Down Memory Lane: Art Journal Pages I love

Actually, it’s only my body that is getting old. I am ageless. I attribute my youthful spirit in part to the fact that I live my passion. As artists, when we create, we tap into the ultimate fountain of youth and never lose our childlike sense of wonder.

Lesley Riley

As I keep going through old blog posts to update and check what needs to be fixed (an never ending task) I have come across so many goodies from the past I thought I could do a whole series of reminiscing. Please join me as I look back over art made, crafts done and pages of the past in this series of blog posts that will continue in the new year.

I’m going to call the series “a visit to memory lane” or maybe simply “Down memory lane” because that is where these images, pages and blog posts take me.

For you, if you’re new to me and maybe to art journaling and all this, it might not evoke the same nostalgic feeling but it might spark something else. Inspiration. Joy. Creativity. Curiosity. Wonder. One can hope. But let me know what happens if you click through.

Tissue paper crusade Art Journal spread by iHanna (Copyright Hanna Andersson)
Art journal page where I used my stamped tissue paper letters. Blogged here
You are an artist art journal painted spread by iHanna (Copyright Hanna Andersson)
You are an artist art journal painted spread, acrylic paint and paper towels. You Are an artist is the message here.
Climbing Raccoon Art Journal spread by iHanna (Copyright Hanna Andersson)
Climbing Raccoon Art Journal spread using lots of tissue paper in the background blogged here.
Art journal spread by iHanna: Doodled mandala flower on brown paper (Copyright Hanna Andersson)
Doodled mandala flower on brown paper in my blog post 10 art journaling ideas to try.
Strip Ease finished Art Journal Spread by iHanna (Copyright Hanna Andersson)
Strip Ease art journal spread – love all the little details in this one.

And last but not least, one of my monsters, close-up:

Art Journal little monster with sharp teeth made by iHanna (Copyright Hanna Andersson)
Art journal detail. Big teeth guy… A lurking monster perhaps… 2014.

After my morning walk, which was very uncomfortable, I noticed both my sock heels were drenched in blood so I guess that’s it for walking in those shoes (the heel cushioning has moved around and the shoes might be beyond saving). I just took a pain-killer but not because of the feet situation. My shoulder is aching, and there is pain when I move my head too far to the right (where the shoulder-hurt is). It feels like muscle cramp and like it could develop into something worse or heal by itself. Worse is lumbago and/or neck pain, it really sucks. If you’ve never experienced it, you are lucky. I have been rendered imobile several times in my life by it. This pain right now feels like I want to stretch it out to get rid of it, but when I do it hurts more, so probably the muscles need to relax before I can feel good again. In any case, pain sucks.

So I have lit a a few candles, because the afternoon is dreary and it’s getting dark soon, and fetched myself another black coffee from the kitchen. And I sit here, to write another blog post. Then I remembered these images, and it’s what I am sharing today. Nothing new, but something that made me happy back when I created the pages.

I feel very grateful to have this practive in my life, and that filling pages in a cheap text book (or my handmade watercolor journals) keeps giving me joy. I hope that the joy it give me never runs out. If you’d like to try art journaling or being creative inside a sketchbook, I hope you just do it. Dont’ be affraid of the ugly outcome or your own feeling of inadequacy, don’t wait for more time. Just do it.

And if not, I hope you have something similar in your life, what ever it is.

This post is part of NaBloPoMo where I write 30 blog posts in November. Thanks for reading and leaving me a comment, it encourages me to keep going. To follow along subscribe to blog posts via email or RSS. I also have a sweet Substack Newsletter about art, craft and creativity that you might want to sign up for so that we can keep in touch in the future. I’d love that. On instagram I’m @ihannas and on YouTube Studio iHanna. Take care and stay creative friends.


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8 Responses

  1. Oh, these are beautiful! And I love that Leslie Riley quote. And I love the way you ended this post.
    But I feel so bad about your neck pain! I hope the pain killers did their job, and that you’re able to relax the muscles. Pain truly sucks.

    • Thank you Jenny, Leslie Riley is an artist that I’ve followed for a long time and I just recently found her on Substack, so that made me happy. Also sitting with my heath blanket right now, it helps. :-)

  2. Oh, more great artwork. How do you decide what to put on each page, like colour and composition, whether to add words or not? I’m amazed.And sorry to read about your foot and neck pain. I hope you feel better soon.

    • Thanks Alexandra! And oh, those are some great questions. How is art or a page inside a journal born? Watch some of the video’s I’ve made in the play list “Junk journaling” for example, that might help explain the process as I talk about it as I’m creating. My answer beyond watching the actual process, would be: it’s intuition.

      From the beginning I did not know, I just tried stuff I saw other’s do, things I thought would work (and sometimes they didn’t and sometimes they did). Then I learned what I like, and what I think becomes too messy even for me, and what colors I think look ugly, and so on. And that’s my answer for today. :-)

  3. I love looking at your art journal pages. The bright colors are so cheerful, which is nice on a dreary November day. Getting bloody heels on your walk sounds terrible. I hope you’ll feel better soon.

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