**LOVE**

So here I am on the third day of my three day Eat, Pray, Love retreat.
LOVE - what a loaded word.
Love really is more of an action than anything else, so how can I contemplate this while alone in retreat from the world? Love implies there being others, implies connections and embraces and sacrifices and more than one alone.
So, my love day is not exactly the same as the lovely episode described in the Eat, Pray, Love book, where the author falls in love in Bali with a wonderful man.
My day of love seems to be about, first of all - self love.
I do what I need to do to love myself, so that I can love others.
I journaled about these ideas, and came up with images that really run the gamut of kinds of love, love for children, animals, art, perhaps even love for ideas.
I know that I love to read.
I love to collage.
I love to meditate and walk in nature.
but love is really more of a verb, not a thought.
"How well did I love?" -- that will be a question all of us ask when we are facing the end of our lives.
Sometimes I love my children so much it hurts, that I feel like I didn't do or say the right things at the right time.
Loving ones' children is like this, and it stretches us beyond what we thought stretchable.
Loving a spouse for 24 years, as well - that is a long long time to pledge love to one single person, and we have had our ups and downs. and after lots of downs this year, we are actually in a very nice place right now - both learning to love and respect the other in new ways.
I also have friends that I love very much, whose friendship I cherish and need.
Friends who hold me together when I am falling apart. . .
There are many kinds of love - too many for one day. I need a week to just journal and think about love.
no, a lifetime.
hopefully, I will have a lifetime of love.

Day Two - PRAY

So I am on day two of my Eat Pray Love retreat.
PRAY.
This morning I got up pretty early, though not as early as the 3:30 A.M. time that Elizabeth Gilbert had to rise at the Ashram she was studying at, to meditate.
The problem with meditation is there are always uninvited thoughts barging into the quietness that is being created.
I imagine sitting on the banks of a still still lake, and the thoughts are ripples that I let slowly fade out.
This helps until the next thought, one second later.
Well, it's all a process.
Today I will meditate a few more times, do some journey work, and make more pages.
Also here high in the mountains we got over a foot of snow last night - I find myself just gazing out the window, watching the chunks of wet snow fall off the pine trees that surround this cabin. That is a form of meditation, too, I suppose.
Praying is really an act of awareness, as much as anything else.
as is making these Pray pages for my journal. . . .

Eat**Pray**Love

That beautiful fruit was my breakfast this morning - let me explain:
I have been reading this wonderful, wonderful memoir by Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love; it is about a year she spent living in Rome, India, and Bali just learning to be - she ate her way through Rome, learned meditation in an Indian Ashram, and fell in love in Bali.
I am inspired by her example to take a retreat - some time off to pursue pure pleasure, enlightenment, and bliss. I don't have a year, but I do have three days.
So right now, I am totally alone in a cabin high in the Rockies near Winterpark, Colorado. I am surrounded by snow and pine trees. This is DAY ONE of my eat, pray, love retreat, this is the day dedicated to good eating.
TO totally enjoy the pleasures that nature gave us in our food - today I am going to prepare three healthy wonderful meals, and enjoy the process of the preparation, the eating, and even the cleaning up after.
I made this fruit plate for breakfast - drizzled in honey.
For lunch - fresh eggs with mushrooms and monterey jack, and for dinner, I got a grass-fed filet mignon. I am totally dedicating this whole day to eating the best I can, to enjoying the beauty and health of the food as well, to knowing my body appreciates good nourishing things.
Today the only goal is to eat well - I also took a long walk, and I worked in my journal, and I will read a bit, nap a bit, etc.
But the focus today is on the FOOD.
Tomorrow, the day is PRAY - that will be much harder and austere. SO I am really enjoying the bliss of the food and luxury today.
Here is the first journaling pages about this wonderful day - and do look for the upcoming journal pages on Pray and Love!

an ART journal/a writing journal

So I used to just have words in my journals.
then I discovered that if I made some art, played around, did some collage first, then wrote - the words reached deeper in - instead of just shopping lists and gripe lists and what I did today lists, I got to the authentic voice I had hoped for all along.
and sometimes, it is just about pictures.
drawings or collage images I cut out and paste in.
but even then, I have found the words, when honored on pages with interesting images, somehow have more life and meaning.
and you can even make your lettering decorative.
make sure you have juicy markers, make some bumpy lines and fill them in.
I love for the words to be as interesting as the images:

and for today

Ask not what your journal can do for you, ask what YOU can do for your journal!
Try It!

geometry

I know that yesterday I told you to make a mess.
Making a mess takes courage - so today - your reward is that you get to make something neat and tidy!
A circle is a complete thing - it is a totality that pleases the mind and the eye.
If you need a sense of completeness, or neatness, go ahead and make a circle.
If you can, make a messy one, though!
then you can color and collage around it, and fill it in with words.
Sometimes our brains just want order.
although chaos gets us closer to our true inner selves, I also understand the need for structure on the road to chaos.
So - as a compromise, you can start with SOME order, then let the chaos dance around it.
Some balance is pleasing to the eye - and then the mind is pleased. Here I balanced the image of the flower by placing part on one side and part on the other side of the pages.
There are also map pieces here and there - if you can see them, under the color and in the circle.

