Wreck This Journal: Free

Today is the last day of school.  My students are long gone, finals are graded, the gradebook is done, and my classroom is locked up for the summer.  When the door closes behind me it feels a bit like this:

Summer Break feels a lot like bright, wild scribbles!

Every year, just before I leave, I set aside a moment for reflection. I stand in the middle of my classroom and marvel at how fast the year has gone.  I close my eyes and hold the memories close. This is how I say goodbye each year.  My classroom is full of so many trials and triumphs.  It’s been a difficult year full of change (many of which have me questioning where public education is headed), but it’s also been a year of eyes lighting up and creative minds finding their voice.  While the atmosphere outside of my classroom leaves me demoralized in many regards, my students are the reason why I can still say I love my job.

For the next two months I’m free to “scribble” with reckless abandon. Well, more so than usual!  I’ll be writing, creating, and listening to my muse with zero distraction.  The feeling of total inspiration is a lot like making those vibrant scribbles in my Wreck This Journal.  There are no rules and the release is exhilarating!  I’ve repeated this exercise a couple of times because it is so cathartic.  I highly recommend it for anyone with a stressful job or those who enjoy making a mess of color!

Happy Summer!

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Try it!  Make a page of scribbles and post the picture on your blog.  Put the link in my comments section so we can all share in the joy of wild scribbles!

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c.b. 2012

Coloring Isn’t Just For Kids

While paging through my Wreck This Journal, I came across the “Test Page” where there are instructions to use the space to test out crayons, paints, and other art supplies. The test page reminded me of something I always did in my coloring books as a kid and now as an adult. As a five-year-old and a 34- year-old, I’ve always created color swatches on the inside cover before coloring anything on an actual page.

Scribble, scribble!

Yes, I still color.  Even though it’s an activity mostly reserved for children, I find immense joy in the practice of filling blank spaces with color whether it be Garfield or an intricate Medieval tapestry.  I love how the image changes when color is added, the smell of crayons and colored pencils, the swishing sound of a crayon going back and forth, and the feeling of accomplishment when the page is completed.  The process is very relaxing and cathartic when real life threatens to turn everything black and white.

My drawer is filled with at least twenty coloring books.  Some are brand new while others have been with me since I was a little girl.  The oldest one I have is a Bullwinkle and Rocky coloring book I’ve had since I was about eight years old.  My juvenile scribbles scrawl across half of it, right beside the pages I colored just last week.  Yup, I still color Bullwinkle and all his friends! The inner child in me rejoices, (and she really giggled when I bought a new Smurfs coloring book a few months ago).

Garfield, Barbie, and Bullwinkle are relics from my childhood, but I still color in them on a regular basis. The Smurfs coloring book is a brand new addition to my collection!

Last week’s coloring creation.

When I’m looking for a challenge, I delve into my collection of Dover coloring books which contain highly artistic plates ranging from intricate tile patterns, butterflies, Egyptian art, and complicated geometric designs.  My muse is always challenged to come up with interesting color palettes to fill in all the blank spaces.

Dover coloring books offer unique and artistic images.

From my Medieval Tapestry Coloring Book. It probably took a total of 4 hours to complete.

I stock a wide variety of coloring supplies and I’m always a sucker for something new.  I have everything from crayons (regular, glitter, metallic, variegated,), colored pencils, markers (fat, skinny, classic, bold, and bright), Twistables, glitter glue, and metallic gel pens.  Every time I sit down to color, I make a huge mess and lay out all my coloring utensils.  The possibilities are endless and I love the sense freedom that comes from all those colors.

Part of my collection of coloring supplies.

Once I’ve chosen what coloring book to play in and what image to color, I set about finding the color combinations.  That means making color swatches on a piece of scratch paper or on the inside cover.  After a while, the swatches make for an interesting piece of art in and of themselves.

With all the colors chosen, I let myself get lost in the moment.  If the image is particularly complicated, two hours (or more) will easily fly by without my knowledge.  I’m totally absorbed and the outside world just disappears.  All that matters is color.  No one is ever too old to bask in shades of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple.

Go ahead and grab some crayons.  You know you want to.

