Sharing our experiences

The Facebook group is a safe place where we can discuss the prompts, ask questions, and share our thoughts and our artwork from our study on Identity from Ephesians.
I am not a therapist or a counsellor but I hope that I can support and encourage you as we study together. If anything arises that you can't deal with, and that I feel I cannot deal with, please find someone in your church who you trust and ask them to help you.

Monday 27 January 2014

Identity: Creative Responses

Welcome to the start of Identity: A Study in Ephesians.  This week we are going to look at how we can respond to the Bible verses and the teaching we're going to hear.

I like to respond to things creatively but you may not.  However you choose to work with the Identity study is your choice.

You could make notes in your journal.  Maybe you don't journal regularly - you could get a simple exercise (composition) book and write in it.   You could add doodles.  Choose whatever is good for you.

There is also Washi Tape, a repositionable patterned tape, and children's stickers.  If you've never heard of Washi Tape, in the UK you can buy it from Hobbycraft and Paperchase as well as online scrapbooking stores.  In the US try Staples, Michaels and the dollar stores.   Buy a few pens in different colours and use them for your doodled patterns and for your writing.   Uniball Liquid Ink pens are great.
You might also find appropriate pictures or words in magazines that you can cut out and stick in.

Of course you could do both!  Take notes from the podcasts you listen to and journal your responses to the prompts in a notebook and then respond with a creative page.  Which is what I have chosen to do!  The photo above shows my journaling in a notebook.  I will be doing a separate art journal page and I will be sharing my process on my personal blog, NewlyCreative.

If you have never responded creatively to a Bible Study, or if you are a regular art journaler, here are some ideas.

Journals
Teesha Moore has some videos on YouTube on how to make a 16 page journal from one 22"x30" piece of watercolour paper.



On her YouTube channel Teesha shares different techniques on how to art journal in this type of journal.  You could try making the pages a different size or folding the papers together in a different way.  I have made you a very short video to explain what I mean.
 

Using this basic journal Valerie Sjodin makes beautiful journals.
 
You can find Valerie's blog at Visual Blessings.

In this video Diane Marra shows you how she journals her faith using a bought sketchbook.
You can find Diane's blog at Adore Him Creations.

Another blog I like to follow is Me, With My Head in the Clouds.  Here you will find Mary Brack who has another different style of journaling.  I hope you will find it inspirational.

Art Techniques
There are so many art techniques - drawing, painting, doodling, zentangling, stencilling, collage - and so much media - acrylic paints, watercolour paints, watercolour crayons, spray inks, oil pastels, chalk pastels, Pan Pastels that it is difficult to know what to suggest you might do.

My advice, especially if this is your first time trying a creative response to a Bible study, is to go with what you have and what you are comfortable with.  You can get a great result just with a packet of children's crayons.

There are plenty of technique videos on YouTube.  In a previous challenge, An Attitude of Gratitude 2013, I posted links to various videos.  You can find them here:
Ranger Distress     Adding Texture    Resist Techniques    Stamping & Printing    Stencils     Spray Inks   Watercolour

Pinterest
For further inspiration you can look on my Pinterest boards:  Art Journals      Faith Journaling

Letters
I have put together a PDF with the letters of the word Identity in different sizes and fonts which you can print out, colour in and then stick into your journal if you wish.

Take the next few days to work through the information on here and think about how you might respond creatively to our study of Ephesians.

Thank you so much for joining in.






4 comments:

  1. Thanks so much for the mention of my blog, Bernice!

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  2. Exactly what I've been looking for!!! Thanks for this!!

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  3. Thank you Bernice! I appreciate the creative work you do! Also, thanks for showing the video and link to my blog. Blessings!

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