About

 Art Journal with Ansota

Hi my name is Monica aka Ansota. I am living in the Western Cape, South Africa.

Welcome to my world of art journaling. :)

Can I tell you a secret?

You don't need a degree in art to keep your very own art journal. 

My very first art journal was one of those small cheap pocket diaries. I prepared it by gluing two-two pages together and covered the pages with gesso. At first I was very unsure of what to do but I watched videos on you-tube and searched the web looking for how to articles. The first blog that made the biggest impression on me and also the one that gave me some direction was when I found Aisling D'Art's website. I read everything about how she started keeping an art journal. I then  gathered all my materials together and started to fill my little diary. It wasn't long before I wanted to do more, learn more, experiment more. I started my very first blog called Ansota's Art Journal and started blogging about my creative journey and met many more fellow art journalers along the way.   

When I page through all my journals I can see how I have grown. I experimented with so many different art mediums, tried many different styles, I pasted, sketched, painted, made collages, played with poems, lyrics, watercolour paints, inks, stamps and stencils to mention but a few. 

I made happy pages, sad pages, messy pages and pages with quotes written on them. If I have to tell you how many times I had to practice to draw a face! I struggled for hours and hours but I kept pushing forward and slowly, very slowly I discovered my own style, my own voice. 

There were days when I just stared at the blank page and didn't know what to do. Today I know it is all part of the process and those days were necessary for growth as well. Art journaling became a safe harbor, a safe and sacred place where I could just be me. Between the pages of my journals I could breathe and get away from the world. I fell in love with my journals. They are treasures and they speak about all the stages I went through since I started recording my journey. 

My journey had many bumps along the road and mostly   because I am a perfectionist and I wanted to create perfect pages. I wanted to make perfect art. But what I did not realise was that Art Journaling isn't about making perfect pages.  I sometimes hated the work that I did. I would rip out pages from my journal and even destroyed complete journals because I never felt my work was good enough. How stupid of me!!!! Today I know that it should never be about the best looking art journal page decorated with beautiful art work, but an art journal should be a reflection of your creative journey through life. You don't have to impress anyone! It is your journal, your experience, your life and a story of your creative growth filled with scribbles, writings, notes, lists, quotes, sayings and anything that you want to include. 

 There is a life force that flows within us all. We only have a certain amount of time here on earth to express who we are. If we don't express it, it will be forever lost. There is only one unique you and by leaving something of your soul you are giving a gift to the world you live in.  

I think the name 'Art Journal' should be changed to Artful Journal or Creative Journal. For some reason it sounds much less intimidating. I know that when I talk to people about keeping an Art Journal the first thing they say is "Oh, I could never do that! I can't draw to save my life so how on earth can I keep an Art Journal!" See what I mean??? It is the mention of "Art" that creates this fear of "I can not do this. I am not an artist and never will be." 

What exactly is an artist?

• Is someone an artist only  when they are making a living out of their art? NO! 
• Is an artist someone who can sketch and paint perfect pictures? NO! 
• Is someone only a artist if they studied art? NO!

I found the answer in a book by Danny Gregory. 'The Creative License" Giving yourself the permission to be the artist you truly are. 

He speaks about chilling out, celebrating your mistakes and give questions to ask yourself. He talks about self-doubt, perfectionism, judgementalism and most of all I learned from him in order for a person  to be creative it is all about finding your unique personal way of expressing yourself. It doesn't have to be perfect. The most important thing is to allow yourself to create with a joyful heart.

There are no bad drawings only bad experiences so let it go, take risks, stretch, grow and create as much as you can, whenever you can! It is the only way to grow. 

This was my answer! What exactly make you an artist? An artist is anyone who are willing to live his life in a creative way. Anyone can be an artist and there is no such thing as ugly art. So that means there is no such thing as an ugly Art Journal Page. What did I learn from these words?. Whatever I create in my Art Journal, whatever I write in my Art Journal, whatever I do within my pages are my own experiences and that counts! It is my experience, my way of working through some stuff, some issues and my way of being creative.

And this is what Art Journal with Ansota is all about. This  is an invitation to you to start living your life creatively.

No artistic talents needed. I want to give everyone the gift of finding their own creativity. I want to give you the tools to help you to live your life in a creative way.

Please join Art Journal with Ansota and allow me to show you how to free your creative spirit. 

   All you need to do is  give yourself permission to play with me!    

I hereby invite you to join in on all the fun! What do you say?

I would love to hear from you so please leave me a message, introduce yourself, follow me or subscribe.

I want to post a special shout out to everyone in South Africa to please join. Let's get South Africa art journaling! I talk about the use of art products that are available in South Africa. I use everyday materials that are available to each and every one and I  want to show you an easy way to be creative. The playground is open! All you have to do is to start playing along!

Ansota praat ook Afrikaans! :D