It’s always so special when you reach the last page of your art journal… I’m anticipating the joy of holding my finished, magical book in my hands for the very first time, flipping through its pages (I’ll share a video soon). But first, one last story to unveil, one last message from my inner artist, before she takes me on new adventures…

the Starting point

The page started with layers of left-over paint from this recent project. Then, as I was releasing a new lesson called “Wings of Hope”, I remembered a photo I had printed back when I was filming it, but ended up not using: a girl on a swing. I think many of us can remember the feeling of being on a swing, the closest thing to flying we might have ever experienced. When I make art, I get similar feelings: it’s both deeply relaxing and wildly exhilarating, filling me up with a sense of infinite possibility! I dug out the photo, placed it on top of my messy background and… yes! It felt just right:

taking the time

To tell you the truth, I’m a very slooow journaler. It probably took me a month or more before deciding what I wanted to do, and completing the spread. As for the whole journal, I can’t remember exactly when I started it, but I looked at the date on the previous one (I always date the back cover when a journal’s complete) and it was two and a half years ago… So if you’re a slow journaler too, or if you tend to beat yourself up for not making art every day, or if you’re under the illusion that a “real” artist has to be super prolific… permission granted to change your perspective!

To get started, I added some bits of collage, more paint, and started blending my fairy image with the background. Then I tried a few pairs of wings and went back to my first impulse, with this beautiful, contrasted pair in yellow and black.

the fairy

After that, I realized that her hair should be flying behind her, over the wings, so I recreated it with a paint marker and some coloring pencils. I also added more collage, doodled some flowers, added a scalloped bit of paper from a scrapbooking pad I recently purchased… As the layers added up, I ended up losing most of the black dots from my original background, and decided to add them back in. I like the movement they create, up, up and away… plus, “genealogically”, they connect this page to the series of paintings that started the background.

inviting inner guidance

Little by little, I also started to listen to the guidance that this page wanted to offer (they always have something to say, even when sometime I don’t want to listen!). We’ve just been through days and days of foggy, gloomy weather and my spirits were getting a bit low, as though the mist was filling me up with blurry greyishness. It felt good to journal about my thoughts and feelings, then add more touches of bright color to lift my mood. I love that as artists, we can always create whatever we’re longing for!

It was also, once again, a stressful time with the US elections (a large number of my students and followers are American, and their distress is palpable). I started playing with cut-out words, spreading any words that appealed to me on the page, and unlike some other times, a message appeared very quickly. I knew it was not meant just for me, but for all of you artsy fairies out there too:

Brave & sweet messages

I’ve been pondering this message all day and to me, it’s a reminder to not give up when we feel powerless. It’s very easy to blame and complain, especially when that’s all you hear about on the news. It can be tempting to point our finger at others for everything that’s going wrong, especially when others already do. But what if we turned within and realized it’s up to us to do whatever we can, at our (not so) small scale, to bring more joy, light and hope into the world? What if we realized how much magic we hold, each in our own way, and did something with it? For many of us, it’s art. That’s our gift to the world, so let’s go make it and share it!

The other message I got from this spread is from the fairy herself. When you think of it, what’s a fairy doing on a swing? I mean, she’s got wings, she doesn’t need to pretend to fly. Or maybe she does, just a little bit? Maybe she’s afraid of taking flight and sharing her fairy dust with the big scary world out there? Maybe she needs to pause for a moment, relax, reconnect to a sense of childlike joy, swing back and forth to gain momentum, until she’s ready to take the leap…?

I think what my fairy wants to say to you and me is this:

I’ll keep this in my heart as I close the finished journal… Here is a look at the process from start to finish again:

I hope this has inspired you and given you renewed courage to show up as the beautiful creative soul you are. Please a comment for me at the bottom of this post!

And stay tuned for the flip-through of the whole journal in my next post. Until then, have a creative day and go make some art!

free art journaling resources for you!

What if you could fill a whole journal with beauty, stories and magic? What if it helped you make art deep from your soul? Discover plenty of free art journaling resources, page examples, tutorials and flip-through videos here: 

Leave a comment for me!