The Art Journal & Creativity Bookshelf: The Long List!

Our house groans with books. Literally. Walls have been scaled by carpenters & cabinet makers ( being married to someone in the antiques trade has its perks - Bushwood Antiques, I thank you) and shelves have been adhered to any wall not suitable for paintings. I love peering into books & sniffing out their treasures. And my books are more informatively interactive than Kindle. All book lovers should look away right now because I hereby confess to the sin of writing in the margins of my paperbacks. Indeed I have paperback copies of some of my hardbacks purely so that I can carry on a written conversation with the author. Remember the quote from my last blog entry,

"Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: "What! You, too? Thought I was the only one."

Well this is just one of the reasons why I write in my books; the magic spell of recognition.

My little addenda add an extra dimension to re-reading old favourites. 'Did I really think that? Oh shallow youth!' ( I rather enjoy feeling pompous about my younger self; it shows I may have actually learnt something as I've travelled through life and that all is not necessarily lost!) In fact my long standing loves which I refer to again & again, such as Virginia Woolf's diaries or Carrington's 'Letters & Extracts from Her Diaries', have special journals devoted to them which stand by their sides on the bookshelves. Carrington's paintings have always beguiled me, but when I read her enthralling letters & saw the illustrations which she added to them, I fell under her thrall & have remained her slave ever since.

Indeed, many, many years ago, it was Virginia & Carrington who first inspired me to keep a journal of my own. At first it was just a diary, but this one volume has blossomed into many. I now keep a diary, a reading record ( for thoughts I dare not expose in the books themselves!), an art journal, as well as a multiplicity of sketchbooks ( which, to my mind, are another form of journal). The latest addition is a more formal illustrated journal whose shape still hasn't comfortably settled in my mind.

But I digress. The reason for this post is that I've been 'editing' my art journal resource shelves. Not because I'm divesting myself of any of the books which have helped me along the journalling path, but because some seem more pertinent to the shelves in the Shack where I paint & make a mess whilst others seem more suited to the calmer climate of my study.

Now that I've finally finished dusting off & restating the bookshelves, I thought I'd list a selection of favourites books which I've referred to as I've mined my way through my own particular seam of journalling life. They are of particular help in the bad times, but also nourish me in the good. In other words, they are Battle Books!

Here goes...

Firstly the greats. You can treat yourself to books by any of the following authors and each & all will hold your hand and delight, inspire & inform you. Make space for:

Lynne Perella, Gwen Diehn, Danny Gregory, Maggie Grey, L.K.Ludwig, Ricë Freeman Zachary & her wonderful interviewees, Sark, Alan Fletcher, Dan Price & any of the volumes of 'Illustration Now'.

And now, in no particular order, here comes a lengthy selection of my favourites. I've added links to Amazon, not because I'm on commission ( because I'm not) but purely so that you can read a little more about each particular book.

'Kaleidoscope' by Suzanne Simanaitis
'Exhibition 36' & 'Digital Expressions' by Susan Tuttle
'Celebrate Your Creative Self' & 'The Creative Edge' by Mary Todd Beam
'Art Escapes' by Dory Kanter
'Collage Sourcebook' by Holly Harrison, Jennifer Atkinson & Paula Grasdal
'Mixed Media Collage' by Holly Harrison
'Journal Spilling' by Diana Trout
'Life is a Verb' by Patti Digh
'1000 Art Journal Pages' edited by Dawn DeVries Sokol
'1000 Journals Project'
'Complete Guide to Altered Imagery' by Karen Michel
'Exploring Colour' by the late Julie Caprara
'Handmade Prints' by Anne Desmet & Jim Anderson
'Drawing & Painting People: A Fresh Approach' by Emily Ball
'Painted Paper' by Alisa Golden
'The Artist's Sketchbook' by Lucy Watson
'Sketchbooks: The Hidden Art Of Designers, Illustrators & Creatives' by Richard Brereton
'Mixed Media Self Portraits' by Cate Coulacos Prato
'The Nature Diary of an Artist' by Jennie Hale
'Art Stamping Workshop' by Gloria Page
'Printmaking + Mixed Media' by Dorit Elisha
'Drawing From Life:The Journal as Art' by Jennifer New
'Journal Bliss' by Violette
'Drawing, Seeing & Observation' by Ian Simpson
'Sometimes I Think, Sometimes I Am' by Sara Fanelli
'Experimental Drawing' by Robert Kaupelis
'Creating Sketchbooks for Embroiderers & Textile Artists' by Kay Greenlees
'Making Journals by Hand' by Jason Thompson
'Artist Trading Card Workshop' by Bernie Berlin
'Mixed Emulsions' by Angela Cartwright
'Practical Printmaking' by Colin Gale
'Creative Awakenings: Envisioning The Life of Your Dreams Through Art' by Sheri Gaynor
'Taking Flight' by Kelly Rae Roberts
'Collage Unleashed' by Traci Bautista
'The New Creative Artist' by Nita Leland
'Keys To Drawing With Imagination' by Bert Dodson
'Creative Paint Workshop' by Ann Baldwin
'Drawing Matters' by Jane Stobart
Jim Krause's Colour Index Volumes I and II
'Sources of Inspiration' and 'Pattern, Colour & Form' by Carolyn Genders
'Connecting Art to Stitch' by Sandra Meech
'Acrylic Revolution' by Nancy Reyner

