My art jounaling adventure. A peek inside my art journal. #artjournaling #mixedmedia #gottaart #arttherapy

We give an art journaling class down at the Coastal Bohemian studio and it's taught by several of our teachers.  I love that I found art jounaling a number of years back and I love that my art journal is a safe place to play and get away from the overwhelming moments.

In the video above, I give you a glimpse inside my personal art journal. It's not meant to impress you . It's meant to show you that the art is therapeutic and not something you should be afraid of doing. 
I bring this up because often times I hear our clients fears. Many of them show up to our classes after having followed our page for years. Why so long? FEAR. Seriously, people are afraid to make mistakes and be laughed at or even fail. 

In the four years I have been doing this I can honestly say that if we get them in the door, they usually leave floating on a super cloud of creativity. 
That's what art journaling does for people. 
The combination of creating and art supplies and ideas flowing makes for a very magical class.

On a very challenging day I drove myself down to the studio in a frenzy, desperate and in need of a fix, an art fix that is. I knew there were no classes and that I would have the quiet space to myself to create. An hour or so later this happened.

It's funny some days how things come to light.
It started with the stamped image of the mermaid. It was a gift left for me by another teacher.  
When I lifted my head and took a long look at what I had created I realized that I was the mermaid and that I was surrounded by love, urging me to keep going, just keep swimming, that my faith was strong and that faith was rising to the top and that I was not going to get hooked into the chaos. See the empty hook that I'm ignoring?. It was a very direct message for me at that time in my life and it's a perfect reminder each time I see it of how I managed to stay strong and clear headed and not get hooked in to things.

Some days that's art journaling. 

I hope you take some time to explore art journaling and fight the fear sooner than later.

Thanks for playing along.
Tell me about your art fears in the comments below. I think we can all benefit from the shared courage of each other. 





With love and gratitude,


Michele

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If you are in Myrtle Beach come on down and visit us at the Coastal Bohemian Studio or check us out on Facebook, Pinterest , Instagram, or  G+ .