Summer Art Journaling

I've been away for the past few weeks on purpose.  I find it hard to continue blogging with my boys home from school.  We've been having a lot of fun swimming in the ocean and at the community pool.  I've been trying to keep away from the computer so that I can fully experience summer and my boys.

I know my time with my kids as young boys is limited.  It haunts me that my babies will soon be teens.  They're both in the tween stage of life.  My little Aidan will be 11 years old in October. Lucas will be 13 years old in December.  I love this time in our lives together.  I think that the ages between 8 and 12 are so much fun (they are still young enough that they enjoy hanging out with their Mom).  They 're also more independent and less needy of me so that I can enjoy them without all the fatigue.

Robert Moses State Park (Atlantic Ocean)

I love going to the ocean and we're lucky because we're only a few minutes away from it.  But the  news shows had to spoil it for me.  They keep showing photos of great white sharks off the coast of Cape Cod.  Over and over again  we see the photo of a great white shark coming close to a man on a kyack.  They say that sharks are attracted to the seal population, which is good because I haven't seen any seals at Robert Moses.  Still, the images are terrifying and I have never gotten over the "Jaws" movie when I was 10.

Oakdale Pool (Aidan holding his nose before the big splash)

I have managed to keep painting this summer.  I paint mostly at night because we're out all day.  I like to paint instead of watching T.V.

I also began to paint a new mixed media art journal.  Art journals are therapeutic to make.  It's nice to sit in the living room with my husband while he watches television and I paint a book into an art journal. 

This particular journal is made from a children's Atlas.


I opened each page and thought about what colors represent that country to me.

Spain makes me think of bull fighting.  Bulls make me think of red.  Just so you know, I'm not a fan of  bull fighting at all.  In fact, I hate bull fighting so much that I hesitate to even publish this photo.  But I love the way this page looks.  It is also what comes to mind when I think of Spain.

France reminds me of yellow sunflower fields under blue skies.

Russia started with red.  Somehow it didn't fit.  I guess since it is no longer communist  "red" country or even Russia anymore.  Anyway,  I didn't want red to be it's defining theme color.  So I added blues, greens white splotches and dots for fun.  I  think the Russian's need some fun and less seriousness.

Austria and Switzerland remind me of Mozart and mountains.  It called for a dash of gold and regal colors of aristocracy.

Some pages were about large regions of the world combined so I took the opportunity to cover the whole page with paint.

When I imagine Greece, I see all of those white stucco buildings overlooking the sea.  I added yellow to represent happiness and enthusiasm that the Greeks exude.

OPA!

The Chinese love the color combination of red and yellow.  Red signifies good luck to the Chinese so I wanted lots of it to jump off the page.

I saved my favorite pages for last.  My friend June, who makes mandalas forwarded me iHanna's  tutorial about making mandalas.  I've  never thought that I would have the patience to make a mandala.  After reading her blog post and watching  a video how to make one, I had to try it.

It's a little messy because I used a non-water proof pen.  When I colored it in with markers I smudged it a bit.  Doesn't matter, it is just a journal page.   It will get written on anyway.  I am happy with the results of my first attempt.  I hope I remember that it's just a journal page and write on it.  I hate when I won't write in a journal because the background is too dear.  Journals are meant for writing and creating.  They're supposed to be an open place to spill thoughts and play with drawings and doodles.

 What we pour out on the page can unleash our true desires.  When we create in freedom we may see things we never noticed about ourselves before.  Let's hope we can all remember to feel that our voice and creativity needs to be heard.  We all need a space to feel free to express ourselves.

Are you taking time, slowing things down a bit this summer?  If you feel like you need to slow down but can't, try making a mandala.  It's meant to be used as an exercise in meditation, slowing down the thoughts, letting whatever come up...come.

Don't over think it.  Pick a symbol, place it on the page, then move the paper to the next spot and place the same symbol in the next spot.  Continue to the end of the circle, pick a new symbol, place it on the page.  Move around the circle with the same symbol again.  You'll surprise yourself that you can make one too.  Maybe you'll even have some fun and begin to relax.

Check out June's new mandala's on Ebay.  I've aquired 2 of her mandala's on Ebay and they are so colorful and bright.  I just love them!


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Thanks for reading!