brick arch

I recently discovered the amazing premier issue

of Art Journaling magazine, put out by Somerset Studio.

It was worth every penny of the (gasp) $14.99 (plus tax)

I spent on it, as it is chock full of images, is printed on heavy

paper (not the standard flimsy magazine page), and also

gets down to the nitty gritty on technique and supplies.

So there you have it. I am feeling inspired to take my

visually-charged journaling on some adventures. Today's

image is a work in progress. It's the background painting

of a page-to-be. I post this because a)I like the way it turned

out, b)I think it's fun to see things in different stages

of their creation, and c)it may likely get to looking worse

instead of better, in which case I'll be able to look back and

remember that I don't always like every brick outlined in

black (see tomorrow's post) and maybe learn from my mistakes.

Or vice versa.

someday it will all go in the toilet

doodle #6

thoughts on the drive

I've been thinking lately about the creative process. I feel this crazy drive to create things, and I've lived with it ever since I can remember. If you read books by artists, they talk about this drive as some burden that only artist's bear, which I find to be incredibly snooty. I think we all have the drive, and it just get aimed in various directions. Some of us point it at art, some of us at food, some at relationships or specific people, some at sex or drugs or rock 'n' roll. Ultimately, I think it's the consequence of having been created in the image of God, which is perhaps more than we can bear now that sin has introduced depravity into the mix of all that glory. We are left with a gnawing emptiness to address. I think that true religion invites us into worshiping God in the midst of this emptiness; it doesn't eradicate (although it may sometimes alleviate) the thirst.
Rather, it gives hope for a future where all these things will find a fruitful resolve while maybe helping us into a present where we can love other people in a way that points to this good future.

In the meantime, I keep drawing and painting. I hope I can do so in a way that's not oppressive to the people around me, especially my husband and kids. And it would be nice if it was also mystically helpful to the journey of the people around me, by illustrating their true identities or their experiences or the Truth or something. But it always feels like a strange and difficult tension.

What do you think about all this? What has been your experience of it?

little lime

on journaling

13th wedding anniversary

Hey, you lovely people! I'm off to celebrate, so I'll see you all next week!

my nemesis

The mulberry trees are pollinating right now. They're

such atrocious allergens that it's illegal to plant them

in Arizona. And we have one in our back yard. Ah choo!

windchime

fun with parallel pens

Pilot makes these wonderful calligraphy pens called
parallel pens. They're completely portable, durable,
and refillable. This little sketch was done by filling
two of these pens with different colors of Dr. Marten's
Hydrus watercolors and charging one color into the other.