controlled chaos.
make sense?

pictures, words, and how they fit together

by now you have probably realized that my focus in this blog is getting you (and me!) to try not to make pretty images.
I am not interested in cuteness or nice to look at.
I use my journal to mine my own inner gems - to get inside and figure it all out. . . . Journal as Therapy!
and I have found a great way to do this is just to choose random images and slap them on some pages - add some color, then write.
In this entry - I also printed out an entry from my on-line journal and incorporated it into the pages.
It sort of makes a record of the things I say there in my book/art journal.
I have come to learn that the right side of the brain, the intuitive, creative, visual, subconscious side has mysteries and meanings I want to understand - and my experimentation in my journal helps me get there.
Try making a collage with no planning or thought, then write some words.
It really is interesting how this makes the writing richer and more authentic.
and the more you do it, the easier it flows - just like learning any new thing.
It is so cool that our brains can get better at accessing these inner truths!

why be neat?

I think the most important thing for me is to UNLEARN the grinding neatness that was instilled in me over the years - this neatness comes from the editor, the person who is scared what the work will look like.
If you are trying to spill, to connect to the inner sub-conscious part of you - the part that is all awareness and stillness, then this editor person can really derail the process for you.
I have found that working in my journal is not at all about neatness or perfection or even making images I plan in advance.
It is much more about discovery.
I try to just randomly put things together with no clue or reason why.
Accessing the real inner you, the authentic you - this is what you are trying for in your journal.
It's really NOT about making pretty pictures.
So - I make it my job to consider that if the pages are messy or weird - JOB WELL DONE.
I try to be pleased with experimentation and mistakes.
This leads much more closely to the mystery that is the inner me - the real me, the me I am looking for in these pages.
So - make a mess, be fearless, don't plan or expect anything . . . .
Just grab some images - your own drawings or images that are cut or torn from somewhere else - both is really great - and plop them all together on a page and add some words and color.
Just see what happens, and don't even think about the WHY of the things you are working with.
You might be amazed at the results, you might find out something you didn't know before. I am always amazed at how the subconscious level finds a way to get it's mind known, if I only let it!

photos, then words:

A while back I showed you a bunch of pages that were all made from the New York Times Fashion Magazine issue - there were lots of great textures and fabrics which really inspired me. Today I am showing you what it looks like when I added words over the collage:



GO back to February 24, if you want to see this page before writing. Don't you love the elephanty texure? My skin is starting to look like this . . . oh well.

my answer to the stress of life, is:

have Fun with my Journal!

EGGS EGGS EGGS it's all about EGGS

Happy Springtime!
and it's about time.
I thought I would share a little technique with you.
This is a photo I took of some tea-soaked eggs I was lucky enough to eat in a tea-house in Greenwich Village (they were amazing, by the way):


Then - I photoshopped the photo a bit. made it both blue and yellowish (using the invert tool) and printed it out, and cut out just the egg shapes.
I painted the journal pages first with watercolor, let it dry, glued on the eggs, wrote some words, added some colored pencil a bit, and VOILA:



Sometimes colors and shapes just do it all.
And you can see how fun it is to play with photos that might not be spectacular on -their own - just take some photos and see what happens. Magazine cut-outs work, too.
Happy Journaling!

lots of words!

There is a time and place for lots of words - sometimes you just have lots to say! These four images are mail art I received and they were just so beautifully colored - sort of a tie-dyed looking set of envelopes (yes - the artist made four!) I use whatever inspiration comes my way - and belonging to mail art communities is a great way to share original art with artists from around the world - look at my website if you want to learn more about mail art.
I scanned and printed out these envelopes to add to my journal, and they just called for a black background. . . then with a silver pen, the words came.
I use the art to coax out the words, the words are my truth and the art helps me find them.
Try making a page, leaving room, and just start writing - see what you get!

NEW pages

My monthly journaling group met last night, and once again, as always, something about the group energy really inspires me. Sitting around a table with tons of markers and inks and conversation and connection is a wonderful way to work.
I love really amazing bright colors - orange and red and chartreuse together make for lively writing.
and this cutout (her dress is much brighter green in life) just called out to me - Art Goddess at Work - as she languidly relaxes - because relaxing is certainly part of the creative process!



I started this page with black and the gargolye, then realized I wanted the mood to be lighter - I simply changed the gargoyle's expression to a smile, and adding the laughing girl - the quote by Mark Twain reads, "The human race has one really effective weapon and that is laughter."
How I wish we all knew that more.

