Video - Current Journals

October 12, 2017 Haley Aubuchon

I love watching people talk about their artwork and art journals in videos on YouTube. I could watch them for hours and hours. Partly to get recommendations for good journals and supplies, partly to gather some inspiration, and partially because it is just so fascinating to listen to people talk about things I love.

So I thought I should contribute some video content of my own, instead of just watching. So here's a video of me talking about my current journals, what I'm using them for, and some general journal thoughts. I don't have any fancy editing and I'm not the most comfortable talking to a camera yet, but it's a start!

A little chat about the journals that I'm currently using. If you'd like to see more of my journals, check out the sketchbook series on my blog: http://www.haleyaubuchon.com/blog/?category=sketchbook+series Website: http://www.haleyaubuchon.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/haleyca/

Are you a fan of these kind of videos? Would you like to see more of them from me? I have a few other videos up my sleeve, like journal flip throughs, but I'd love to know what you'd be interested in hearing me talk about it.

Writing Habits

September 27, 2017 Haley Aubuchon

The floral element in this spread is from the wonderful Life Love Paper.

Writing was my first creative outlet. Specifically, creative writing, which I loved since I realized that real people wrote the stories I read. In elementary school we wrote our own books, which our teacher laminated and bound and I just wanted to make so many of them. I dove into all my writing assignments in middle school, usually making them about wizards. In high school I spent a summer taking creative writing classes in Scotland, which is still one of my favorite summers with some of my favorite people ever. In college I participated in NaNoWriMo.

Personal, non-fiction writing has also always been important to me. I look to writing as a way to get out thoughts that are swirling around repeatedly in my head. For a long time I would tear a sheet of paper out of any notebook, write all my feelings out on it and then tear it up or throw it away. I didn't want to save or remember any of it.

I always liked the idea of keeping a journal or diary. Because of the historian in me, I have always loved recording things and having something to look back on in the future. Keeping a diary never really worked out for me though. Like many people (I think) I would start one, write in it for a few days, and then forget about it or abandon it. When I started art journaling, I often included a lot of written journaling on the pages, but as I got more interested in art, that became the main focus of my art journal spreads.

More recently, I was pretty faithful with morning pages, which is a practice of (obviously) writing several pages in the morning popularized in the Artist's Way. I did pretty well with sticking to it, but they weren't really achieving what I wanted them to, so I set them aside.

Most recently, I found a notebook that I started almost exactly a year prior and had completely forgotten about. It included lots of feelings, lists, and a little bit of everything. I was struck by the feeling that I was in an incredibly similar situation to the one I was in a year ago, but also completely different. And I liked what I had written. I found it helpful and it made me want to write more.

So I have been. I continued on with that same journal from a year ago and I have found writing in it to be so satisfying. It sparks some creative impulses in me that are entirely different, but related, to visual art.

I don't force myself write in my journal every day, just when I feel like I have something to write about. I make sure to keep it nearby and easily accessible to I am encouraged to write in it. I try not to put any rules or restrictions on the writing - I keep it as short or long as I feel like and I include quotes and lists and notes.

Although it is not an art journal and is specifically devoted to writing. I am adding some visual interest to my pages, mostly because it is fun to do and make me even more interested in writing in the book. I don't put a lot of effort in, usually just sticking down stickers or washi tape or a label to make the date more interesting. Apparently I also have a thing for including self portraits in there as well, either through blind contour drawing or image transfers.

I mostly see the journal as a tool for me to work through a lot of feelings (I have so many of them) and as something for me to look back on in the future. To remember what I was doing and thinking at this time in my life and see how it compares to where I end up. I find the act of writing a very helpful exercise to help me find clarity and relief. I don't plan on ever publishing or sharing this writing anywhere and I don't try and get creative or particularly polished with it. I just write what comes to mind.

But, I am interested in what I can do with writing as a part of my visual art practice. I want to try paying attention to the themes and patterns that continually show up and how I can translate those into visual art or freewriting on a topic that I want to make art about to see what ideas are sparked.

Mostly, I'm really jazzed about keeping a journal as an emotional and creative outlet (and as a piece of history because I'm a huge nerd). I know that this isn't a new concept at all, but it is really thrilling me right now. So, do you keep a journal? Are you interested in writing at all? I'd love to know!

Let's Talk About Sketchbooks - Volume 3

March 30, 2016 Haley Aubuchon

I am giving a guided tour of my sketchbooks, art journals,and art books of the past. Check out part one and part two.

