Heading into the New Year with Intention

The start of a new year always has me re-evaluating the previous year, and thinking about things I want to change going forward. For a lot of people, that includes starting a new diet, adding more exercise to the daily routine, making healthier choices, etc. While that all definitely applies to me, I also look at my goals for my art practice. 

What do I want to add to my art? What pieces do I want to create? Do I want to focus on journal pages, or individual pieces? 

This year I decided to write these goals down and include them in a journal page. What better way to set an intention for the year? While I definitely have other goals and things on my to-start list, these things were the first that came to mind. 

I decided to break out my (new!) kraft journal, and chose two complementary NeoColor II crayons (any water soluble crayon will work). 

I then just scribbled them around the spread. One of my favorite things to do is scribble - it can really get out your frustrations! 

I learned from a Dina Wakley class that if you paint over your water soluble crayons with white paint, you get a nice light tint of color while still seeing the scribbles. I used fluid acrylic, but you could use regular acrylic, also. 

I then took a few of my (current) favorite colors and the Garden Spray and Bramble stencil by Jeanne Oliver and stenciled all over my pages. 

I made a little collage bundle with a few things I had laying around (really, they were just in my top drawer!). There a tag, swatch of watercolors, a piece of lace, a stamped teabag, some string, and then my goals list. I used YES! Paste to adhere the bundle to my page. 

The last step was to add some splatters of black ink (I used Liquitex acrylic ink). 

I hope this project inspires you to think about your own goals for this new year. 

I can't wait to look back another year from now and see what I accomplished, and how my goals and intentions have changed!