There are more, but I fear I may have exhausted you and that, dear Reader, will never do.

PS, I'm avidly awaiting the arrival of 'The Journal Junkies Workshop' by Eric M.Scott & David R. Modler which is available in the States, but not here in the UK as of today. Help! I'm not known for my patience! I have discovered Eric's blog though for which I shout 'Hurrah!'

First Post of the Day

We all have blind spots. Whoops - there I go again making assumptions for which I can offer no evidence. Back in the days of educational yore, I would have been 'slapped down' for my posit. Please allow me to re-write my opening sentence.

In my experience, most of us have blind spots. I have one about the writers Thomas Keneally ( Schindler's Ark') & William Styron ( 'Sophie's Choice'). Sometimes I mix their work up but worst of all, I occasionally morph them into one writer!!

I'm telling you this because I've just been listening to Thomas Keneally being interviewed on 'Desert Island Discs'. ( BBC Radio 4 is one of our national treasures & it's quite literally in the background of my life because I listen to it all day, every day.) Aha, I thought, he'll talk about 'Darkness Visible'. It took about 30 seconds before the light dawned & I realised that, once again, I'd mixed them up.

'Darkness Visible' by William Styron & not Thomas Keneally is a window which looks into the experience of depression. I'm certain that I'm responsible for a fair sized slice of royalites because I buy a copy of this book, lend it to a friend & never see it back again. This is one of those books that I'm delighted to lend on a permanent basis. It's a bell that rings true - it's a bell that sings out loud.

My copy is packed away ( the bulk of my library is packed away whilst our house is being torn into shreds & as I live with a man who boasts that the only non-fiction book he's read is 'Lord of the Rings', I do get rather acerbic when I try to explain that, frankly yes, I do need to refer to such & such book) so I'm going to buy another copy because I want to read it again.

It's a joy to find a book that one can read over & over - one that will be a legend for the amount of copies which are borrowed on a permanent basis. Such a book is 'Just this Side of Normal - Glimpses into Life with Autism' by Elizabeth King Gerlach. It's wonderful - so pure & beautiful. I'm going to order at least 10 copies!

Elizabeth - thank you :-)

Downcast!

It had to happen. I do not dazzle. I do not have Margot Potter's wit, glamour, sex appeal & lustre - she's darn intelligent too & was born to write as well as sparkle. I'm not jealous because I love Margot - she works SO extraordinarily hard & when she's President, everyone in the States will surely sing with delight!! But she is a perminent fixture on Top Momma where as I reside under a stone at the bottom of Blog Land's gadren.

The reason for this despondency: I've been booted off Top Momma because I'm not popular :-(

Woe is me! Woe is me! Woe is me! Woe is me!

I was handed a copy of a new book today: 'The Dialectical Behaviour Therapy ( i.e. DBT )Skills Workbook' - looks good. BUT! The school holidays have begun. How am I going to find the time and peaceful lucid moments in which to work on this?

I mean no disrespect to people without children, but why do some of them assume that children play happily together & do not need tending & that processing laundry for two adults, two children & a Lula is a mind-numbing activity which shrivels your brain to the size of a walnut. Brothers & sisters hate each other at the top of their voices during the day, but glue together at bedtime & refuse to be parted. There's also the matter of trying to keep a household running in a building site. We've had one wall removed & another is partly built - please don't ask. Why did he marry me? What was it about me that attracted a man who would eventually fall in love with a mallet?

I squeeze in as much work as I can, but nevertheless, finding enough quality time for work is a problem.

