First Art Journal Page of 2015 Speak Your Truth

Join me in the journey of being creative every day this year! 

I can't recall a year that I was so excited to begin.  2014 was pretty close, but in all of my 47 years, 2015 has the rumblings of being one of my most significant and exciting career wise. For that, I am already grateful. 

I took the last few weeks off to spend time with family and be present in the moment of the Christmas season, but as the year came to an end, the excitement of what this year will hold began to get the better of me and I couldn't wait to kick it off by getting my fingers in some paint and writing. 

My altered book that I have worked on over the past year is close to fruition and as I perused the pages that were left, I immediately connected with the image of the two men showcased in "The Hidden Fortress" recollective. They were escorting the princess and her general across enemy lines, although they didn't know that, and the lack of knowing and attachment to greed struck a chord. 

As I looked over the pages I first began to understand that I have a common bond with them, and I think we all do. No one is perfect, I tend to let ambition, and what could be, get the best of me so as I began marking through the pages using Asemic writing, I felt the concept of truth bubble up towards the surface. This brought me back to a time when I wasn't sure what the truth was, I struggled with it, I doubted it, I ran from it, I camouflaged it. 

Not anymore though. This time, in these days, I know like I am breathing what my truth is. Two figures are at play on this page, one that speaks the truth and one that doesn't. Because of my faith and daily practice, I understand the difference between the two....smallness vs. bigness, hopelessness vs. belief, fear vs. courage. In our humanness we wane between the two but ultimately, if we walk upon a foundation of trust, we begin to identify the subtle differences between these two voices. 

Art journaling is where the magic happens for artists who use them. They can be our playgrounds, our best friends, our hidden fortresses of fears and thoughts and ideas that are meant for no one else but ourselves. They can also be the impetus for amazing paintings and influences for larger work, which for me, is the light to my path these days. 

2015 gives me another slate, another set of 365 days to walk the earth sharing love and light and all things Ardithian. Today, my prayers are full of gratitude that you all have walked with me this far and I look forward to the days, weeks, and months ahead. Here is the finished page: 

I speak my truth boldly this year.....with confidence, with grace, and with a love for others. For things to come I will be eagerly launching new offerings this year to work with artists looking to go from amateur to professional. There are plans in the works for a studio and I am also opening the doors to take my practice on the road....which makes the hair on my head stand up with a hell yeah! 

If you are a creative, or an artist, or one who simply loves to foster those two things in others, join me in this walk to paint the world more beautifully one heart at a time. 


TO VIEW THE ENTIRE BOOK OF PAGES GO HERE

and HERE ON FB

Proust, Painters, and Creativity Art Journal Page

Throughout this book "Perspectives on the Arts" 1961, I have enjoyed immensely getting to delve into the perceptions and points of view of the art establishment during this decade. Proust was showcased for his writings, and this morning, as I landed on the page which I would alter, I read this: 

"For Marcel Proust, communication was of the very essence of art. Among the multitudinous solitudes that populate the great Thebaid of A la Recherche du Temps Perdu, art is the only means by which any man can enter the soul of another man. Only by art can we get outside ourselves, know what another sees of his universe, which is not the same as ours, and the different view of which would otherwise have remained as unknown to us as those there may be on the moon. Thanks to art, instead of seeing only one world, our own, we see it under multiple forms, and as many as there are original artists, just so may worlds have we at our disposal, differing more widely from one another than those that roll through infinite space, and years after the glowing center from which they emanated has been extinguished, be it called Rembrandt or Vermeer, they continue to send us their own rays of light." 

The worlds spilled right off the page and hit me directly in the gut as powerful and moving and so very true. I sat for the longest looking at this page spread and when I looked up, I saw one of my dolls, Found Friend, who always seem to be desperately trying to make a point. The direction for the page was found and I began sketching. 

Throughout the process I kept hearing the message of how important it is for each of us to understand our value, especially in light of being created as creative beings, and with each stroke I sent forward to the hope that everything I create and share will send forth the message which is just that....we matter, our creativity matters, and the world needs us to own that. 

