How do you , Milliande, Make time to Art Journal?

by Ila
(Los Angeles)

Mixed Media Art Questions for Milliande
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Hi Milliande,
Thank you for sharing your passion via internet.Just watching you have fun, inspires me.

How have you created time for art journaling?

I started 'morning pages' and an 'Artists way' support group. Love writing, but want to make 'arting' part of my journaling. I'm getting anxious and depressed about making space and time. Any suggestions??

I love your 'hands on' demos because you make it look so easy and fun.

I send haikus to express my issues.

Sending gratitude
your 'you tubes', tangible art
you Inspire play

Frustrated with time
house, clutter,unorganized
waiting to create


sending blessings,

Ila in Los Angeles



Mixed Media Art Questions answered by Milliande
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Hi Ila

and thank you for your kind comments , I am glad my sharing of my art process inspires you :-)

As for How to make Time to Art Journal .. that is an interesting questions and I guess depends very much on one's personal working / playing style.

Personally I do not like to plan time as such as I get inspired by little things all day long .. so when an idea for an art journal entry strikes I like to be able to sketch it straight away ..even if I don't have time to play with mixed media paints ... so I always carry a very small sketchbook with me at all times ..

In this little sketchbook go pencil sketches, stubs, collage bits for inspirational, words, poems, thoughts, feelings scribbles, pen and ink characters, travel pictures drawn or glued ... a multitude of little snippets of my life in no particular order or indeed needing to be artistic perfections--if some such thing even exists :-)

Then I also have a larger art journal or 2 ;-) where I tend to play with collage, gel medium transfers, paintings and all sorts of mixed media fun ... however I do not regularly art journal in there... I tend to have art journaling spurts.. times when I like to play in there.. then sometimes I don't touch that mixed media art journal for months ... until the next wave comes along ...

I enjoy the organic creative flow... that makes me jump happily from art journaling to quilting to pen and ink works to canvas painting and knitting.... and writing poetry ... and playing art with my daughter... and then maybe art journaling again one day ..

When I am play with a particular art form ..I tend to get totally involved in it for a while until I got that particular art " out of my system" as it where ...

I love being totally immersed .. to the exclusion of other inspiration at times... at other times I dabble half heartedly with all of them ...

For me there is no right or wrong way as such just honoring what arises in the moment ...

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So in the busyness of everyday life ... I have a small bag of art supplies always with me .. a sketchbook, a couple of watercolor brushes, some pen and ink art journaling pens, pencil , putty eraser and a glue stick .... that I carry with me at all times...so if my daughter is at a playground, or we are queuing somewhere, in a car journey , sitting at a coffee shop etc ...I can whip it out and scribble a few lines, glue a few pieces, ponder a few ideas ...

At home... I have a studio in the garden ...so when I get 3 hours free time in a row ..I tend to hole myself up in there to my full delight ...however if I don't get " Me time" for whatever reason... then I may think of a project that my daughter ( 10) can do alongside me so we can have some creative play together, often with art journaling or our Art Journal January theme months she quite happily plays along.

I also have art materials available right next to my work desk and computer .. a little shelf with some watercolor crayons, some gel medium, an array of paints and brushes, a little box of collage pieces, some stamp carving stuff ... so when I see something that inspires me, or feel like a 15 minute creative break ..I have everything ready to have a little go ...

I like to be surrounded by art materials so I can see them, and often an idea sparks off quite quickly and I love to capture it before it flies away ...

To say that I live in an eclectic chaos would probably be an understatement to those who know me here... :-)

I rather paint, then tidy up ...
I rather art journal then iron clothes ...
I rather let the creativity muse take me on a wild dance then live without stacks and stacks of books, papers, art supplies, old coffee cups, unopened post and various piles of life's paraphernalia forming an unorderly queue around me ..

but as with all of life ..there are always choices to make .. so I choose to art journal when the Muse inspires me and those around me have learned that that may mean cold soup for tea :-) but they love me all the more for being authentically me ..rather then a stressed and grumpy other .

hope this helps a little
...milliande
Mixed Media Artist