The page feels messy to me, but it also really lightened my mood as I was working, and the challenge to take somber colors and make the bright - isn't that what we are doing every day in life?
SO go add some brightness!
It will make you happier, and then you will create more happiness in others.

Please comment if you are moved to - I love hearing from you!
Happy Journaling!

success?

What is a successful page in your journal?
one where you like the collage?
one where your writing revealed something new and amazing to you?
one you could tear out and put in a frame?
one where you took a risk, made a mess, and broke new ground?

I challenge you today to imagine making a mess in your book.
making a BIG mistake.
and working around that.

today, there are no images of my own work - just try making something you don't plan ahead.
don't look at one of my pages and say, "I will do that!"

make a mess of your own.
surprise yourself!
The next post I will have lots of new pages - some are messy and not what I hoped for, but all showed me something about me, or my inner self, that I did not expect.
That's the gift this process can give you!

NOW get working!

Just Do It !

I know the dishes aren't done
but *DANCE AND SING AND SPIN AND MAKE SOME ART ANYWAY*
I know the bills aren't all payed and you don't even know where you will get the money,
but *DANCE AND SING AND SPIN AND MAKE SOME ART ANYWAY*
I know the kids have dissappointed you, and the mistakes you made ten years ago still haunt you
but *DANCE AND SING AND SPIN AND MAKE SOME ART ANYWAY*
I know it is rainy today and you wanted to go on a walk
but *DANCE AND SING AND SPIN AND MAKE SOME ART ANYWAY*
I know you don't have money for the new paints you wanted
but *DANCE AND SING AND SPIN AND MAKE SOME ART ANYWAY*
I know there are a thousand distractions on the internet and it is easier to just web surf for your entertainment
but *DANCE AND SING AND SPIN AND MAKE SOME ART ANYWAY*
if you get up and move
if you get your supplies out
if you get your journal out
and some pretty paper
and some sissors and a glue stick
if you open that tin with charcoals of many colors
and just make something
then get up and stretch and put on some great music
and dance just a bit around the room
All Will Be Well.

love, Em

Get Creative!!!

So this morning when I opened the New York Times, their magazine was all women's fashion.
I can do without the skinny models, but the textures and colors of the ads are really marvelously rich and detailed.
Plus the paper they print on is wonderfully thin and great for spray mount collaging into my journal.
So I tore out lots of the pages, and started tearing, cutting and spraying.
The first page you see has the words I added after, the others don't yet, so you can see what you can start with - and also because I need a metallic pen to mark on those dark parts, which is at the studio and I am home.
but you get the idea - just tear and cut and glue and play.
Turning the magazine images upside down helps.
and putting part of a photo on either side of the paper.
and keeping colors sort of grouped - but just look at the collages and then try it yourself.

It might look like there is not a lot of room for words, but sometimes, I like to make the images queen. There is always room for words on the blank parts. . . .
mostly - Have Fun!

just DO it

Once a month I meet with other journalers at a group at my UU congregation - I sometimes show a technique, but mostly we just all bring piles of cool collagey papers and juicy markers and inks, and enjoy collaging together in our journals. Sometimes a new convert is opened up to this fun process and they are amazed at the way art journaling is possible for anyone, not just "seasoned" artists. At the end of the meeting, we share some pages and ideas with each other.
It is a very relaxing and inspiring time - and I always seem to do my favorite pages at this group.
Try journaling with some friends - you'll be amazed!

I'm BACK!

yes - it's been a long time since I've posted - we had a week in Colorado (got to minus 18 degrees!!! Colder than a witches. . . . you know the rest.)
And we finally sold our house and are working on a move - so I might be scarce here the next few months - but I am, always, working in my journal and will have lots of new pages with new inspirations for you in the weeks to come - do come back and check on progress here.
and in the meantime - remember - if you feel stuck, just grab your journal and some old magazines, find a cool photo that catches your eye, cut it out, paste it in, add some color and start to write.
Amazing things will happen!
Happy New Year!

Creation/Destruction

In Hindu spirituality, the Goddess Shiva (the one with the many arms) is responsible for both creation and destruction. This is sorta surprizing to me - but it really does make sense - sometimes you have to tear things apart to find something new.
Sometimes the path to something being awakened involves some sort of sacrifice or messing up of what is already there.
I know I have damaged many pages in my journal with my experimental messing about - but then, something new and interesting can emerge - something I didn't plan in advance.
"Mistakes" can be the best thing that ever happened!
So don't be scared of just messing around and trying something new.
your journal will thank you!

make a picture

since a picture is worth a thousand words - just grab some photos, or colored pens,
collage it.
maybe add some words.
maybe not:

grab those markers!

Put a bunch of smooth flowing brightly colored markers in a solid mug.
Put this mug on your desk.
Some time today - grab your journal - spread some pretty color on it using ink or charcoal, and just start writing with those juicy markers.
Let the words meander and turn here and there.
Words can add design beauty!
Have Fun!