The Art of Gratitude

& the Last Page in my journal!

I am so excited to have completed the very last page of my art journal! Finishing my journal before the end of the year was a personal challenge and I’m over the moon that I did it!!! I can’t thank you enough for following along and encouraging me week after week. And to those of you who have also just completed a journal, a painting or any other creative challenge: Congratulations!!!

Every year in the last week of December I create a Gratitude page in my journal, and in the first week of January I start another page with a “Word of the Year” (it will be the first page of my new journal in 2020!). Here is the Gratitude one!

Here was my starting point, which I share more about in THIS POST…

…and here is the finished page:

the magic of gratitude

Gratitude can have the most amazing ripple effects in our lives. No matter what your year was like, there is always so much to be grateful for, and I believe with all my heart that when you look for and honor those little nuggets of joy, you invite more into your life.

I feel so grateful for each and every person who has joined my classes and purchased my art this year. You are allowing me to live my creative life to the fullest and inspire others to embrace their creative dreams too, including my kids who are watching me and William at work every day!

Another thing I am so grateful for this year is our beautiful home (and our garden!!!). Believe it or not, my art journal played its part in making this dream come true! You can read the whole story here. I am also grateful to have such a great working space now (see the studio tour here!), and to have moved close to my parents and my grandma’s nursing home. Family connections are so precious.

Finally, it fills my heart with joy that our business is allowing us to contribute to causes that matter to us. In particular, for the past two years we’ve been able to help a local family of refugees from Eritrea, paying for childcare, plane tickets etc. We’re also contributing to charities who protect wildlife and animals, including a local charity for abandoned pets. Last June we rescued three kittens during a severe heat wave and none of the local organizations were able to help, so this was at the top of our list this year.

Tell me in the comments:

What are you grateful for this year? Do you have a personal gratitude practice? Or maybe you have created your own gratitude artwork? Please share it all in the comments and let’s inspire each other!

I feel so very grateful that living my passion and purpose as an artist is allowing me to have a positive impact on so many levels, so thank YOU!

Light & love,

Let’s art journal together!

The practice of Art Journaling has had such an amazing, positive impact on my life as an artist. It has made me grow in new and unexpected ways, and I’m excited to share it with you in The Artist & the Journal!