As I stated in my last instalment, I’ve been away from the studio quite a bit in the last two months. And of course this means that I have been getting behind on my Journal 52 project. I’m happy to say that with a couple nights of regular studio time, Canada Day and a lovely day off yesterday spent painting, I’m back on track with this project.
I’ve really been enjoying the themes and have been surprised where some of them have led me. The courage prompt stands out in particular. The prompt challenged me to create a page about what courage means to me. Through the process, I came to the realization just how much the definition has changed for me, especially in the last 5 years. Before, courage was about putting on a brave face and continuing on, even when things were broken inside. It was about supporting everyone else and not asking for help when I needed it. Courage used to be about sticking with a situation or relationship, even when it was toxic, because the unknown was too scary. Now, courage is about asking for help, moving into the unknown confident in who I am and what I can do and turning my back on situations that aren’t good for me. This is a really big shift in my thinking process.
So here are the last few weeks of the Journal 52 prompts, starting with the most recent.

Week 27 – Nostalgia
This week’s prompt took me back to the summer of ’88. That last “perfect” summer before everyone started going their separate ways. Dancing on Thursday nights at the Elephant and Castle, making mixed tapes and generally having the times of our teenaged lives.

Week 26 – Under the Sea
I decided to revisit the mermaid theme that I tried out in my very first art journal. While I was generally satisfied with the first attempt, I always felt that there was room for improvement. So, I used the same background technique (spray inks and gesso) and created from there. I was thrilled with the result.

Week 25 – Nature Inspired
If you’ve followed my work at all, you know my main inspiration is nature. So, I decided I needed to break away from the birds and try something new. This one was a struggle at first, but in the end it all came together. (to see all the images, check out my Facebook album)

Week 24 – Courage

Week 23 – Passion
Birds are my passion. Everything seems to stem from birds.

Week 22 – Travelling
I’ve been out west (to Banff) as well as the Bruce Peninsula – Indian Paintbrush connected the dots between the two places.

Week 21 – Making a Mandala
Mine was inspired by the native orchids we have in Ontario

Week 20 – Book Inspiration
I read Brave Intuitive Painting and used one of the exercises as my prompt for this page. Not my normal colour palette, but it was fun to get messy.

Week 19 – Photography
One of the many photos I took on my travels (the famous MacGregor Elm) used as a photo transfer for this page.