Never Too Young to Create Art

I am in love with art journaling. So much so that I totally ditched the original idea of an art planner that would do double duty.  Nope, the art journaling is just too freeing to force any type of structure in it, even in the form of a calendar to keep me organized.  I decided I’d just have to look for a great planner to stand alone, because no way was I going to tie down the creativity that seems to fly when I sit down to play on a journal page.

I know that art journaling has health benefits such as stress relief, but for me it’s also a chance to do whatever I want creatively without any instructions, rules or expected outcomes.  That alone is calming, but it also makes me happy to have the flexibility to try new techniques and new ideas, without fear of the way they might turn out.  I also love that my pages tend to be works in progress, meaning I may go back and add little embellishments and doodling to a page that I might have declared ‘done’ in the past.  No rules, just creativity running wild.

I’m not the only fan, my granddaughter (lovingly nicknamed the Bean) will sit and watch as each page takes on a life of its own.  That’s why this past weekend I decided she should have her own art journal.  It doesn’t matter that she’s only 3, in fact, I think it’s great that we can give her a creative outlet that young.  It’s never too early to encourage creativity and imagination.

She was so excited to see her own little book filled with blank pages. She asked for a red cover with black dots “just like a ladybug” and then I helped her use alphabet stamps to put her name on the cover.

Right now her favorite art medium is watercolors. Probably because Granmama has a big, colorful set of them that she’s been eyeing since they came home from the craft store.

She also loves using the ‘magic paintbrush’, aka my Sakura waterbrush.  She thinks it’s totally cool that it doesn’t require a cup of water and that it cleans itself with just a squeeze.

You’ll notice in the video that the pages actually come out of her journal, making it a bit easier for her to work with. When her pages are dry, we pop them back in the book.  She LOVES it.

Her mother and I have made a point not to suggest subject matter, etc. for her creations, but to just encourage her to create whatever she wants.  At first, she would get upset if two colors combined to make brown or if her lines didn’t turn out the way she wanted.  I told her that there were no mistakes in art, and that sometimes the things we didn’t expect to make end up being the most beautiful.

Is there a little one in your life that would enjoy an art journal of their very own?  Are you encouraging the little ones in your life to create?  What about you?  Have you tried art journaling?  Let’s talk about it in the comments! And if you have a planner you totally love, let me know!