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Teaching the therapy journal course

Oh my gosh guys I had the best day!

I taught some incredible women today how to make their own found words/therapy journal so they could journal their way thru their own various stages of wonky cell therapy.

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I love these times where I can share my own therapy journal and help people, even people who claim they can’t paint a stick man, make some beautiful, satisfying art, which speaks volumes to them.

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There’s so much available to us in art these days which makes making marks, drawing, painting, so easy. Not just pencils and erasers, but all sorts of felt pens, bits of torn ephemera and mat medium, stamps and a rainbow of ink pads…and tracing paper. Tracing paper is fantastic. Everyone had to start somewhere, and tracing is one of the best ways to learn how to draw an image.

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And to help us in that I brought my beautiful deck of Druid animal oracle cards. They are such powerful images. I just love them.
Also, these days there are so many free adult colouring pages on line. Some of those images, bits of the pages, are perfect for tracing and transferring into our journals.

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I brought my stamps and ink pads, and some papers to rip up for collage, and mat medium, old postage stamps, Japanese magazines, an old atlas, music sheets, my watercolour pencils and some of those great brushes with the water reservoir in the handle.

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So off we went.
It really only is just a matter of learning a trick or two and you’re making art!

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We had a couple lovely hours drinking tea, making a mess, making sense out of nonsense, and having so much artistic fun.

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And we had fun!
Boy did we have fun.

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And we were laughing!
And we were sharing.
And we were making some seriously beautiful art journal pages.

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I’m looking forward to next month’s workshop already.
If you’d like to see my process and make your own journal, here’s a tutorial form my archives.

Comments: 12

  • Pondside

    March 1, 2016
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    What an interesting thing to be doing! I love the thought of people finding out that they can express/help themselves through an art form they’d never though would work for them.

  • Catherine Llewellyn

    March 2, 2016
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    True work of the Spirit – honourable work X

  • March 2, 2016
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    Marvelous!

  • March 2, 2016
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    I think it is wonderful that you gave these people a running start into satisfying art! I have enjoyed the peaks into your journal that you have shared. Such a precious book and place to express and explore oneself.

  • March 2, 2016
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    waw. i mean, waw! n?

  • March 3, 2016
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    delightful … i keep tucking things, bits and pieces of this and that, away .. i know one day i will finally do this …

  • March 3, 2016
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    Loved looking at your journal pages.!! I am an avid journaler and always am wide open to great ideas. Will be following you to find out more of your “good stuff” Thanks for sharing.

  • March 7, 2016
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    You are such an amazing person! So caring .. .and this is the best sort of therapy of all. Gosh, I can hear your lovely voice in your writing. ๐Ÿ˜€

  • March 8, 2016
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    I’m so grateful Tammie pointed me toward your blog! The tracing paper idea is wonderful — I need to get the “feel” of something before I can learn to draw it on my own. And the journal class sounds so very healing. Thanks!
    ~jeanie from Marmelade Gypsy

  • March 15, 2016
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    I love your ideas here Veronica. I have always altered books by joining pages, using illustrations etc and painting adding lace and whatnot. But what great methods. Thank you for sharing and teaching these women and all of us who wander by.

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