Every year, Tammy Garcia hosts the Index Card a Day (ICAD) challenge. Here are a few of my favorite cards I created this year; see my Instagram for the whole set.
Category: Art Journal
My art journal pages, creative inspiration, highlights of other art journalers, and more.
Details
Within each piece I make, there are scores of unintentional mini compositions. I love looking for the most interesting bits and studying how the layers, colors, and textures meet one another.
Each of the photos above is a snap of a small detail of a larger art journal page. All are mixed media — a combination of acrylic, oil pastel, wax crayon, tempura paint, graphite, and paint marker. Some have collage elements, too.
By studying what catches my eye the most, I learn more about my own style and gain inspiration for further art exploration.
Passing the Mic
Lily Uoka 
Lawrence Terry 
Amira Rahim 
Quincy Harding 
Hadil Mohamed 
Nikki Cade 
Gavin Benjamin 
Kemi 
Ernest Shaw, Jr.
This is a time of intense internal reflection. In addition to condemning police violence against Black men and women, I’ve been thinking hard about my own role in upholding the status quo and racist institutions.
One of my personal goals to that end is to use my little platform to lift up amazing artists who happen to have brown skin.
This week, I am not posting any of my own art online; instead, I’m being intentional about exploring and sharing work by Black and brown artists. I have come across so many new-to-me artists — and the list continues to grow. Check out some of my favorites pieces (so far) above!
And this won’t be a temporary thing. I am committed to changing my behaviors in the long-term; it’s only through sustained efforts that personal and societal change is possible. While I am lifting up Black artists in my Instastories, I’m also saving the stories to my highlights so that they can be found in the future. I’ll also be more intentional moving forward about the artist voices I share here.
If you have suggestions — artists to check out and/or how I can better support marginalized groups — I’d love to hear.
Art Journal Inspiration: Mixed Media
I have a deep love of mixed media in art journaling. Check out these fabulous artists and their incredibly rich pages. You can click on any image to be taken to their Instagram page and see more of their work.
Page 55
I bought this small notebook in York, PA when visiting my dad’s gallery shows a few months ago. I wish I remembered the name of the bookmaker. The creator is JoAnne Schiavone. The pages are made of maps and heavyweight paper, perfect for mixed media play; and at about 5”x7”, there’s no apprehension about filling the whole space.
I’ve been trying to get back to that place of childlike expression. Kids are so uninhibited by norms and expectations, or even a sense of what is or isn’t impossible – making them the most creative of us all.
Blind contour drawing has always fascinated me. The practice of seeing something, not interpreting it; of focusing on the product, not the outcome. It’s hard to get out of your own way. Art, to me, is the freedom of doing just that.. and the scribbles and mark-making I’ve been practicing in this book are meant to encourage my own play and child-like exploration.
Collage, acrylic, and oil pastel.
