I've been experimenting with watercolors lately and trying to make more time for painting every day. I don't have any end result in mind, just to practice with a new medium and build some skills with my brushes. I even made a new journal just for watercolor experiments, and I'm loving every minute we spend together. There's something natural and appealing to me about working in a book versus loose pages. It feels more like a record of my progress. And I've already started turning some of my experiments into daily journal pages.
I've had the bare bones of this journal for a while (watercolor paper, 4 signatures, recycled book cover) but couldn't decide on how I wanted to bind it all together. I finally decided on a simple sewn binding technique I learned from this book and added my painted papers as colorful signature wraps. I love how they peek through the spine.
It is interesting to me how certain motifs and images will pop up and repeat themselves in an artist's work. Right now I find myself obsessed with little 5-petal flowers and cadmium red and gold dots. I used to try to suppress these urges to repeat certain design elements thinking, 'Ok, I've done that now let's move on'. But I've come to see the value, even the necessity, of letting these little obsessions play themselves out, to do what they showed up to do, and without overthinking it. Eventually, their purpose will make sense or it won't, but it's all part of the learning and self-discovery process.
Speaking of self-discovery, there's nothing like pure, childlike wonder to get your mind working and those creative juices flowing. In case your holiday season needs just a little less rush and a little more wonder, go get yourself something yummy to drink, settle in for a few uninterrupted minutes and wonder at this amazing video. You can thank me later.
