Customer Reviews

Journal Bliss: Creative Prompts to Unleash Your Inner Eccentric

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

There are a lot of journaling how to books out on the shelves these days but this new book by Violette stands out above them all. Page after page of Violette's wonderful, whimsical and engaging artwork along with prompts, tips and creative techniques to get you started on creating your own art journals. Even if you're a practiced art journaler you'll enjoy this book because it's impossible to flip through it and not be inspired by the imagery. But there's more here to be inspired by than just the artwork. Violette covers a ton of techniques starting with silencing your inner critic and then moves into creating groovy backgrounds, image transfers and fanciful lettering as well as doodling and bodacious borders. I highly recommend this book, it's a must have for anyone interested in art journaling.

This isn't going to be popular with Violette's fans, but after reading the reviews, I was excited to buy this book. All I can say is, take a look at the author's artwork very carefully, because the whole thing is full of the same exact style, page after page. I respect that every artist has a particular and unique style, but I thought that there would be more instruction, or prompts for writing, etc. And admittedly I don't care for this particular look, so I maybe shouldn't have purchased the book, but it seemed like there would be more to it that I would have a good time with--like maybe Violette would have given us some more ideas about what to write, or shown us how to draw particular things. I'm keeping the book anyway, and maybe I'll find my own style out of what I like and don't like in her artwork. I would have liked this book so much more if the "look" of the pages had some contrast. I appreciate that she makes everyone feel like they, too, can create and be an artist, but some of the "imperfections" in the handwriting just seemed a little too beginner (or perhaps repetative, or purposely sloppy) for me.

I was so inspired after my first time through this, I worked on my art journal non-stop for HOURS (normally my attention span doesn't allow that). The art is beautiful and full of spirit, this will be one that stays on my art table!

Violette's first (and hopeully not last) book, "Journal Bliss", breaks away from the pack and the usual fare of today's overdone, dark, vintage-ridden pablum with this refreshingly delightful collection of user-friendly techniques and engaging text. Like Violette's philosophy on both life and art, her imagery is original, not borrowed or stock, so inspiration awaits on every page. Whereas some books for artists bore the reader with too much or too little amounts of text, her ideas are communicated through page after page of colorful art, which the visually oriented creative will love. I bought two copies of this informative eye candy; one for personal use and one for a gift. And I may be back for more...

"Journal Bliss: Creative Prompts to Unleash Your Inner Eccentric" perhaps would have been better titled "Peace, Love, and Glitter: How to Use Hippy-Dippy Self-Help Platitudes, Grade-School Art-Making Techniques, and Lots of Glitter Glue to Create a So-Called Journal That Really Doesn't Say Anything Very REAL About Youself". And oh, uh, does this author have a last name? Or is she on par with Madonna, in that she doesn't really need one?

If you are looking for writing prompts to get yourself started on an actual journey of self-discovery, this is the wrong book for you. This is a book about ART JOURNALING - which means it is primarily concerned with different techniques to make your pages "look cool". For example, several pages (29-41 out of 116 total actual book pages) are devoted to how to make funky borders (each border is given a 2-page spread, one page with minimal text instructions (20 words or less) and the facing page with an example, as follows:

1.) Using doodles (she admits to loving using "spirals, hearts - both flying and stationary, stars, moons, columns, faces and flowers") and even making a "Bohemian Border" by using said doodles - get this - AROUND A "MOROCCAN PEAK" [pointed arch]: the directions for this border say: "Sketch a Moroccan Peak, Practise your doodles, Fill in White Spaces with your doodles".

2) Splattering and scraping paint (with a credit card) onto paper and then cutting these (or color copies of them, she is sure to point out, since you will likely value these quite highly and won't want to damage the originals!) into strips and pasting them around the edge of your paper;

3) "Black & White Fanciful Borders", i.e. pen doodles of checkerboards, scallops, and columns (her three examples);

4) "House Border" which employs the following directions, verbatim: "Paint background, Stencil pattern with sequin waste, cut house shapes, glue to painted background, stamp circles with lid" - Et voila! Something that looks like a project I made in 4th grade!

5) And of course, the "patchwork" border, where you "cut and tear pieces of your background papers; you can use photocopies" and "draw a face on scrap paper, cut out" and finally "Glue to paper; - add dimension to face and ragged border with charcoal pencil".

And that is the chapter on borders. Yes, that's all. Other chapters include "Groovy Backgrounds" (in which the same style as for borders is used to instruct us in how to glue tissue paper shapes to cardstock and then paint over them "randomly" to make collages), Torn Masking Tape backgrounds, in which we "tear tape in strips and adhere to paper, brush on acrylic or watercolor paint, remove tape carefully" (resulting in that fuzzy, leaky look we've all come by accidentally when not being careful enough taping off our walls when painting our trim.) Oh, and there is the section on "Dyed paper towels" where you scrunch a paper towel, dip it in thin paint, rescrunch and redip in another color, and so on until you get a marvelously scrunch-dyed...PAPER TOWEL!