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Special Note: Due to some changes made by WordPress, be sure to uncheck the box that says, “Notify me of follow-up comments via email,” if you do not wish to receive e-mails for every new comment on this post.  At the moment, the box is checked as a default, (and I can’t fix it).

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c.b. 2012

Wreck This Journal: Blank

Sometimes the hardest thing to do is nothing.  There is a page in Wreck This Journal that says, “Leave this page blank on purpose.”  It’s driving me nuts.

Oh, the possibilities!

Leave it blank?  Why put it in the journal if it has no purpose?  There’s nothing on the other side of the page, either!  For a doer such as myself, this was difficult to accept.  There I was with my tools of destruction at the ready and Keri Smith was asking me to leave them alone and do nothing.  My muse was ready to pop a gasket!

My fingers twitched as I considered the blank page in front of me.  I wanted to color in the letters – a pattern of green, blue, and purple – and I almost did it.  Then, it occurred to me that I was looking at this all wrong.  Instead of fighting the notion of nothing, I should be embracing it.

This is a big epiphany for a self-admitted busy body who has trouble letting an hour go by without filling it with some task, whether it be writing, creating, teaching, gardening, pondering, wondering, running, reading, watching movies, etc.  If any moment is filled with nothing, I feel like I’ve wasted something I can’t get back.  It took a stark page to get me to realize doing nothing is not the same as being lazy or wasting a moment.

Creativity isn’t about crossing things off a Wreck This Journal “to-do” list, but rather pitching the list altogether.  A page left untouched leaves the idea of possibilities infinitely open.  The same is true for an unfinished collage or a poem missing the last line.  Possibilities are in plentiful supply  if we slow down enough and regard them with patience.  Doing nothing is sometimes better than writing a thousand lines of words just to hit a word count goal or adding something to a painting just to call it done.  Sometimes doing nothing is what leads to the ultimate end.

My empty page still gives me an itch to color, bend, rip, or crumple, but it remains pristine. Meanwhile, my imagination continues to conjure new ways to wreck that page.  Every time I come across these instructions, I am reminded that without an empty canvas we have no reason to fill it.

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For previous Wreck This Journal posts please visit my tag cloud and sidebar. Stay inspired!

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c.b. 2012

Celebrating One Year!

It’s hard to believe that one year ago today, I launched my blog.  The last 12 months have brought more milestones than I ever thought I’d reach and has allowed me to be part of an amazing community of writers and readers.  My gratitude goes to all of you for deciding to follow my journey as a writer and creative spirit.  Your presence as readers and commenters is so encouraging, inspiring, and very much appreciated.

As my muse and I grow, my blog continues to evolve, which means both new and old followers may not be aware of everything hiding in the nooks and crannies of C.B. Wentworth.  So, it seems the only fitting way to celebrate my one year anniversary is to take a look at how far I’ve come and where I’m heading next.  Let’s take a tour!

Along the Top: 

• There is a small menu of page links that divide the content of my blog.
  • About – Like most bloggers, I wrote a little blurb about myself and the purpose of my blog. Perhaps I got a bit too whimsical, but I stand by the arguments I have with my muse!
  • My Bookshelf – Did you know I keep a log of all the books I read?  Books I’ve enjoyed from 2010, 2011, and the growing list of 2012 are all listed on My Bookshelf.  This year, I started writing snapshot reviews and providing links for each title.  I update this page regularly and leave comments open for book discussions, debates, and recommendations for further reading.
  • Home - The main page of my blog is where all new posts appear.  I write on a number topics, which are represented with category links below the main header.  Content is pretty random and that’s largely because I don’t believe in limiting where my muse can go.  If anything, I like the element of surprise for both myself as a writer and for readers.  My voice, however, is what ties everything together.  I’ve been told I have a unique personality and it comes through in everything I write!

