Spirit of amethyst

Creative ProcessArt JournalingIn my journalIn the StudioAJ Challenge 2019

Dec 8

I can hardly believe I only have three more pages to go to complete my Art Journaling Challenge! I have something in mind for the last one, which I’ll tell you about soon, but for now, someone has invited herself on the page…

The Art Journaling Challenge:

I’ve decided to finish my current art journal by the end of the year so I can start a brand new one on January 1st! I’m sharing the pages each week and you’re invited to follow along. You can even set your own goal to end the year in a creative way!

And to celebrate, I will reopen enrollment for my art journaling class, The Artist & the Journal, in the first week of January!

If you watched the video in this post, you might remember that this page had a whole lot of purple leftover paint! I journaled all over it to warm up, added some acrylic inks, then dug out the few purple papers I have in my stash (this is not a color I’ve used a lot so far) and added a layer of collage:

When I opened this spread a few days later, I felt that “someone” wanted to show up on the page. There are a few ladies in my journal, but not that many. I wonder if there will be more in my next journal? So I just dove right in and traced a few features, with no idea in mind about the personality she would have.

At first I thought I might keep her face purple, but that’s not what she had in mind! And I think she was right: I like the way her light shines through and contrasts with the background. As you can see below, she turned out very girly and whimsical… not my usual style. Just like I shared in this post, the journal can sometimes surprise me and take me to unexpected places… which is a good thing! Here is how she evolved:

Amethyst is my favorite stone and while I painted this in the small creative nook in our living room (which I shared about in my previous post here), a big chunk of Amethyst was sitting on the dresser right next to me. As I painted and played with purple, I could feel it’s gentle presence. It felt energizing, nourishing, protective, very feminine and just totally beautiful. Little by little, as my gaze went back and forth from the stone to the lady on my page, it became clear that they were kindred spirits...

I liked the background and didn’t feel the need to add to it too much, but I played with my brush to create some “crystals” in the foreground. Then I journaled some more on the page, her face, her hair… and in the end she told me her name: Spirit of Amethyst.

To be honest, it took me a while to get comfortable with her girly, whimsical features. But whenever I do a portrait, I always try to let it unfold as it pleases. I never know “who” is going to show up and invite herself on the page or the canvas, and that’s what’s exciting! The journal is a great playground to get out of your comfort zone and explore something different: it’s all allowed, and it’s just for you.

At the moment I’m putting the finishing touches to the next page (much more “me” I guess) and will share it in a few days. It looks like my journal will be complete in a week or two, yay!

Please leave a comment for me, and thank you so much for following along!