When I create these pages, I alway seek to stay open to the message my heart wants me to process. I paint and write and draw with the tools in front of me, and with the addition of each one, a layer is added to that knowing and in turn gives me more creative passion to hear my own, unique voice. Young artists struggle with this I think, finding their voice, finding their style. I can only share what has worked for me: 

Stay curious. 
Look for the wonder in the world. 
Make records of it. 
Seek out that which you find fascinating. 
Study that. 
Practice every single day. 
Trust your path. 
Express your wonder through the skill set you have in the moment, the heart will follow. 

I hope, for today, those of you who are aware of how very important you and your creativity are in the world will know that in a more powerful way and begin to share that message with others. With all of the hate we find in this world, our love and creativity holds the power to change that. I do believe this with every thing I am. 

Art Journal Technique Playing Through The Lines

Teaching my students the importance of play when it comes to understanding the heart of an artist is one of the most important lessons I can send forth. So many times they want to capture the realism of an object to help their minds reinforce the "I am now an artist" mindset, but I nudge them in the direction of learning they are an artist because they can create, especially when they play as they create. Realism, if their heart wants to take them there, will come.

Art journals give the creatives in the world a playground to let their true spirits soar! Modeling this, especially for the young, shows them they have their very own space to explore, learn, make messes, and find what makes their hearts buzz with excitement. Today, during Free Sketchbook practice, I modeled taking a page with random marks and turning into a raw, whimsical piece having to do with friendship, diversity, and connection. It was also a great lesson to show that 'mistake' pages can be redeemed with great value.

To Begin:  

 Use crayons, oil pastels, and graphite to make random marks on the page.

Alternate your marks using text, lines, and colors. Using fluid acrylics, start adding thin glazes of color wherever your heart leads you.

Once your page has the first layers of colors and marks, give your inner child permission to find the little beings present in your artwork. Googley eyes, big heads, crowns, or sweet lips are all elements that can enhance your these figures. Don't over think them by trying to make them look "right" just let them look like they had a romp of a good time on the playground. If it helps, use your non-dominant hand to draw them.

Once your figures are drawn, use your background to layer, mark, and glaze using blocks or chunks of color. If your figure's heads are light, make the background darker so they will come forward and vice versa. Use lines and patterns to add juicy tidbits, and pay attention to contrast as you play. 

Up Close Image of the page

My finished page  below shows my version of two best fine friends hanging out. It brings to me memories of how eclectically odd we each may be, but when we find the friend who loves us for our weirdness and has a little bit of weirdness too, we know they are meant for us and us for them. A little part of me knows that type of friendship is very rare in life, so this page, for me, celebrates the knowing of that.  

Art journaling is all about play. There are a million or so ways one can work within the pages of an art journal, but the most important one is simply to begin. Leave rules and expectations outside the book and dive in. 

Tips for Fine Artists

If you are already an artist who is working on building a body of work and achieving a looser look in your mixed media pieces this style of journaling is the PERFECT place to try some new color palettes, marking techniques, and strategies before you land on your canvas. If you look in the up close images, you can see I have glazed at least 3 different layers to achieve some of these colors. I fell in LOVE with the striped contrast and the glazing effect on the bottom of the page so I will use those again in some larger pieces. 

Using water soluble graphite is a great way to add contrast and value changes in your mark making. The black bleeds which gives a subtle greying effect to a black bleed. Deliciously yummy. 

Outdoor Studio Painting of My New Series

Breathe in Relaxation....Breathe out Everything Else..... That would be my prayer for the next two months because I am on summer break....or at least for the next 6 weeks. What this also means is that my outdoor studio gets set up which gives me the freedom to paint big, dance like mad, talk to birds, and make yummy messes. For the first time in 11 years, this summer is one I have looked forward to more than any of those, because....I feel really good and am over the moon excited about the artistic path I am on. 

