art journaling

I have been art journaling for the last 8 months or so, pretty consistently.  If you aren't familiar with art journaling, it is pretty much whatever you make it to be. But for me, it includes paint, some words, a little collage, maybe some drawing if I feel like it, and some journaling on the top of the whole thing. (The pages below are shown before I do any journaling.) 

These pages are also not my "best" or "prettiest" pages...but that is the entire point...an art journal is not meant to be high art. This has been so freeing for me. In my work (photography), while I'm out on a shoot, I might seem carefree, but I am working furiously with light, camera settings, keeping the mood light and fun. When I am at home in front of the computer, I agonize over skin tones and the brightness of my monitor, whether there are stray hairs and if I caught someone at a kind angle. I obsess. I squint. I worry about trusting my instincts with which images will make my clients swoon.

Art journaling is just me on a page, with no deadline, no expectation, and no agonizing. Something kind of magical happens when I get a little paint on a page and do something just for me. I don't spend a lot of time on it, but it has turned into a sacred space for me to be present without any judgement or expectations. 

I thought I would share a bit, in case anyone was interested in starting an art journal. :)

(this page is a little bit of processing from our dog almost dying from a wasp sting)