Dina

Big News!

Many of you already know about the changes over at Debbie Hodge's Get It Scrapped. My classes have had a happy, happy home there for a number of years. I adore Debbie & am so glad that she gave me my start in the online class world. We've had a wonderful time!

For the next week, you can get my classes at a discount from Get It Scrapped. Click here for all of the information. You may purchase my classes from Get It Scrapped at 15% to 30% off for the next seven days only.  Smaller discounts will be available after that date–but only until the end of the month. And, then, once January 1st rolls around, they will no longer be for sale at Get It Scrapped.

The new year brings new changes, and in 2012, my classes will be on a new website, dinawakley.com! The site is up now, but is not completely finished (lots still to do actually, eeks!). Feel free to poke around, though. Note that in 2012 some of my classes will be retiring and some will be revised. Our goal is to have some of the classes up & available by January 1st.

Be sure to join my mailing list for all the updated info & news on classes. For 2012 I have lots planned…a revised Introduction to Art Journaling class, new project-based classes…it will be fun! I have a big secret project I will be working on the first quarter of the year, but when that is done, it will be class time!

Also…Be sure to check Tami Taylor's new site, Creative Passion. It's new & sparkly…some of the former GIS teachers are teaching classes there. Tami is a class act and her new site is fabulous.

Questions? Comments? Let me know!

Two pages in progress…

Ah, this is always how I work…at least two pages in progress, and surrounded by a holy mess. heh.

What to do when you make an ugly page…

I know I've talked about this before…ugly pages. I've shared my thoughts before. But it bears repeating. We all do it. We all make art journaling pages that we don't like. I do it all the time! This page started out as the bullseye inspiration (from a few posts ago), and it has turned into a hot mess. I did too much to it, and the page lost focus and got muddled.

But I'm okay with that. Really, I am.

Here's my "ugly page" philosophy:

• You're working in your journal. You're not making art to go on museum walls. Give yourself permission to make mistakes, to make ugly pages. I often call them "puke on a page" pages.
• You learn artistic lessons from every page you do. How can you learn and grow as an artist without making mistakes? You can't make amazing art every single time, that's unrealistic. If anything, you learn what not to do again. Or you learn when to stop. Or you learn not to use certain colors together.
• The process is just as important (or even more important) than the finished result. Expression, play, experimentation is the name of the game here. Play and see what happens. If it ends up ugly, oh well. They'll make more paper. Turn the page and start again.
• Sometimes happy accidents happen that you turn around and use to your benefit. You can refine technique, style and try it again and make it work in a different way.

No matter what, don't give up. Keep journaling. Fill up those pages with your soul.

Pouring it into my art journal…

I'm feeling a bit emotional today…so I poured it out into my art journal. One of the things I do is write very loosely, so I get the emotions out but still have some privacy. For this page,I did layered writing. I started the page with inky color. Then I wrote over the page with a dark pencil…poured out my heart. Then I sketched & painted the girl. Next I wrote again, this time with a white Marks All Stabilo pencil. I wrote the white over the dark to give a layered, expressive look. (Sorry for the glare in the pictures…I took them at my desk & the lighting is not the best.)

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Just felt like drawing last night…

I just felt like drawing last night…I haven't worked in this journal in months (it was at Stampington), but now it's back. I like this size. I need to buy (or make) a new one…there's just something about a large journal that is so fun.

December Jenni Bowlin layouts…

The December JBS kit is lovely…the patterned paper all so interesting and work really well together. Fun!

I’m tempted to use this pic for the Christmas cards…

What do you think? heh heh.

Nice eyeballs, fella.

Bullseye!

If you're not on Pinterest then, well…you probably have a very clean house. lol. Pinterest is such a time-waster, but it's a creatively-charged time-waster. It's great for inspiration. When I'm feeling stuck, I go take a look at art that I've pinned. That always jumpstarts my mojo.

This journal page (which is still in progress) is inspired by this piece of art by M.A. Tateishi.I'll post again when I'm done.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!I hope your day is restful and overflowing with gratitudes and coconut cream pie.

I found these tags in my "scrap" box…I forgot all about them! I was making them for a class project & then abandoned it. I think I'll use them to journal some gratitudes about the day.

Lots of stuff in progress, nothing finished…

This week I find myself with lots of "in progress" pieces…journal pages and cavases and tags that aren't done yet. Lately I will work on something a bit, and then move on to the next thing. I'm feeling unsettled and ancy, and it's showing up in my art.

This is a smallish canvas…love the colors & textures.It's not "done" to me…but inspiration hasn't told me how to finish it yet.