Today, I'm getting into one of the things that trips me up whenever I go to write one of these posts: the difference between an art journal, a sketchbook, a journal, and something else. To me, a sketchbook is a place for drawing, a place to practice and to work out ideas. An art journal feels like a place to make more "finished" artwork (I could write a whole bunch on that idea as well), but it is also a place for more personal, emotional work. Not a place to go to practice but a place to go when I had a message to impart or something to express. My first two art journals also seemed to be a place for art and when I would get an urge to just write in my art journal I felt the need to make it look more pretty or more interesting than just words on a page. It felt weird to flip through an art journal and come to a page with just writing or of sketches that were completely random and unfinished. It felt weird to flip through a sketchbook and see paint. But I still felt the need to include these "off topic" pages in my art journals and sketchbooks.

I started to get really tired of all of the restrictions and the pressure I was putting on myself. I just wanted one book where I could just write or just make art or just sketch or stick in anything without feeling like I was betraying the purpose of the book. So I created my first "anything goes" journal.

The book was made out of a lined Moleskine cahier journal. The pages are extremely thin, so I stuck two of them together so that the pages would hold up to more media and writing without bleedthrough. I embraced the "anything goes" idea by collaging the cover with stickers and scraps - anything I found and liked. I worked on the cover over time as I worked in the journal, instead of all at once. (Fantastic "not your babe" sticker from Starchild Stela, C.S. Lewis quote card from Elise Joy, fantastic mermaid sticker (and most of the others) from the dollar store).

Probably because of the lines in this journal I did a lot more writing than in previous journals (like, a lot more). Mostly just recapping my days, but also a lot about feelings. (Writing is blurred in case I wrote anything identifying about other people - I didn't bother to reread it all - nothing super embarrassing or interesting here!)

Lots of lists and little notes. And space for random extras of photos, like this one of a strawberry illustration.

This is the first journal that I took with me while traveling. I brought it with me while visiting family and friends in Ann Arbor, MI and became completely hooked on travel journaling (more on this in future posts). I loved capturing small things in the moment, like the shape of the hotel room key and a list of what I saw, ate, heard, felt, etc. And I'm obsessed with collecting interesting bits of paper (like that coffee sleeve), so a travel journal is the perfect place to put them. At this time I was also super inspired by Teesha Moore (her membership site, the Artstronauts Club is a wonderful fairyland of happiness and creativity) so those two quirky little people in snowsuits are completely inspired by/learned from her.

Again, lots of writing. Still loving bold statements. Using Tim Holtz distress stain to make the pages a little more colorful (100% inspired by Courtney Diaz over at Little Raven Ink for that one).

Journaling or making art is one of my favorite things to do when I can't sleep and/or have anxiety. Also, I should probably alter photos more because I like this.

Journaling from a pretty disastrous journey home to Massachusetts for Thanksgiving and I had to include my ticket, of course (also, so cold in Massachusetts in November - kind of forgot that since moving to DC).

I still love pages with flip outs and interactive elements. Drawing and writing about what I'm doing at the moment is one of my favorite things. I don't have to come up with an idea about what to draw or write and I also get to look back and remember super mundane, random details, like watching What Not to Wear. Also, my mom is super sweet about my weird need to collect paper and record everywhere we go, so she gave me one of her business cards to put in my journal.

Journaling on the road means getting/needing to use random paper and supplies, like this page from a catalog or something. See also little notes about art supplies to try in the top right corner.

Anything Goes Art Journal Plane Ticket Minibook 1

Anything Goes Art Journal Plane Ticket Minibook 2

The return journey on that same trip was also a bit of a disaster and I had enough plane tickets to create a little book.

Anything Goes Art Journal Watercolor Background

Using scrap paper for backgrounds.

When working on this journal I carried around a little pouch with paper pieces, like paint chips, stickers, and labels that I used to break up the pages and add interest, instead of using only found papers.

Anything Goes Art Journal Paint Love But

I did some painting and more traditional art in this journal, but a lot of it was used to create backgrounds or to add interest to written words.

I love pockets in the backs of my journals. I normally stash notes, or collage pieces inside.

Looking back, this journal is definitely one of my most personal. These pages are very far from my more minimalist art style now. I can see myself working to find the sweet spot between writing and art (which definitely fluctuates with my mood and needs at the time). I don't think this is my favorite body of work, although there are definitely some bits that I can pick out to reuse. This journal has my favorite cover of them all - chaotic in the best way.