Category: Art

3 Ways Art Journaling Improves Mental Health

I don’t like to dwell on the past – it’s important that to avoid negative thought patterns. For me, doing somethinng positive is the best way to stay well. That is what has led me down the path to create a course on art journaling linked to mental wellbeing. Because of the improvements I have […]

3 Ways to Celebrate Primroses You’ll Love

I saw my first primrose yesterday, a sure sign of Spring. I love their delicate yellow flowers far more than the related garden primulas that can be bought. They have a number of medicinal properties that the Celts used them for, including treating arthritis, as a skin toner, as a sedative and for treating bladder […]

Celtic Hawthorn Mixed Media Spread

From the superstitions, the Celts would appear to have had a contradictory relationship with Hawthorn. On the one hand children were scolded for bringing it into the house for fear of causing a death while in other lore it was used to protect a house from witches. Witches were also believed to make their broomsticks […]

Raven & Periwinkle Art Journal Spread.

I was reading about Celtic lore for February, the month of the snowdrop. The petals of the snowdrop symbolised death to the Celts so this week I had a look at lore surrounding death. The Celts believed it was unlucky to disturb the periwinkles that they grew on graves and also that it was unlucky […]

Celtic Goddess Brighide’s Birds – Oystercatcher

There is a YouTube Video of this art journal spread here. Following on from an interest in wildflowers and their medicinal properties I have started reading about the Celtic way of life. The Celts were very concerned with nature and the cyclical way of things. This appeals to me, especially in the face of the […]

Haring after the Plane Art Journal Spread

Haring after the plane – youTube. For this art journal spread I was inspired by brown hares which were traditional Winter fare in the UK. There is some debate still over how native a species the brown hare is. Their boxing behaviour is explained now by the females rebuffing the males in Spring. However, it […]

The Mighty Oak – distress oxide background

You can see the video of me making this spread here: YouTube – The Mighty Oak. This art journal spread was inspired by Oak trees. These trees are steeped in tradition in the U.K. especially as they can grow to be so old. Their long life and great size has led to them being recognisable […]

Bracken for Bedding.

Before we discovered the spores of bracken are carcinogenic we used it in many ways. It was used as fodder, packaging, soap, briquettes for fuel and bedding for livestock. Since I often see cattle in the fields along the coast I decided to make a journal spread inspired by the use of bracken as bedding […]

Stamp Making Tip

So for a while now I have been looking for a cheap and easy stamp making technique. Something that means I can create text stamps easily and small motifs for use in art journaling. I was really interested in stamps that stick to acrylic blocks. I already make lino stamps which are great but time […]