30 Journals 30 Days: QUINN MCDONALD

Published on July 5, 2010

How long have you been Art Journaling?

Since shortly after the earth cooled. When I was first-grader, I wanted to write stories. As not much had happened to me yet, I wanted to add illustrations. I pretended to be all the characters in my stories, and I drew things I imagined—most of them not recognizable by anyone by me. This surprised me because it was so important to my imagination and so clear to me.

How has Art Journaling impacted, changed, or enhanced your life?

I believe we don’t FIND meaning in life, we MAKE meaning. And that’s what art journaiing—or raw art journaling—does, it helps make meaning in life. I’ve used journaling to explore, sort things out, be angry, get out grief, and hold on to joy. That’s pretty much for a small book. I call this kind of meaning-making “raw art journaling” because it is raw emotion, raw art, raw truth.

What are a few of your favorite Art Journaling materials to use?

I’m a minimalist. I’ve tried lots of materials, though—acrylic paint, watercolor, inks, sewing, collage, transfers, attaching found objects, piercing, cutting, dye applications, gel pens, letter stamps.

But when it comes down to working in my journals, I always come back to pencils, ink, pens, watercolor pencils and a wet brush.

Who are some of your favorite Art Journalers?

Besides you? Well, I like the usual suspects, and I’ve found a ton more since I started working with North Light Books, but here are some that use a lot of words in their work, which I find fascinating:

Most of my work is words as well as art, so I like The Odd Inkwell,

http://theoddinkwell.com/2010/05/23/dragon/ who does a lot of found poetry.

Jill Berry is a personal favorite—I love that she uses writing extensively in her work, too: http://jillberrydesign.com/blog/

I do a lot of maps to explain how I feel or where I find myself, so I like the participants in the Hand Drawn Map association: http://www.handmaps.org/index.php

There’s an international group blog, Urban Sketchers that lets you see the world, one sketch at a time.

Here’s Maria Lopes from Lisbon: http://www.urbansketchers.com/2009/05/meet-correspondents-lisbon-maria-lopes.html

Cynthia Niklas at http://journalingarts.com/ always has interesting reviews for art journalers.

Michael Nobbs is so good at encouraging people to draw their lives—he’s drawing his:http://blog.michaelnobbs.com/blog-archive/

Tammy from Daisy Yellow always has something going on in her journal: http://daisyyellow.squarespace.com/

Sybil MacBeth prays in color. I’m not religious, but I love the idea: http://www.prayingincolor.com/examples.html

Eccentric Spirit generously shares information about art journaling: http://www.eccentricitysupplyco.com/blog/

A minimalist art journaler and humorist is Jessica Hagy of Indexed: http://thisisindexed.com/

Almost everyone in Dawn DeVries Sokols’ book ( 1000 Artist Journal Pages) and Dawn herself:http://www.dblogala.com/

And, of course, people I follow on Twitter (too many to mention) including @ilkasattic, @mildlycreative, @lindawoods, @heatherplett, @littlebrownpen, the art-journaling-twibe, reviewers of pens and journals like @inkyjournal and @tigerpens

What kind words of encouragement would you say to an Art Journal newbie?

Look at a lot, then do what you like. You don’t need to be a writer or an illustrator, you just have to be curious about the world you live in and your path through that world. Don’t depend on kits and a lot of supplies—a pencil, pen, and a piece of paper, and an open mind is a good start.

Where can we contact you…give us some link LOVE!

My blog: QuinnCreative.wordpress.com

My artwebsite: RawArtJournaling.com

I’m on Twitter and Facebook as QuinnCreative.

Short Bio:

I believe in change and re-inventing yourself. I believe in being curious about the path we are on in the world we inhabit and create every day. When I was growing up, I was supposed to be a nurse. I wanted to be a science-fiction writer, but that wasn’t allowed for little girls of that age. So now I own my business—writing, training people to write, to communicate with others unlike them, to keep journals, celebrate their life. (I’m a celebrant who performs weddings and other life transition ceremonies. It’s really just acting out the stuff that works its way into art journals.)

The creative force—the urge to make something—is important in my life. Important enough to be both a life coach and a certified creativity coach. Because nature is the ultimate creative force, I am a naturalist (no, not a nudist, that’s something else) and a lot of my journaling is about what I learn from nature.

I write the Business of Art column for Somerset Studio magazine, and am writing a book, “Raw Art Journaling: Making Meaning, Making Art.” The book will be published by North Light Books in June of 2011.