Fish #27 from "30 Frivolous Fish in 30 Days" series.
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Hello and welcome!! How All this Began: Although I have been a working mixed media artist since 1998, my foray into art journaling began as a gratitude practice; a way to find more joy in my life. After a lifetime of struggling with depression, a serious -- but obviously unsuccessful -- suicide attempt, and nine weeks in a psychiatric hospital, the journaling evolved as a way to help manage my depression and remain in recovery. For the "rest of the story," see the next page... "365 Days of Gratitude." The 30/30 Project: These newer pieces of my art are a part of my most recent art journaling project, which I started July 22, 2018. It has since become a dedicated personal practice: create 30 original pages, on a single theme, in 30 days (or so...). My subjects always incorporate the philosophies of kindness and peaceful coexistence, sometimes incorporating words, sometimes just images. I am a mixed media artist at heart, but practical aspects regarding the amount of traveling I do often necessitates using markers and ink for my journal entries, with only an occasional collage. As the 30/30 project progressed, friends and others began requesting prints and cards, and asking, "Why don't you have a website?" So, here we are! The Joys of a Daily Practice: Suffice to say that the practice of creating something new each day, day after day, no matter what is going on in my life, helps me in many ways: I have to focus my mind for an extended period of time, I have to manage my time (I can't spend all day on these!), and I have to let go of my perfectionism (when I began art journaling five years ago, I made a personal rule that once started, a page had to be finished...no ripping out pages and starting over!). And since people seem to appreciate the works I've been creating, I've decided to share them and make them available to everyone. So, please check out these pages and send me your thoughts (or orders)! ALL my original images are available as cards or prints. Cards: 1-10, $4.00/each Prints: 4" x 4", $5.00/each 5" x 5", $7.00/each 5" x 7", $8.00/each Contact me for bulk discounts!! Most gratefully yours, Debi ----------------------------------- Let's make the world more peaceful, one friend at a time. Hagamos un mundo más pacífico, un amigo a la vez. בואו להפוך את העולם יותר שלווה, חבר אחד בכל פעם Portiamo la pace nel mondo, un amico alla volta. Spravme svet mierumilovnejším, jeden priateľ po druhom. Laten we de wereld meer vredig maken, één vriend per dag. Rendons le monde plus paisible, un ami à la fois. 让我们使世界更加和平, 从一个 朋友开始. --------------------------------------------- The "Rest of the Story" (2015): 365 Days of Gratitude: An Art Journaling Project By Debi Strong
When I went to his website, www.gratefulness.org, and saw there was a link for a Word for the Day, I signed up. And that Thanksgiving Day I committed to creating an art journal page-a-day based on the quote I received from the site, for an entire year -- beginning on Thanksgiving Day, 2013, and ending on Thanksgiving Day, 2014.
But the pages are all there, every day of an entire year. I fulfilled my commitment to myself by creatively practicing daily gratitude. An additional bonus was that in working on each piece I had to repeatedly go over the words in my mind, setting them more firmly in my consciousness than had I simply read them each day.
struggle with severe depression. In March 2012, I attempted suicide and subsequently spent nine weeks at The Menninger Clinic, an excellent inpatient psychiatric facility in Houston, TX. Maintaining my recovery since returning to the Flathead Valley has included finding different cognitively-based ways to manage depression. Art journaling was one of those ways. Since November 2012, I have been peer-facilitating a Depression Support Group which I founded at Kalispell Regional Medical Center's Pathways Treatment Center. I also began a weekly talk to inpatients in 2014 and have become a spokesperson for suicide and depression issues, and the battle against the stigma of these subjects.
And who doesn't need more of that? |