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I was SO happy when Connie announced that everyone can now join her “30 Journals 30 Days” project.
Everyday, from July 1st to July 30rd, she gathered interviews of Art Journalers from all over the World. Some were beginners, other started a few months ago, and some do Art Journaling for years. This is what makes this project rich as it is. So many stories shared, so many different style, so many different reasons why people journal. It was something I was waiting for everyday this month.

I know I wasn’t the only one that was not-so-secretly wishing to be a part of this project 😉

SO if you want to join, you can ! Connie explains it all in her blogpost (linked earlier in this post). You can see the blogpost with all the links here:  30 Journals 30 Days: YOU.

• How long have you been Art Journaling ?

I started my first journal on July 13rd 2008, so a little more than 2 years ago. But when I started it, I didn’t think it was going to be very “arty” as my intention was to build a Creative Journal (I didn’t know about “Art Journals” at that time, and there is a slim but existing difference between the two).



• How has Art Journaling impacted, changed, or enhanced your life ?

I have been keeping diaries since 1992, I was something like 7 or 8 years old when I received my first diary as a birthday present; you know, the colourful one with a tiny key. I have bunch of them, filled with thoughts on everyday life and more “profound” sometimes. I glued pictures, items etc so it was more visual. I am an over-thinker, I think so much that it often causes me insomnia (I wish I could have Dumbledore’s Pensieve, trust me !) so pulling words out of my head onto the paper is an effective relief.
I never thought I was an artist, never. I was bad at school in the art class, even if it was a subject I liked and was interested in.
I never was able to draw a face, and still today: the faces I draw are everything but realistic. I take it as a “personal style” and not as a “weakness” thanks to my Journal.

In two years of art journaling, I gained self-confidence. About myself, about who I am, about who I want to become, even about my body.
It helped me setting goals. And it’s the first tool I use on my Healing Path. In my life, Art Journaling goes hand in hand with my Spirituality.

Thanks to Art Journaling, I am becoming an even better ME.

Last Summer, I signed up at Emily Carr (which is Vancouver’s institute of art + design) for a class about acrylic paint (like a 101 class) and learned they have what they call a certificate program: you pay a “entrance” fee, each class seperately when you take it, and you have 3 years to complete a list of precise classes + 48 hours of any other one(s), you have marked and at the end, if you passed everything, you get the certificate. It’s a BIG deal for me.

And Art Journaling helps me to create bounds with wonderful people like anything else did.



• What are a few of your favorite Art Journaling materials ?

I love gesso as it allow me to build great textures, acrylic paint is my “must have”. I discovered Caran D’ache watersoluble crayons (Neocolor II) and I am in love with them ! My palette knives are also a tool I use frequently.



• Who are some of your favorite Art Journalers ?

I love Teesha Moore work, it’s so precise and her style is recognizable between thousands.
Lisa Sonora Beam speaks to my Soul, as if her journaling process was making echo somewhere in me (and I deeply suggest her book, if you don’t already have it).
I wish I could hang out with Samantha Kira and journal outside or in a café together. Her videos on YouTube were more than helpful and I love her weekly vlog.
Connie because she makes it simple and intuitive and that’s how I dream to journal: by stopping to overthink it and just enjoying the process.
All began for me thanks to Suzi Blu‘s YouTube channel two years ago.
Donna Downey for the freedom her art journaling inspires me (and I can’t stop but hearing her saying “oooooh this makes me happy” in a giddy voice :D)
I am discovering a lot of awesome Art Journalers, it’s like a big family from all over the World, too many to name them all without unpurposely forgetting someone.



• What kind words of encouragement would you say to an Art Journal newbie ?

I would like to say that we are ALL artists; it’s just that often, we have a wrong idea of what being an artist really means.
Your journal is YOUR place, you can draw and write whatever you want. You don’t have to eldulcorate your feelings in it. You don’t have to feel this guilt. There is no “right” or “wrong” way of doing it; for example I love putting the date (even when it takes me longer to do and it’s spread on several days) on every pages, so later I can remember it and see the evolution.
No need to buy expensive art supply, but you can if you want. The rule is simple: there is absolutely no rule in keeping an art journal. If you’re affraid of the critique, keep it to yourself or chose wisely with whom you want to share.

The hardest part ? STARTING IT. But I warn you: nothing we’ll be the same after you’d entered the Art Journaling world…

• Where can we contact you…give us some link LOVE !!

