Tag Archives: Journal

The Sketchbook Project

04 Thursday Apr 2019

Posted by in Art, Art on Exhibit

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coverI have been very busy so far this year. I completed the Brooklyn Art Library’s Sketchbook Project. It will be available digitally at their website and will be traveling around the country during the next year. The first event will be the Bookmobile at The Other Art Fair at the Brooklyn Expo Center in the beginning of May. I made a flip through video that I posted on Instagram, but I have not been able to get the video onto my blog. Look for me on Instagram @jeanette.clawson. Here are some photos of the process of completing my sketchbook.

I will soon be living in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, near the shore of Lake Michigan. I hope to be exhibiting and teaching again in the near future.  I hope you have some beauty and peace in your day.

peace mandala

Year in Review

01 Tuesday Jan 2019

Posted by in Art, Gratitude Journal

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It has been quite a year. I have not made as much art as I would have liked and I have had a lot of problems with my blog, but looking at my year in review I feel excited about what I have learned. I also feel a whole lot better after 207 medical appointments/procedures in 2018, including 5 hours in surgery. I hope next year is more productive and healthier, but here are my journal pages from 2018.

These are the pages I have already blogged about. And here is the rest of the year.

Thank you for stopping by. May your new year be full of peace and beauty.

 

Fall Classes 2018: Morris County Art Association

22 Wednesday Aug 2018

Posted by in art class, Zentangle Method Class

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Zentangle journalsThe Zentangle® Method: This meditative art form uses quality art supplies and simple instructions to create patterns to explore non-representational art. Create your own Zentangle® reference book in a lovely Pre-Strung Journal or your own art journal. This class is an exploration of increasingly complex Zentangle® patterns and techniques. This class will help you develop a Zentangle® practice and provide the tools for creating a beautiful Zentangle® Journal.

Class # M424 $230/200 members per session
Meets: Thursdays 4-6:30 pm Dates: September 13- November 1, 2018

January 10- February 28, 2019

altered books I have madeAltered Book Art Journaling: Monthly Workshop: An art journal is a place to express yourself and experiment with new media and techniques. In this 3-hour workshop we will take an old book and give it new life. This is an art class about working with what you have. Gratitude is one of the key components in living a happy life. Learn how to re-purpose a hardcover book, assemble an assortment of papers to use, and construct your very own altered book with pockets and collaged pages. We will explore using what you find in the book for inspiration and gathering materials from your everyday life that are meaningful to you to use in the journal. Take one or more workshop. We will combine acrylic paints and media with found papers and ephemera to create beautiful art journals.

Class # M7JC0 $65/60 members per session
Meets: Sundays 1-4 pm Dates: September 9, October 7, November 4, and December 2, 2018

artist trading cards

Artist Trading Cards Workshop. This workshop will teach how to create Artist Trading Cards. We start with upcycled cardboard and collage and paint a large surface to be divided into trading cards for artists. They can be embellished in many ways.

Class # M6JC0 $65/60 members per session
Meets: Saturdays 1-4pm Dates: October 6, 2018 and March 2, 2019

MCAA studio, 10 Catherine Lane, Morristown, NJ. To register use the Contact page above. Classes must be paid in full with a completed registration form to complete registration.

Solstice: Return of the Light

22 Friday Dec 2017

Posted by in Gratitude Journal

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Solstice

There is a lot of gratitude captured on this page layout. I had a fun trip to a new art supply store with a friend. I sat on our new couch and watched Saturday morning public television. My husband and I participated in a lot of activities with the Unitarian Fellowship and holiday preparations. And I’m doing a lot of art experimentation. Mostly it hasn’t gone how I envisioned, but yesterday I decided to take a different route. Now I’m excited again to get back to work on it.

Gratitude: Checking it Twice

08 Friday Dec 2017

Posted by in Gratitude Journal

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making my lists

I’m grateful to be getting back to my art journal more regularly. I created a lot of art this year, but in the last few months I haven’t done as much in my journal and I missed it. I have had a lot to do during this holiday season. I have also had a lot to do with my continuing & increasing health challenges. But not only did I make a To Do list, I got to check a whole lot off of it. It reminded me of Santa checking his list twice. Checking a list as completed and then going back to review my accomplishments and checking them again was very satisfying.

I hope you have a beautiful day and wishing you light in this time of darkness.