Painting outside is not for the fain of heart. I live in lower Alabama...and if you have been to lower Alabama in the summer you know that thanks to the humidity you begin to sweat at sunrise and often long after the sun lays its tired head below the horizon. Mosquitoes are as big as my head, noseeums are beyond a pain in the butt, and rain falls as unpredictably as the random brain fart whizzing between the ears. Still....I love working and painting outside, along with the challenges it brings. 

My hubs has set me up in a really sweet spot next to the house, so when I need a break, I take one. When I need a quick exit from the elements, it's about 15 feet away, and my extension cord reaches nicely for a small fan and speaker....that way the tunes and the wind are my fellow studio mates. I also have waterproof storage for my essentials that has wheels so that I can move it in and out of the heat when the temps get too ornery. 

Here is a video showcasing my studio and a peek into the Land of Ardithian as I like to call it. 

Along with the outdoor studio comes the space to work on my new body of work which brings my art journal pages to a larger format. There is tremendous freedom in an art journal, with no expectations, no rules, just a playground to express ideas, concepts, and heartwork visually and through text. I have always found myself to be most at home in an art journal so when I considered what my next series would be I knew exactly where I wanted to head....into my pages. 

"Diversity Should Not Be Feared" 3' by 5' 

"Love Shifts The Heart" 24" by 24" 

So far, I am 6 pieces in between different stages and what I am learning about the process is that it is incredibly challenging but the most rewarding body of work I have ever created. The message becomes more profound, the composition becomes pivotal to the meaning, and the execution requires an extraordinary amount of patience. At first, it seemed the antithesis of what a journal represents, but as I began to walk through motions, pray through the brush strokes, meditate through the meaning, I began to understand just how important these are to me. They quintessentially combine my love of writing, of painting, of structures and function, and of my passion for the beauty of life within each piece....exactly the platform my journals bring to me on a smaller scale. As this realization come to the surface and my spirit affirmed I am where I am supposed to be, I chose to embrace the challenge and go all in. 

"To Capture The Love of Art, Teach The Soul" 18" by 24" acrylic on canvas WIP

These are detail pics below

The words in the forehead read: 

"...because fragments of ourselves seek out the common bond, which is always love."

Over the next few months I will be constructing these pieces of artwork, some in my outdoor studio, others at the gallery, but all within the framework of art journaling. Giving myself the freedom to play, to express my emotions, to make a beautiful mess, and to refine my artistic skills will be the mantra of the day and I look forward where this journey takes me. Here are a couple of my finished pieces and another in progress. I will blog about each of them individually as well. 

No longer am I captive to painting to sell, creating for a bottom line, or serving an expected perception. Today, as I sling paint all over the place, I am finally embracing the pure freedom of creating from that place most artists long for.....from the heart.  

The Lure Of Pure Color

Color is intoxicating to me. Like many artists I know, there is an attraction to color that is difficult to describe. Often, I tend to believe that our brains are wired differently, especially when it comes to our eyes. For the past week I have had the flu...then pink eye...and still, the energy is completely zapped from me even though I am on the mend. During days like this I don't quite feel up to tackling a huge canvas so I turn to writing and photography. It is much easier to stay in bed, paint with my pen, and use my camera phone to capture color and light when it floods in my windows.

This particular morning the sun was glorious, I was pretty wiped out, so I just sat for a few hours watching the light dance in and out of my window. Words really didn't come freely at first so I took a deep breath, honored the fact that I felt like road kill, and gave my brain the freedom to move my pencil without much thought. The writing below is what flowed and after I stopped to read, to consider, to pray with gratitude, the magnitude of how much color affects my spirit became obvious. 

