Art Journal Update

While I wasn't able to post weekly updates for a few weeks, I actually have been working in my art journal.  Some of the pages were just junk... not worth showing on the blog.  I was practicing random things and the pages just don't look good.  But one thing that I have been doing is displaying my art journal pages on clipboards that I hung in my office.

Clipboards as photo or art displays were all over Pinterest awhile back.  Mine are certainly more functional than cute, but I still like to use them.  Maybe some day I'll buy metallic spray paint and make them cuter, but for now they work for me.

Sometimes my journal gets shut and put in a drawer and I don't look back at what I've done.  I like displaying the pages this way and rotating through them.  It gives a little inspiration and motivates me to keep working on a concept or idea.

I wanted to show you how they look hanging above my desk, but I recently rearranged my living room and office area and so the office is now a disaster.  I might post pictures once I get it all organized again.

Meanwhile I only have 2 weeks of summer vacation left before I have to go back for in-service and then the beginning of the school year.  I'm trying to get organized with my blog, plan posts out, and generate ideas for the future.  I'm worried that once I start teaching again my blog will be neglected (again).  

Please let me know what kind of posts you'd enjoy reading.  

More travel stories (I have tons left that I haven't written - Panama, Mexico, Peru, Korea, Romania, Italy, Brazil...), more lifestyle posts (recipes, outfits, makeup, diy), personal posts (day-in-the-life, life updates, thoughts on current social issues), artistic posts, or something else entirely???

Watercolor Flowers

When I started this blog I had just started a new hobby - watercolor painting.  I wasn't very good at it, nor am I now, but I still enjoy it every once in awhile.  It's relaxing.  I put on some music, have a snack, and splash some colors on the page.  Some of my very first blog posts were about watercolor.  You can see some here, here, and here, but please don't judge.   :)

Today I put on some Ralph Vaughan Williams (one of my favorite composers) and tried to paint.  But I was uninspired.  I kept trying to copy other artists, and it didn't turn out well:

Finally I told myself to paint something that I would want to look at.  And since I love flowers, I painted some flowers.  And that's pretty much what happens every time I try to paint... 

I thought I'd show you the process I went through to get to a painting I was happy with.

I started by putting color all over the page.  I wanted to fill the entire page with color:

I thought about leaving it like that and adding some collage and/or quotes on top, but instead I went in and added some details with a sharpie:

I liked it, but it didn't feel "done," so I went in with some more paint and added some more dimension:

Aaand I like it.  It's not perfect... I'm a musician, not a painter, after all, but I am still proud of my little flowers.

(The lighting isn't great in my apartment, so my arms were casting weird shadows over the photos while I was trying to take the pictures.)

So that's how I spent my Tuesday evening.  What have you been up to lately?

XOXO,

Julie