Valerie Sjodin

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The Playful Story Behind the Art: Nurture and Celebrate!

Here, are some visual stories of nurturing tranquility, playing, and celebrating life behind the coloring pages in the 

Colorful Blessing 

coloring book.

One way to nurture tranquility is to get outside and enjoy nature. The little journal above was about when I went with my husband to my favorite place, our Oregon beach. When it is sunny and warm, it is the most wonderful, beautiful place in the world to me. I even enjoy it when it is rainy and storming. Here is a link to the original blog post I wrote with the rest of the story:

http://visualblessings.blogspot.com/2012/07/beach-weekend-art-journal.html

For techniques done in the painted journals, you can check out my online art journaling classes at: 

https://valeriesjodin.com/e-courses/

Live, Laugh, Play! Sometimes I need to remind myself to lighten up and remember to live a little more by playing like a child and laughing. The "Play" journal on the right is all about that. It began as a demo in a 2-day Art Journaling Workshop I taught. The process really did make me play. Here is the original post for that journal:

http://visualblessings.blogspot.com/2012/07/go-for-it-play.html

This coloring page was inspired by a journal page in my "Discover" Journal. I was discovering a new phase in life as our youngest child went off to college. So much happened that year and the year after. It began a season of loss. The school I taught at would close the following year, financial struggles abounded, my health was fragile. And yet, I longed to celebrate life, to sing, to dance. The pages in this journal ended up inspiring more paintings than any other. Beauty from ashes...

We each have a story to tell, and our stories relate to one another. Every person is significant. In the 

Colorful Blessings

 coloring book, the pages give a glimpse into my story expressed through line. They are waiting to be colored, to connect with your story.  

Colorful Blessings coloring books available soon on this website