I tend to work at night, even though it breaks my doctor's cardinal rule about a regular sleep pattern. If I work until four in the morning, I can take full advantage of a head that clears at about eleven at night. I can survive on short bouts of sleeps for quite a long length of time, but eventually I pay for it.

What a dull & dismal entry too - how bored you must feel! When you have such feelings or think you are approaching the end of a nappy soaked road, have a go at what I occasionally do. Try it for one minute & progress as required. Pick up or pluck someone ( or something) & pretend to waltz around the room with them. Do not attempt to do this in a supermarket though - the management will not comprehend.

When the brood are whining that I haven't done this or that or are in ' full-on whinge & whine mode', I announce that I'm a mere human being and therefore fallible. A short silence ensues during which, they try to work out what fallible means. Eventually they walk away muttering rather than whinging - I can cope with muttering - and then they start to murder one another again. The 'good enough' idea is a superb piece of advice which I gleaned from the excellent, helpful, and comforting book called ''Families & How to Survive them' by Robyn Skinner % John Cleese. The idea of being a 'good enough' parent is manna!. It's pointless trying to be a perfect parent with a perfect child - these parnerships do not exist. Why not experiment by aiming to be a 'good enough' parent for a while- it cures some of the wilder guilts that afflict a parent.

Sunday Part I: Schmooze Award

My dear friend & mentor, Jean Yates has very kindly honoured me with this award. Jean has taught me so many things & explained things to me which have never made sense until now - momentous things such as events in my childhood, being a mother & how to befriend bipolar. She is also a lady who knows what I'm talking about when I send her a letter addressed to 'Dear Shoes' which I eventually sign off with 'Love Hats'.

I'm hopeless at explanations which is why I continually drop links into my blog. These take you to other websites which are better equipped for these tasks. Follow this one today: Do you have the power to schmooze?

Queen Jean is the Empress of Schmooze. BJ (Before Jean) I would not have had the confidence to push along the Postcardian Quest to raise awareness of ovarian cancer. Indeed were it not for Jean & the amazing momentum she generated, I would have floundered and fallen to my knees within days! She produced contacts like bouquets & each and every one of them has a beautiful soul. Jean collects angels & they are her friends.

Let me now turn to the awards that I would like to pass on. Please allow me to quote from the award site. 'When it comes to blogging, schmoozing is your ticket to making new friends, getting yourself noticed and building a reputation.'

Emma Ralph
Hands up anyone who hasn't heard of Emma? No paws waving in the air? I thought not - I rest my case! Anybody who is anybody has heard of Emma. Emma keeps an enormous amount of jars of genius in her brain & amongst them is one labelled 'Schmoozability'. If she so desired, Emma could move a mountain. She is a force of nature.

Laura Sparling
If you've been unfortunate enough not to have seen or held a bead by Laura, please visit her gallery & goggle at her beads. Perfect precision - her work is astonishing. It is for this reason that people seek her advice and 'they come not single spies but in battalions', to quote Shakespeare (who, by the way, was speaking about sorrows & not espionage or warfare).

Laura must have one of the biggest mailbags in Bead Land because not only is she a Bead Maestro, but she's also a born teacher who writes in beautifully constructed sentences. Her Inbox must be packed to the rafters with people desperate to schmooze - that's what happens when you've built a reputation like Laura's.

I've known Emma & Laura for a long time. Recently I've had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of some more ladies who impress me with their intelligence, talents & integrity - surely these are prerequisites for schmoozing?

Sisters on Sojourn -Karen & Linda are two of my journalling heroines & their schmoozing is a work of art. They are the authors of 'Visual Chronicles' which just happens to be one of my Battle Books.

Jafabrit's Art Prams in trees, dolls which are not dolly, skunks, the theme from Austin Powers & a looooooooooong list of contacts. I like!!

Penelope Illustration One of the founders of Illustration Friday - need I say more? Actually I will say one more thing - I LOVE Penelope's work!

Clarice Bean is the ultimate schmoozer, but she doesn't have a blog so sadly I can't pass on an award to her. She confines her schmoozing to books & her website - nevertheless she is the belle of the schmoozing ball. In the words of my daughter, Clarice is 'awethome!'

Alan Fletcher & 'The Art of Looking Sideways'

Today Ditsy Daisy would like to recommend two books by the graphic designer Alan Fletcher. 'The Art of Looking Sideways' has been my thousand page friend since I discovered it earlier this year & yesterday the substantial 'Picturing and Poeting' was delivered. How can I describe them? This article is helpful.