Cumulative Gratitude

18 Saturday Nov 2017

Posted by in Gratitude Journal

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november 2017 election hopes

These gratitude journal pages cover most of November. In creating all the art for my current exhibit I fell behind in my gratitude journal. The recent election results give me hope for the future. I just hope that immigrants, people with health problems, those who face economic challenges and all of us who hope to believe in democracy can hold on until the 2018 election. The layers of red text on the left hand page were created with inspiration from Claudia McGill’s handwriting explorations. The right hand page is lots of influence from the collage class I have been taking.

I want to come back to the red text. It was made from an image I created with my therapist. She is an art therapist and I make very different things in there than I do at home. Here is a recent one. This is how I feel about doctors in general and being diagnosed with endometriosis at the age of 50. I don’t generally enjoy working with oil pastels, but in this context they are perfect.

DSC_1883

They also work as an interesting transfer. I then flipped this over and wrote in 2 directions on the back to do some journaling about my recent health exploits in my gratitude journal. That is what appears so subtly on the left hand page. I think I’m going to have to explore this combination of techniques some more. This was very therapeutic.

 

New Art Class Fun & WIP Update

14 Thursday Sep 2017

Posted by in Gratitude Journal, Zentangle Method Class

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RE introductionI’m taking a wonderful collage class about painting with paper and I’m loving it! I have already discovered some new toys and new interpretations of old ones. One of my old favorites is using parts of napkins to capture gratitude. Sometimes they are from specific events – such as these 2 funny ones from my Religious Education teacher training last weekend. I’m really looking forward to getting to know the 5th & 6th grade children and families from my Unitarian Fellowship.

I’m going to be doing more in my gratitude journal to experiment with ideas from this class. Yesterday I went to Michael’s to get my Eclipse Mandala framed for my October show and I bought a few fun things inspired by the class. None of them are in this art journal page layout because this is from the last week. Mandala 49 is almost done and this layout includes some experiments for that.

I’m also working on some art and a brochure for a class I will be offering in October. It is designed to get you started on a Zentangle® journal practice and will include the Pre-Strung Zentangle® journal. I should have an update in the next few days on this.

What is beautiful in your life today?

So Much Gratitude

04 Monday Sep 2017

Posted by in Art on Exhibit, Gratitude Journal, Zentangle Inspired Art

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eclipse mandala in progress

fibonacci

You may see signs of some of my big art pieces in progress over the last few weeks of gratitude journaling, especially the Eclipse Mandala. I’m still learning Zentangle patterns in white on black. They behave and get shaded/highlighted differently. It took quite a bit of practice and auditioning to get to the finished mandala collage. I think I will include it here again because I’m enjoying looking at it and I hope you are, too!

eclipse mandala

I think I am going to do some drawing on top of the gold, but I’m not quite sure what the plan is yet.

Let it Be a Dance

19 Wednesday Jul 2017

Posted by in Gratitude Journal

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All of July so far has been captured in 2 art journal page layouts. There are a lot of layers in many ways in these pages. I hope you find some beauty or inspiration. I use my journal to practice affirmations and recognize what went well and what I’m grateful for from the day or week.

rehoebeth beach flowers

The background of this page layout came from my 50 small paintings endeavor that I worked on during Lent. I’m happy with how abstract the flowers in the vase turned out and I think they make a nice background for my gratitude journaling. I have been doing morning pages off and on for a while and I have gotten back into it recently. I have had a rough patch of depression and keeping track of gratitude is very helpful for me. I also have a quote from the Barbara Kingsolver book “Flight Behavior”

Her every possession was either unbreakable or broken.

The rectangle of wood on the right hand page is from a restaurant in Rehoboth Beach in Delaware. Turns out I’m really not a beach in summer kind of person. But the rectangle of wood is from a restaurant that is so popular that we were never able to get to eat there. I loved these business cards that are printed on a very thin slice of wood and so that is the memento that made it into the journal! We really did have a nice time camping with some friends, even when it rained.

let it be a dance

These pages have a few layers of journaling and lots of glazes. I’m really becoming obsessed with acrylic glazes. The left hand page has 2 pieces of the large mandala I’m working on and trying to decide if I want to do a glaze or 2 over the top. Maybe I will assemble it without the glaze and post it to see how it works. The white writing on the right hand page is some of the lyrics from the song “Let It Be a Dance We Do” by Ric Masten. I go to a Unitarian church here and we sang this last Sunday and it resonated with me. Most Sundays we sing something that really touches me. “Without the dark there would be no light… Share the laughter, bear the pain.”  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3s1XkTZEos

flowers sketch

This sketch is of some flowers my husband brought me while I was in the hospital. This is the inside cover of one of the journals I use for my morning pages. I plan to collage these pages when I finish the journal.

What are you grateful for this week?