"I succumb to color, and light, and the wind dancing them from petal to petal to petal on any given day. It is not the paleness that attracts , that seduces, that lures , but the bold, unexpected flood of hues and light which rush my senses, overcomes me, rattles my core and its core. There may come a day or time or reality where this reactive pull and pull no longer takes hold and on that day, that very moment in which it arrives, my spirit shall dim. For if I am not allowed the deliciousness of color and light and the marriage of the two, to wreak havoc on my soul, my spirit, my very life, then life for me would darken. I would become but a cog in the wheel of an unbearable life." morning pages of Ardith Goodwin


As much as I love to paint, I also love to paint pictures with words, and this reminds me to be grateful to not only enjoy color, but appreciate being able to express myself creatively with words as well. The big guy upstairs gave me the gift of creativity, but when I see images such as this, I humbly stop and with a big ole grin, realize He is leaps and bounds ahead of me on that one. 

Regardless of the body, my spirit was jubilant this morning because color and light flooded my world. These images are of the bottles that line my window. When I feel gloomy I can't help but be reminded of the intoxicating, healing vibe that color gives me. Hope they make you smile too, :) 

Here's to healthier days ahead! 

Know Your Bone Art Journal Page

I had an entire blog post written about bones and something inside me said it was just to damn wordy. Most likely, it was my bones, ;) 

Do what you love. Know your own bone; gnaw at it, bury it, unearth it, and gnaw it still.

Henry David Thoreau

This page below didn't speak to me. The images, the text, nada. The only thing I decided to keep were the white faced figures, some of the reclining nudes, and the ladies face on the right page for my journal entry. You can view the finished page below. 

As an artist, what is your bone? What is that thing you love to do over and over and over? Is it the use of a color, a mark you make, the layering of words, the expression of text? What is the one thing you LOVE to apply to your artwork? If you can identify that as one of your bones, you are one step closer to finding your own artistic voice. 

Once you learn how to find your first bone, you become more adept at finding your other bones. Through practice, you will discover more bones. Sometimes they will be obvious, but other times they will show up more subtly and appear repeatedly. 

When I art journal my 'BONES' are praying, making marks, using transparent layers, strong value and contrast, drawing weird figures, and writing. An art journal page without those bones would not connect to my heart so I use them: 

Every

Single

Time

Give your bones permission to learn what your heart wishes to say and express that on canvas. The world needs YOUR VOICE, not your copy of someone else's. 

START COLLECTING YOUR BONES BY DOING THIS:

Pray,Paint, Practice,Play, Repeat. 

Pay attention to the techniques that you use without thinking, the marks that show up over and over, and then consider adding in a few unexpected ones to see how your heart responds to them. Most importantly, look for these bones when you are not mimicking or learning a specific style. YOUR bones show up more often when you turn the computer off and paint from your inspiration and yours alone. 

From Ice to Angels Art Journal Page

It has been an incredible two days so far as Alabama is pretty much iced and snowed in. This is a view of our back yard and believe it or not, that is ice, not snow. I can't step foot out the door because it is so dangerous to walk on so I simply enjoy this oddity from afar. Thankfully, the respite has given me lots of uninterrupted journaling time! 

My kitchen table had this great view of the light pouring in which cast a turquoise glow on everything, including my sparkly mini tree that I keep up year your just because it makes me happy, :) The color palette of turquoise, orange, red, and dark gave me so much fodder for my new page too! 

These two pages, being part of my Perspective On The Arts Altered Book, are images by  Georges Braque. As a collage artist he is one of my faves and actually was father of the method called Papier collé. 

This type of collage specifically is created by the use of gluing paper, so for these two pages I wanted to embrace paper collage, cubism, and fauvism in celebration of this master painter. 

Although I had my color palette set I chose to be a bit looser with my concept and allow the idea to evolve rather than having a set 'topic' to cover. I loved the image of the lady in red with the scissors as well as the shadow of the gentlemen in black. 

As the page developed I used cubed shaped pieces for the base, went back and forth between the larger images and their importance, and then the idea to dwell on angels came to me after I found a piece of hand painted paper with the colors that I was looking for appeared in my bag....like magic, :) Once that piece was found, I knew where the page was going, especially in light of the nightmare experiences many of my Alabama friends had had over the previous 24 hours. 

