One day my dearest friend and I decided to start making art journals. She had two blank books; we chose a "word of the week" and we had seven days to create a 2-page spread. We could use any idea, medium, or technique we wanted. The ideas tumbled in my mind all week until I made my art piece the night before our journal date. We met over coffee where we shared our art, gave each other compliments and encouragement, traded books, and decided on the next week's word.
The result, five years later, is four big, fat journals stuffed full of incredible art. This is a sampling of some of the words we've chosen:
Disgust
Hold
Phoenix
Space
Rise
Cheese
Jump
This week I chose the word "clean."
Even though this has been a wonderful opportunity to practice my art skills, use my imagination, steal like an artist, and make it about the process, the greatest thing of all was that it helped me recapture my creativity. I was stuck in a business I disliked, plus our youngest had just left for college and I was smashed in the feels with Empty Nest Syndrome. I was a hot mess. I'll always be grateful to my dear friend who waved two empty books under my nose and said, "I have an idea."
She's the queen of ideas. <3
