Hi again! I’m taking another Dawn Sokol workshop! It’s called Badass Femmes and she’s doing profiles and prompts based on some seriously badass women in history. So far, she’s done people like Joan Jett and RBG. I love this class.
One of the people she talked about is Kathleen Hanna, who started the band Bikini Kill because she didn’t like the violence in mosh pits and called to the guys to let “girls to the front”. That’s what inspired this page spread.
Every year, my daughter’s school hosts a big gala and it’s the biggest, and most crucial, fundraiser of the year. At the gala, there are auction items and all of the families donate items. This year, I made this junk journal with the theme of the Blessed Mother. It’s going into a package with other devotional items. I’m packaging the book with a couple of nice pens, and a note about the book and how one might use it. I’m pretty excited and really hope that the winner loves it.
I had intended to make something or work on my journal during this unseemly hour of the morning, but instead, I am sharing some work I’ve been doing for the past week or two. Dawn Sokol runs a class each holiday season that focuses on journaling to help process the holiday season and winter. It’s a great class that I’ve taken a couple of times in the past. Here is some of my work, along with some works in progress, that I have so far.
It’s a homemade book, set up in the style of a travelers notebook, using elastic bands to keep in each signature. The pages are made of old cereal boxes, magazine pages, old Christmas cards, cardstock, regular ole white heavyweight paper, and more. Some of these pages are still works in progress, mostly needing some doodling and journaling. #JingleJournal2021
This spread, so far, is a big mishmosh. The cafe image reminds me of a cafe in Paris that was right down the alley from my hotel. The rest are papers related to France and the trip. No idea why I drew the flowers, though. A little paint and doodling will bring it more cohesiveness, though.
This page is begging for me to do some pen work. It also terrifies me because I love it so much and I don’t want to ruin it. Yes, I know. I won’t ruin it. This spread is also in my France book. We had a lovely visit in a chapel at a castle. It was very touristy, but despite that, I loved the chapel so much.
So, I’ve decided that this isn’t finished and that I can do some more pen work on it. It’s in my France journal and it reflects on a day our group spent walking around a little town that’s referred to as “Village of Books” or something similar. It was lovely. When I think about going back to France, I think about days like this and how much I want to have that feeling again.
Yep. That woman on horseback with the dilapidated castle were the instigators for this journal spread. Then I just started doodling. I’ll probably come back to it and add more layers to the doodles, but for now, I am pleased. This is in my France journal, which I began in a Kelly Kilmer workshop week in France in June 2019.
Kelly Kilmer‘s workshops here in my town happened 7 weeks ago. Seven. Why am I writing about it now? That’s a good question. I’ve been wrestling with some stuff lately. The kind of stuff that has me questioning everything and ending my internal conversations with the question, “What’s the point?” and my psychiatrist asking me if I ever think of hurting myself.
I’m not. But still, Not Good.
I’m listening to an audio book called The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck and getting schooled by a millennial. He’s saying all of the things I already know, but for some reason, it’s resonating this time.
Do something.
So I’m going to post this thing I’ve been wanting to post for 7 weeks now.
Kelly’s workshops, as always, were fantastic. The woman can really teach and she definitely inspires me. I can’t recommend her more highly. All of the ladies who were in the class were inspiring, too. It’s great to go around and see everyone’s work. There was laughter and sharing and the woman who let us use her home for our weekend, Bev Perina, is a kind and generous joy to be around.
I’ve been in a serious art rut for a long time now, but I think these workshops have helped me to start getting out of it. I’ve worked in my Kelly journals a tiny bit since the weekend I started them, but not a lot. Maybe in sharing them here, I’ll get re-inspired.
The past few nights have seen me in my studio, hard at work on journals and other random things. Here’s this week’s journal spread (WIP) and some corrugated cardboard pages I’m making, also WIP. I am not sure if they’ll be postcards or if they’ll be pages for a book — what do you think?