My belief in angels is near and dear to me as I have had several experiences in my lifetime where nothing but the existence of angels could explain them, and I am grateful for a faith that allows me to share that. This page is one of my favorites, for its message, for its colors, for the entire experience of praying for folks while I made it. Each person interprets journal pages as they need to, and I trust that process. Hope this one speaks to many of you. 

You can view my entire book of pages for this journal in my Facebook album and see their steps in progress HERE.

You can also view my pages on my website as well here. 

Seeking Perfection Art Journal Page

It's the Deep South friends and we are hunkered down expecting an ice storm and possibly snow for the first time in 15 years. To my friends up north I say be patient with us, we southern folk are not used to the white stuff and moaning and complaining and rejoicing at the hint of snow is in our second nature. For me, two unexpected days off of work gave me a chance to paint, so I am THRILLED for snowpocalypse! 

Although I had wanted to create a snow inspired art journal page these images on my desk of girls with forlorn and piercing faces kept catching my eye, as if they were calling out to me to speak for them. I had seen several posts this week in my social networking circles about the nightmare of seeking perfection, photoshoping the perfect face, and on and on. It gave me much fodder to consider what exactly we are doing to ourselves in thinking we must look 'artificially beautiful' to be valued. 

I opted to start sketching around the four faces and gave a lot of thought to the fact that this was a church. We worship....through our faith, but sadly we worship the media, fashion, and the quest for that perfect look. I say perfect a lot here because that is what the voices in our head make us run like rats to cheese for doesn't it? As the page evolved I began to like the muted color palette and decided to embrace the neutrals rather than go for rainbow, which is a different path for me. 

My paints flowed, the marks worked, and I left this page knowing I would rather go out into the world au natural than be under the foot of the media circus. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy getting dolled up on occasion but I am not a slave to feeling as if I must look a certain way to fit it. Makes me wonder how mom's with daughters do it these days. 

You can view more of my art journal pages HERE! 

New Liquitex Paint Markers

Who says kids have all the fun at Christmas time? I was gifted some Liquitex Paint Markers and along with my Montana ones, I was set to have some fun! For those who aren't aware, these markers are acrylic based so they go swell with any type of acrylic or mixed media type of artwork. Most can be refilled as well and Montana carries the empty ones so we can mix our own colors as well, which is even more golden. 

I first chose to test out my markers in my mixed media art journal and worked o a page using Golden heavy body acrylics with my Liquitex markers. I LOVED the way they gave me control over the details, had great opaque coverage, and flowed smoothly. They didn't blend as well as I had hoped but they did offer the ability to cover in layers which turned out to be a nice way to use them. Because I have chisel tips, writing was easy and I could see they would lend themselves to lots of journaling, which is something we all love. To view all of the entries in this journal click HERE

Once I knew they would work well in my journal I wanted to see how they performed on watercolor paper. I opted for 300lb. rough, and right from the get go they were a bit sluggish. My graphite and crayons went down first, but the flow that I found on the slick paper just wasn't there on the rough surface and the paper seemed to soak the paint up too quickly at first. Once I had an initial layer of acrylic on the paper though, they performed quite well and were a joy to work with in adding details out the gazooba! 

This was the first test using the 300lb. watercolor paper. I just sketched, made marks, and played with color. You can see the texture pretty well, and the paint seemed to just not move well in this. I opted to turn the painting upside down and take it in a different direction this morning. 

First layers using Golden Heavy Body Acrylics

Next layers, adding details with the markers. 

"Practice Time" 9" by12" acrylic on paper

Final version, added some warm glazes and balanced out the details. Overall, the control the markers gave me are something my style works well with, that makes my day! 

There are applications I plan to tinker with using the markers, but for now, I am pleased as punch with how they work. I hope your Christmas and holiday was blessed friends. Looking forward to some huge changes in the new year as well!