Today I'm going to share a few behind the scenes bits.
I am a messy creator! And especially when I'm doing any creative journaling, I simply reach for stuff.
I rip it, cut it, open all the boxes and all the different paint tins. Grab for markers, pens or glue.
But in the end, I get a pretty nice page for myself.
There are missteps with brush stroke thickness and too much water. A snag in the paper where my pen went off on its own special journey.
None of these are mistakes. Just missteps that I can try to play with and adjust or just leave to be what they are.
Once it's all dry I will use it to write some journal entry in. Or perhaps leave it to enhance the words on the next page.
But it will forever be an image that brings me to a moment when I let loose and just let the moments be.
But speaking on mistakes, they do exist in Chinese calligraphy, I think.
It is a very specific and sacred form of lettering. It is all based off 'The Forever 8 Strokes', which I learned in a class I took on Tuesday.
Again, the mess is just part of the package.
I learned to write the character 'forever'. It uses all of the forever 8 strokes.
As you can see mine is less than perfect. I chose to grind my own ink, because I had the stone and stick from a kit I got years ago. My ink was always too loose or too heavy I think. My brush, also from the kit, was not terribly pliable.
I am not making excuses for my very first try at Chinese calligraphy! I can see how meditative it can be once you have the hang of it though.
Lastly on Tuesday I took a fun lettering class about 'lettering the month'. So you take a few precious moments out of the month to put into a memory page of sorts.
I really like this idea for a couple reasons.
A) I have a terrible memory!
B) I love journaling. The idea of scrapbooking, I like, too but I mean, you've seen my mess! Can you image me trying to make a scrapbook sized mess!?
So maybe you do these things? Or maybe you're inspired to try? I just know that having these hand made memories will help me take them into my future. Forever.
