While having lunch with a friend yesterday, we pored over a couple of Nature Journaling/Sketchbooks she had found in a used bookstore and a project that I have on the go (more on the project in another post). We also discussed creating words as art and incorporating them into our journals. (The art above is from the Artful Journaling: Foundations online class.) She mentioned that she didn't like her handwriting and tended to shy away from using that type of art in her journals.

It took my muse a minute or three to catch my attention and pull me away from the conversation, but there she was, jumping up and down in the background throwing a tantrum, getting really steamed because she wanted to be "heard." Turns out she had a good idea to share (but then, she usually does!)

What she had to say was that you don't "write" art words, you "draw" shapes that just happen to look like letters. Just like you don't draw a tree, you draw a vertical line with some bumps on it and then more long lines in various directions and so on until you have a tree. When I "drew" the J in the piece above, I drew two long, curvy lines and connected them at the ends. Tada! I had a blade of grass fluttering in the breeze that just happens to resemble the letter J. How handy!!

For anyone who may be interested, Artful Journaling: Explorations will be starting in mid-July and there are just a few spaces left! I invite you to come and play with us—we've been having a brilliant time so far. If you are interested in the Foundations class, please let me know (send me an email or leave a comment). I have started a waiting list and when I have enough interest, I'll put both classes back on the schedule, probably in late summer.