Gilding the Lily: Art Journaling
Ryan Clinesmith of the Poetry Barn
“Gilding the Lily: Art Journaling” with Catherine Shultis was a master class in art journaling. The techniques we used rendered beautiful journals, and gave me the techniques to expand my ability to create within the medium. Each one of us in the workshop took a book and transformed a page or two, or even three, into an expression of creativity that was rooted in erasure and transformation. I took an antiquated book about gender roles and turned it into a piece of art that challenged gender norms. Others took leaves or branches and wove them into a page while highlighting certain words. I never would have thought that tearing, cutting, or painting pages in a book would be so rewarding, yet in this workshop the final product suspended the somewhat apprehensive knee jerk reaction I had toward reforming a book. Furthermore this art journaling workshop expanded my ability as a visual artist and bookmaker a great deal. “Gilding the Lily: Art Journaling” added an important tool to my proverbial artistic belt. I appreciate and admire Catherine Shultis’ artistic prowess and was delighted to get the chance to learn from her.
—Ryan Clinesmith