I am revamping my blog and am building a kind of website to “gather it all”: inner-voices.net for the soon-to-be website.
https://inner-voices.net/blog for the english-speaking version of the blog. https://inner-voices.net/fr for the french-speaking version of the blog.
Twitter: @NolwennP
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/InnerVoices.net
My YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/NolwennBC
FlickR: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nolwennp/

• Short Bio.

I am a young woman born and raised in France during more than 23 years before becoming an expatriate with a husband and two young daughters, in Vancouver (Canada). I’ll turn 25 next September and for me, this is huge and I’m very excited about it.

I was a very creative child but put it aside during teenagehood. I am an avid journaler, I’ve written diaries since I’m 7 or so and writing is really something I need to free my Soul.

I discovered Creative Journaling in 2008 when I was suggested a book by Anne-Marie Jobin (art-therapist from Québec, who is a huge journaler and help people through combining drawing & writing. It’s slightly different that pure “art journaling” as it’s a powerful healing tool, where the “art” part has no aim to be pretty or elaborate.

Art Journaling helped me discovering I am an artist, and I have messages to tell through it; so I also started painting outside the journal and fell into the Mixed Media universe.

I also want to help people through art, even if I still don’t know exactly how at the moment. I know the Power of gratitude and try to help and inspire people thanks to it (that’s why I started my weekly ritual called Gratitude Friday, where I invite people to join and share what they are thankful for each week. A lot of people come to me saying it helps them seeing the bright side of their life and that is changes everything. I am nurturing some projects in this way 🙂

• Videos Starring Me:

As I told you a few weeks ago, I signed up for Art House “Sketchbook Project 2011” and today, look at what the postman put in my mailbox:

I love the stamp on the enveloppe 😀

YES, the paper of the sketchbook is like cigarette paper: really really thin. It’s good for pencils, but markers will bleed through and it won’t hold paint/collages.
So I will have to take the pages out (and i’ll make another sketchbook for myself with it, no waste) and put some heavier paper in there. The thing is, I am not a binder. I want to, I am learning, but it’s still unfamiliar for me. It’s a simple binding, as you can see (click to enlarge… it was hard to picture, sorry if it’s still kind of blurry).

I take any help you can give to me about the re-binding (and I know it will help a lot of others who also want to do so without knowing exactly how).

Oh, and the theme I decided to work on is “FIGURING YOU OUT“. It may lead to something intersting 😀

I want also to add: don’t be afraid to join. I was. I still am. It’s huge for me, like now I can tell my Gremlins “see, I am an artist”, people will see it, I won’t keep it all for myself. You can too, and you’ll feel great when you’ll send it back for the tour and then the permanent exhibition.

It’s one of the project I do in my “being BIG & FEARLESS path”.

EDIT: question for those who participate => do you know if it’s allowed to rebind the sketchbook differently than with stiches ? for example thanks to something like the Bind-it-all ? (thanks to Kyra for bringing this up)

Do you know Zentangles ? I’m pasting what is said on the official Zentangle website:

Zentangle is an easy to learn method of creating beautiful images from repetitive patterns. It is a fascinating new art form that is fun and relaxing. It increases focus and creativity. Zentangle provides artistic satisfaction and an increased sense of personal well being. Zentangle is enjoyed by a wide range of skills and ages and is used in many fields of interest.

It’s beautiful pieces of patterns put together.

I’m not a patient woman and I don’t like taking too much time on tiny little details… and because of it, when I first tried Zentangles (after seing Milliande’s videos on Youtube), i nearly threw away my journal of anger. Oops.

But this week, I received so many signs about Zentangles that I couldn’t just ignore it and that’s why I decided to give it another try.
Thanks to Kerri on Twitter, I found some amazing patterns ! It really helps to have a kind of “patterns bank” somewhere when you don’t feel inspired, when you don’t know what to add and/or how to do it.

Click to enlarge

I started by tracing a 7×7 square on my journal page, and then with the biggest pen of my PittPens set I traced intuitive shape. When finished, I thought it looked like a kind of weird lotus flower, which I loved. And that is where the magic happened: I took every space alone and worked in it, not thinking about what will come next, what if I mess it up, just enjoying the repetition of the pattern in the area. And I filled it entirely, I didn’t give up, I liked it.
I love the fact that it taught me to be patient and calm with myself and with what I create. And that it was good not to stay on a bad experience.

