to fill that 'hole.' Still, life can be a whole lot more fun if you can find the right partner to match your steps. I contemplate these ideas in today's art journal blog.
Blog 24 - Art Journal: Big Fish
"How often do we find ourselves in trouble of our own making, and then we cry out to God for help, expecting Him to simply step in and save us now that we find ourselves in deep water. The thing is, He does. He helps us out more often than we can imagine. For, we tend to forget His grace as soon as things return to normal again. In today's art journal entry I allow my thoughts to wander about this topic."
Blog 25 - Art Journal: An Elephant of Stature
"Our own self-image has the ability to empower, or to cripple us in life. I contemplate the way we think about ourselves in today's art journal blog, when I compare our thoughts to elephants. These elephants can either be an opposing force, or it can be the force that drives us."
Blog 26 - Art Journal: Life's Prickly Pear
"Life is filled with cacti and thorny situations. We have the option of growing our own thorns and 'getting our own back', or we can grow flowers and make life a better place to be in. I contemplate these sentiments in today's art journal blog."
Blog 27 - Art Journal: Cuddlesome Bunny
"We live in a world where we all need some tender-loving care from time to time. There is a time to grab a bunny to hug, and there is a time to be the bunny that gets hugged. I meditate on this in today's art journal blog."
Blog 28 - Art Journal: Wise Old Owl
"In today's art journal blog, I remind myself that God is the source of all true wisdom. I will waste my own time and energy if I try to make sense of this world and all its problems, while failing to consult God in the choices I make on a daily basis."
"In today's art journal blog, I contemplate the importance of having someone in your life who would be willing to look out for us. We need to recognize the fact that we all need someone to take our hand at some point in life. This is very much the childhood principle of taking hands when moving in a group on any outing. Mutual assistance and responsibility for each other is the cornerstone of a well functioning society."
Blog 30 - Art Journal: Three-Stranded Cord
"Ever since starting this art journal, the concept of the strength of a three-stranded cord had repeatedly featured in my life. Looking back on the journal, I notice that even the cover page was decorated with three chickens walking side by side. It seemed fitting therefore to devote the last pages of the journal to this topic. Explore it with me in today's blog."
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