They're not to be looked at or read progressively - the idea is that you open them at any page you wish. They're rich with succulent ideas, images & inspiration. When I'm on an even keel I 'eat' books, but I lose this ability when I experience a blip. I'm particularly drawn to these volumes because it doesn't matter if your mind is in grasshopper mode - they keep up with you!

For the aforementioned reasons, I hereby declare that 'The Art of Looking Sideaways' & 'Picturing & Poeting' are Official Battle Books!

Some Battle Books & why I use them.

An Elegant Wrist

Recently I've been asked about manic depression, endogenous depression and, for want of a better expression, crisis recognition. I'm an expert in only one area - me - so I will relate a little of my own story as well as a tale of the moment in which I saw a glimmer of light above me, even though I was at the bottom of a deep, cold & blasted hole. How can one be buffeted by ice cold, stormy winds whilst curled up against the brick & unyielding wall of your own personal pit? I don't know, but that's how it feels sometimes.

Some of you may feel that I shouldn't broadcast what I'm about to say, but I prefer to discuss it in the hope that my one voice will join the many who are now requesting that depression loses its stigma. So many people have themselves experienced depression, debilitating anxiety and other illnesses which bring on the dark night of the soul, but these conditions are viewed by many as guilty secrets. It is my belief that employers must reassess their response to mental illness - such a step would ease the lives of a vast number of people. In my opinion, such a move might also help to bring about an earlier recovery and possibly one that might endow the sufferer with greater resilience too.

So here we go. What is me? Why is me? What is wrong with me?

If you had asked me a year ago to describe myself, I would have said, 'mother, wife, daughter' and that would have been it. I did not know myself or recognise anything within myself. In my mind I was simply a series of roles and not a unified person. For a reason that I won't bore you with, I felt that I - my spirit - the essential me - had mentally died when I was 25. What remained was just a shell - a body - a thing. The professionals who have cared for me over the years haven't just marked me down as lacking self-esteem - they're fighting self-alienation.

During & after a conversation with one of the members of my CP Team last November, something began to change. I think I'm now beginning to 'read' myself & to recognise and identify some of the things about myself which may be useful tools to help me through the rest of my life. If it becomes a rewarding journey, so much the better. I would be happy if I could just say goodbye to the tortured thinking; if it also enables me to make the rest of my life a worthwhile experience, then I shall be blessed.

The CP guy I spoke to is really cool. He's down to earth, funny & full of common sense. He noticeably thought about what I said before asking further questions & he wasn't offended by my black sense of humour - in fact I think he enjoyed it. Sometimes he said that I flummoxed him. For instance, I asked him what was wrong with suicide - you can ask a vet to end your dog's suffering, but when a person wants to do the same for themselves, our society responds by declaring that they have lost their reason & sanity. He thought for a very long time before he smiled at me & said, 'You know, I don't know how to answer that one.'

He came to see me last November & I don't know why & I don't know how, but our conversation rapidly went 'off script' and we talked about a host of other things before he turned our discussion around to ask what I had wanted to do with my life before I hit an early & evil crisis that was unconnected with my troubled childhood. He listened to my answer. I had wanted to be an investigative journalist. It's my belief that most politicians don't themselves identify injustice - they're informed, but not insightful - whereas a writer can reveal & publicise an issue that needs to be addressed & confronted. This was the voice that I wanted to acquire - I didn't want power, but I did want to be a voice. Cool Guy asked why I wasn't doing this now. It took me a long time to confront the answer. I've lost my courage in myself. I have made it easy to hide from myself because I have appropriated blame & conferred it on to people & events that happened when I was younger. In other words, I am not using my early experiences to inform myself. Instead I am reinforcing the damage. By doing this, I avoid 'owning' my reaction to what has happened - instead I am caught up in the vortex of blame. But, as Cool Guy pointed out, this desire to hide & this lack of courage did not arise as a result of my childhood. I had actually emerged from my childhood with an ambition ( which is itself a measure of self-esteem) to write & report on what I had the courage to feel was wrong in the world. This could well have been a positive conduit. Suddenly I felt gripped - I felt that girl alive inside me. My childhood wasn't holding me back. I was not eternally cursed. Before my crisis, bad things had been stored inside me, but they had not overwhelmed me. They were not the trigger that caused my crisis though they did account for the unbearable flood that followed. Having been overwhelmed, I then became fearful & have remained so ever since. Cool Guy's suggestion was a simple one. 'Start with the girl', he said. 'Try to do what that girl would have done if she'd had the support that you have now when she met her crisis.'

