The Pages of My Life (aka: My Current Art Journal/Calendar/Planner)

The other day on facebook I mentioned I would tell you about my new calendar/art journal. It was getting annoying to have too many places to "keep track" of my life and I wasn't enjoying having my sketch books serving as my calendar. My sketch books are just that...a place to plan and work out future pieces, do sketches, draw, etc. It bugged me that in the middle of a bunch of lovely pages I would have decided to jot down some stupid thought or shopping list. I knew that could not continue. I also knew that I have never been good at maintaining a regular diary or journal...I'm an art journal kind of gal all the way. Any words I put in mine are usually art related, quotes, song lyrics, etc. I'm not one to write long entries about my day.

So what's an artist to do?

Simple! I found a spiral bound planning calendar for teachers (nod to our homeschooling years!) that has both 2 page spreads for                   monthly    and              

weekly pages. 

I keep track of appointments and activities on the monthly spread. And yes...I doodle on those pages as the month progresses. Nothing formal usually...just those mindless oddities that occur while I'm waiting on the phone or contemplating plans. I liked this one for lots of reasons but the great color scheme was a big one!

Then...on the weekly pages...since I don't have a super busy schedule any more (yay!) I really don't need both pages to keep track of stuff. I designated the left side for journaling about my days and the right side is for art play. I experimented for a while and because the paper is not meant for art work, I've gone ahead and spread gesso on a  few of them to make them sturdier. Right now the thing I'm loving most though is to use my gelli printing plate to apply the paint. I've also been writing some of my favorite art quotes on them. I attach lists with staples, paper clips, use post-it notes, add ephemera, tape, you name it.

Currently I have about 13 weekly pages prepped. This just means there's something spread on the page to create a first layer. I tend to use leftover paint and gesso from current projects in this way. Cuts down on waste. My sharpie pens work pretty nicely on top of the acrylic paint so I'm sticking with those for now. I keep this open on my work table most of the time and it sits inside my business notebook.

OOPS! Forgot to tell ya that it has plastic pockets on the covers...so I added a collage of sayings that inspire me in the front one! (Part of the process of the Right Brain Business Plan which I will be talking about on and off again) And I hung a few charms on leather to the spiral coil to use as a place marker.

So what kind of journal are YOU using? Whats great about it or what's not so great? Let me know! I'm curious.

The Documented Life Project is doing something very similar and gives weekly prompts for ideas to do on the art side if you are interested. They also have a Flickr and facebook page to share your pages.