Hello, I'm Rachel.

 

Hello! Welcome to a Year in the Life of an Art Journal. I'm Rachel. I am the founder and creator of this blog. Art Journaling is one of my favorite creative outlets. It has been my goal since starting this site, to encourage creativity in even the simplest form of art journals. In 2012, I found myself so busy with life, that I wasn't able to create in the messy, painty way I was used to. Many times, I resorted to using photos to convey something in my journal. I like that versatility, and it occurred to me that there are probably many people out there that find themselves needing to be CREATIVE, and feeling limited by "what's allowed" to be CALLED creativity. That's where my idea for this coming year came from. I hope that those of you that find yourselves in a time crunch will appreciate and participate in the "quickie" portion of the prompts, and that those of you who enjoy and are able to make time for more in depth art journaling find a place for yourselves in the painty part of our prompts. I hope that you will help to create a community here, because that is one of the things I love most about following prompt based art journaling. The idea that other people are using the same ideas, and coming up with something totally their own. The idea that I will be able to get to KNOW those people through the art we have SHARED in this space. Please be sure to come and follow links, leave comments for your fellow members and commentors here at A Year in the Life of an Art Journal.

Some things I want you all to remember as you begin or continue your journey...

1. It's important that you remember that art journaling IS personal. There are some people out there who are of the opinion that by sharing art that is created for a personal art journal, you have made it impersonal, and it's up for shots. This isn't the case. Sharing art that is personal means that you are taking the chance that there are others out there who may feel the same way. That there may be someone who will be encouraged by that. It in NO WAY means that you have relinquished that very personal and private space a particular piece may have in your heart.
2. Not everything you make needs to be a masterpiece. Art journaling is a time and place for exploration. It's a place to try new things. It's a place to try things out. Art journaling is not about the end result. It's about the process. I think it's especially rewarding at the end of a year to have all your experiments bundled up into something that collectively is always more beautiful to me than I imagined it could be.
3. In an art journal, actually WRITING anything is totally optional. Most people have no idea of the meaning behind a page, because there is no journaling on many of my pieces. However, when I look at those pages, I know exactly where I was and what I meant in that moment. Here are a few of the definitions of a journal. Some of my favorite pages are ones that have hidden meaning.
   
   • record of experiences and observations
   • a periodical dedicated to a particular subject; "he reads the medical journals"
   • a record book as a physical object
4. HAVE FUN. That's what this is about. Explore things you've never explored!! Do things you have never done. Creativity is like any other thing. Riding a bike, learning to read, learning to write. You have to PRACTICE to be good. Everything you need to BE creative is already inside you. You just have to allow yourself the time to practice.

~rachel
All images and content on this blog is copyright to Rachel Whetzel and Guest Hosts. Please give credit when sharing your art that is inspired here! Thank you so much!!