Some useful links about Zentangles:
Zentangle.com
tanglepatterns.com

PS: I am starting to fill my FlickR photostream so come and have a look if you want; it’s there => http://www.flickr.com/photos/nolwennp/

Hello !

I hope you all had a wonderful week-end.

Today, I am going to share something that is very important to me, you may be okay with it. Or not. It’s alright if you’re not.

Since my early teenage years, I am a huge believer. I don’t call it “God” or “Allah”, it’s not a “He” or a “She”, sometimes I call it in French “Les P’tits Vieux” which I don’t find an appropriate term in English. For me, and it’s my personal point of view, It is both Feminine & Masculine, Dark & Light, Positive & Negative… the ambivalence in everything, everywhere. But most of the time, I simply refer to this Life Force as “the Universe“.

Before I discovered Art Journaling, I was an avid writer in diaries (since I was something like 7 years old) in which I glued and doodled sometimes. So the writing part is kind of important in my Art Journalin process; even just a word or a short sentence make me feel like it’s more complete.
I love writing unsent letters. Do you know this ? It’s simple: you write a letter to someone you have something to say (usually, it’s something painful you can’t tell directly to the person, but it can be anything you need), and when you are finished, you symbolically destroy it. What I do is that I safely burn it, visualizing all the negative feelings associated with it vanishing away; but you can burry it, tear the paper and flush it in a river: be creative, it can be absolutely anything (just be careful, ok ?) ! The major positive thing about it is because it stays “unsent” you don’t have to censure yourself and you can expose everything you feel, every word that needs to get out of you.

It is a very powerful way to keep going on your life without being hold back by old feelings. Give it a try 🙂

Click to enlarge

In this Art Journal page, I wrote a letter to The Universe to express my Gratitude regarding all the beautiful Souls that are coming into my life lately, and I ask for some guidance (You see, no need to be in pain to write an unsent letter). Gratitude is an important part of my life, that’s why I began the weekly ritual I call “Gratitude Friday“, you can read more about it there.
Then, I simply let the paint go on the page, trying not to overthink but to just enjoy the process.
I used my Silhouette to cut the stencils.
It’s not perfect at all. I made a glitch when i wanted to stencil the round thing in the left corner, using black fluid acrylic: bad idea, too liquide, it resulted in a huge black spot on the page. Not a problem, i just incorporated it and add some more texture with the bubble wrap while it was still wet. Before, I would have litterally panicked and the Gremlins would have been feroce with me “look at what you just did, you blew all your page, it’s ugly, boooooooo”. Not this time. So I notice a change in the way I see my Art Journal process and I am glad.
My girls wanted to participate and added the stars and butterfly. Pretty pretty.

And here is my first Art Journal video !! I want to deeply thanks all of you who told me they liked my first one about being BIG & FEARLESS, and for sharing it around you, I’m so blessed to have you, thank you !
I hope you’ll enjoy this one as well:

I can’t believe I did this..:

Click to enlarge

I am CRAZY ! I don’t know what emotion takes over the most: fear (of not doing in on time, of not being worthy, of wasting money and time…) or excitement (it’s a huge project !) ?!

Do you know about this ?

What it is about:
Art House co-op organizes this International project.

• You chose one of the several themes available (I had a hard time deciding but went for “Figuring You Out“). You can do what you want but it’s the red string in your sketchbook. You can decorate the cover, and everything you want as long as you don’t change the size for something too big, and you don’t use a lot of glitters. I love the fact that the themes can be interpreted in such a lot of ways, but it scares me as well.
• You chose the kind of Moleskine you want
• You have two more options available (for an extended cost): digitalize => they will digitalize your sketchbook for you so it will also be available online, I chose this option; you can decide after but it will cost twice the price; add a poster.

You check it out, enter your information and it’s done ! You receive an email of confirmation and then you’ll receive an email notification when your sketchbook has been sent. And voilà !

You have until January 15th 2011 to send your sketchbook back. Then, it will be part of this huuuuuuuuuge project, will tour the US and be part of the exhibition in Brooklyn where people will be able to see it, touch it etc.

What I like is that you have the possibility to know exactly where your sketchbook is, how many people touched it etc. Love love love !

More detailed informations on the project: The SketchBook Project 2011 features

PS: i can’t believe it !! my sketchbook has already been sent to me ! I’ll get it in about two weeks from now 😀