That moment of feeling the vitality of the girl disappeared almost as quickly as it had appeared, but I recognised the taste of her freedom - she has reappeared on my horizon. I want to catch up with her. I can't go back & fulfil my earlier ambition, but once again, I WANT to do something of possible significance. I have to be careful though - I must tread carefully around bipolar. This is where the tool of creativity comes in. It's a mindful experience & it heals. I cannot change my thought processes without a lengthy period of careful work, but creativity is my balm & it also begins to feel like my future. If I don't manage to heal myself, I hope I will at least learn a method via which I can express my ideas & imagination. Either way, I hope to learn to be at peace with myself.

I need to scale the cliff faces of my DBT & CGT workbooks, but in these early stages, I am supplementing these tomes with my own researched list of 'Battle Books'. I should warn you that it's quite a long list and it's orientated to developing the life changing skills of mindfulness. It's been vetted by professionals so there's no quackery here.

The works of Nathaniel Branden

'Talking of Love on the Edge of a Precipice' by Boris Cyrulnik

'Fearless Creating: A Step by Step Guide to Starting & Completing Your Work of Art' by Eric Maisel

'Art & Fear: Observations on the Perils & Rewards of Artmaking' by David Bayles & Ted Orland

'The Van Gogh Blues: The Creative Person's Path Through Depression' by Eric Maisel

'Visual Journaling: Going Deeper Than Words' by Barbara Ganim & Susan Fox

The fun ones are:

'How to Make a Journal of Your Life' by Danny Price

'Visual Chronicles' by Linda Woods & Karen Dinino *

'Twyla Tharp's 'The Creative Habit; Learn It & Use it for Life'

Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain' by Betty Edwards - this book ostensibly teaches you about drawing but in my opinion, it's also a powerful course in mindfulness which is a key skill for people who suffer from stress, anxiety & depression.

'The Creative Licence: Giving Yourself the Licence to be The Artist You Really Are' by Danny Gregory. The latter's 'Everyday Matters' is a wonderful book too.

* To read more about Linda & Karen, head towards the 'Sisters on Sojourn' blog.

So there we are. A list of Battle Books that I thoroughly recommend.

Do you want to play the stream of consciousness game?

Romany Bracelet

This is a new idea - quite possibly a silly idea ( I rely on you to tell me), but I've started to compile a blog called pursuing the art of curiousity which is devoted to the images that inspire me.

If I'm stuck for an idea or I want visual stimulation, I have a big & beautiful Battle Book* at hand. If you want a book to keep a door open on hot, sultry days, then this stunner is the babe for you. I discovered 'The art of looking sideways' late last year. It was put together by the designer Alan Fletcher and though it is a mighty heavy tomb, I try to take it & my ubiquitous sketch book everywhere with me. When it's not travelling, it's yet another of the books that sit by my bed. It's perfect to flick through when your eyelids are drooping, but you're not quite on the edge of wanting to turn the light out. It can also cure brain whirr or brain race - I don't know if it's bipolar or just me, but sometimes my brain goes into a spin cycle. A few ideas or thoughts are reasonable & valid - the majority is garbage . T'was ever thus :-)

So why am I doing this? Let me quote from the 'pursuing the art of curiosity' blog :

No designer or artist can work in a vacuum. We need to explore - to enquire - to seek out those ideas & images which stimulate our imagination. The seeds of creativity require constant nourishment if they are to flourish.

I call this my ‘art blog’. It’s my intention to turn it into a collection of images or ideas that inspire me as I continue to pursue the art of curiosity. I will inevitably include some pictures of the jewellery that I’ve assembled because these pieces contain the art beads that inspire me. Each of the beads that I have the privilege of working with is unique, individual & original - a extraordinary font of creative stimulation. These are the qualities that I am searching for - not to copy, but to learn from & use as a springboard. Life is one long line of lessons.

When looking at an image, to get ‘into it’ I often play what I call the ’stream of consciousness game’. Reviewing these words is often interesting & sometimes surprising. Stay curious - keep playing the game :-) '

Today I've posted a picture of my mother's fork bracelet, but please forgive me for not playing the 'stream of consciousness game' today. Romy's Fork has been my motivator for many years, but I'd cry if I played today. However my entry for yesterday is there - go & have a laugh at me :-)

I am coming to the end now, but not before I ask one final question. I have lost control of my commas. Does anyone know what the New Yorker's policy on commas is today? It's the only publication whose rigorous editing I trust ;-)


* I have different sets of Battle Books to cover various subjects & situations that arise - do you have any Battle Books? What are they?