Throughout the book, overwhelming the book, splattered through the book like so much glitter glue, are the meaningless cliches that we've all seen a thousand times on inspirational posters with soaring eagles or ocean scenes. For example,

"Follow your bliss" (a MUCH overused Joseph Campbell-ism found in greeting cards and self-help books galore, practically rendered meaningless by the way the author bludgeons the reader with it throughout).

"Listen to your heart" (sheesh)

"...what makes your heart sing" (double sheesh)

"Keep your face to the sunshine and you will never see the shadow" - Helen Keller

"...what is essential is invisible to the eye" - de St. Exupery from "The Little Prince"

and (No kidding!) all variations on "Let it be", "Peace, love, happiness", "Be free", "Jump Skip Dance Joy", "Be in the Moment", "One step at a time", "I am my own best friend", "Begin where you are", "Art gives wings to your soul", "The journey is the destination", "be joyful", "the earth laughs in flowers", and the list goes on and on and on and on and on....

Does this author ever have an original thought? Take The Alchemist, The Little Prince, Jonathan Livingston Seagull, Hope for the Flowers, Remember, Be Here Now and throw them all in a blender with Chicken Soup for the Soul, and Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort of Joy, add a dash of Preschool Art: It's the Process, Not the Product and TA-DA! You too can become a published author of a book just like "Journal Bliss"!

All that said, lest I sound too negative (ahem), the author has a cute, whimsical drawing style, a friendly, accessible writing style, and...ah...uh...uses a lot of colors. This book would be perfect for a hemp-bracelet-and-indian-print-skirt-wearing tween or young teen girl who tends toward the crunchier, hippier side of life and who is artistically inclined. (I know this for a fact because I used to be exactly such a girl and I probably would have loved this book and found it quite inspiring.)

I suggest taking a look at the author's blog before purchasing and seeing if your style and her style align well. After all, we don't all live practically on the beach in the Pacific Northwest in a "magic" purple house, teaching art workshops and sketching our feet for a living. And even though you may take time to stop and smell the flowers, it's not always a bed of roses, at least not in my neighborhood. I have found books like Imperfect Lives: Scrapbooking the Reality of Your Everyday or even Your Words, Your Story: Add Meaningful Journaling To Your Layouts (as opposed to adding layouts to your mindless inspirational platitudes) to be much more helpful in finding an authentic voice as well as making an interesting journal page (although these two books seem to focus on the scrapbook style, you can easily translate the approach to an art journal instead).

Let me finish by saying that I am sure the author is sincere, and that her intentions are good, but there is just not enough here of either information, instruction, suggestion, or downright REALITY to make this a valued addition to my own library.

This is a very colorful, beautiful, inspiring & POSITIVE book: Great gift for a teenage girl.
This is not a graphic arts book: it's a state of mind & a very beautiful one & you can be part of it.
This book is like a simple & pure poetry.
Flip through when you feel down.
...I imagine the author as a very generous person.

For those of us who do not like to get too heavy with our expressions of creativity this is a great little book. I have grown weary of trying to keep up with all of the scrap-booking inovations and I love to doodle and use unorthodox items that I find for artisic accents. This book is light and I can stop being so critical of my never ending scrapbooking disasters. This is more me not store bought or "perfect" I have a new perspective....to do what inspires me, like coloring outside of the lines. Ta-Da

I purchased this book for inspiration as part of a group of female artists in new York.
We have decided to embark on an "altered" book project and I was fortunate enough to come across this amazing artist Violette on line. I haven't been the same since! She is an awesome
talent and shares all of her wonderful secrets in this book. I can't put it down. She instills
confidence and courage in artists of all ages. It will remain a treasure in my collection
and this is one book I can't lend out! As a result of her "lessons and gentle suggestions" I have become absolutely fearless and feel so much more free with my art style.
Violette is wonderful and so is Journal Bliss. Every artist should own a copy.
A++++++++++++++++++++++++

I LOVED this book. It is filled with colorful, happy illustrations and wonderful ideas. If you are thinking about journaling - this is the book you MUST have. You will feel good just looking at it - and we can all use that these days!

I just got my copy of Journal Bliss and oh I was delighted. Violette has a book that is perfect for beginners and advanced journalers. The lively illustrations are bright and colorful. The book is not all just a pretty face though as Violette teaches you lettering, drawing faces, making transfers, decorative backgrounds and more. I particularly like her ideas on borders and making art on envelopes. Then there are the sections on the actual journaling with wonderful prompts and how she interpreted them. I liked the section on symbolic stories. I think I'll be doing some pages on that theme soon. I highly recommend this book, it is wonderful, refreshing and full of inspiration.