On the main page:

• Blog Schedule – I post three or four times a week, typically Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday.  However, there are weeks where I’ll post every day.  It depends on how chatty my muse is and how much time is available to write.
• Comments – Every post is open to comments and I make it a point to answer every single person who leaves a comment.  Reader thoughts are important to me and I enjoy the conversation.
• Current Series/Projects:
  • Wreck This Journal – This series documents the pages I complete in Keri Smith’s groundbreaking book of the same title.  I’m happy to say this series has inspired a number of people to buy their own Wreck This Journal and embark on a similar journey of reckless creativity.
  • Project Art Journal – This series showcases pages from a journal I created with paper lunch bags.  Each page is constructed using mixed-media collage and I provide step by step instructions for the techniques I use to create each layout.
  • Sundays in London – A three week sojourn to London serves as the inspiration for poetry and musings.  Every Sunday I post a photograph from my adventure, along with the words it inspires.
  • 2012 Goals Status Report – At the end of every month, I hold myself accountable for the writing goals I’ve set for 2012.  I document both successes and failures as they occur to keep myself on track for the year.
• In between these regular series is where random topics run rampant.  A post without the aforementioned titles is one where I’ve wandered into fiction, travel, books or any of the other categories listed under the main header.

Along the sidebar:

• The main photograph is my actual bookshelf.  I took this shot with my cell phone and played with it on iPhoto until I got it to match the color scheme of my chosen theme. Every photograph on my blog is my own, unless otherwise noted.
• Subscribing to my blog is as easy as clicking on the “sign me up” button.  Thanks again to those who have already done so!
• Over on Facebook I’ve create a writer page, where I post blog updates, links to other blogs and sites, announcements, and general musings about writing.  Clicking “Like” button opens up these features and I love it when people write on my wall.
• My Twitter Tweets chronicle my writing process, books I’m reading, and fantastic inspirational quotes I find in a variety of places. Click the button on my sidebar and we’ll tweet together!
• Pinterest is my newest obsession.  The crafter and artist in me can’t get enough of the visual inspiration this site has to offer.  I pin everything from upcycling projects, photos of my dream flat in London, and art journal pages.  Click the red button on my sidebar to see what I’m pinning and to follow along.
• I recently joined the World Literary Cafe to network with other writers and readers.  So far, it has been an amazing experience!  I’m still learning the ropes of all it has to offer, but I highly recommend it to anyone looking for information about how to network.
• I joined goodreads a few months ago, because I loved the idea of the 2012 Reading Challenge.  I have a goal of reading at least 30 books this year and so far, I’m right on track.
• Musings of a writer is a little section where I place random quotes that pop into my head.  I don’t change it very often, but I always try to come up with something that represents my philosophy of what it means to be a writer.
• In the Recent Posts section, I keep a listing of the 50 most recent blog entries.
• My tag cloud is just as random as my posts, so I guess that’s another indicator of how my muse works! Clicking on any one of those tags will take you to all my posts relating to that topic.
• I’m sorry to say my Blogroll is in dire need of updating!  I have about 30 blogs to add, but the current list of blogs are still among my favorite.  I visit them daily for a great read and endless inspiration.
• The Campaign Shield serves as my badge for surviving my first Writers’ Platform-Building Campaign.  The campaign was worth participating in as I met so many wonderful bloggers and I really enjoyed the challenge of tough writing prompts and competition. I’m still in shock that I won the last competition, (See Fatespeak)!
• Thanks to some fabulous bloggers, I’ve been lucky enough to receive several blog awards.  There’s nothing quite as encouraging or gratifying as another blogger acknowledging my work.  I appreciate every single one and those who gave them to me.

Filling out the Footer:

• I keep all the logistical information at the bottom.  This is where the archives, calendar, and blog stats reside.   I wish it was more exciting, but alas there is always a corner for the technical stuff!

Random Tidbits:

• My gravatar photo is the same photo I use for all social media.  The meaning behind that black and white road can be found on a post entitled, One Photograph Changed Everything.

Photo by Robert Frank, (as featured in "The Americans.")

• My icon photo is a collage I created and photographed.  I pieced together magazine photos of trees, cliffs, and petroglyphs.  The emphasis on the hand in the center is symbolic of the human journey in which we all travel.

Collage by c.b.w.

• Back in August, my post The Best Souvenirs Are Free was chosen to be Freshly Pressed.   I wish I could properly convey how exciting that was, but I still can’t find the right words.

The Best Souvenirs Are Free

Coming Soon:

• Project Flash Fiction – As summer approaches, I’ll be embarking on a challenge to write one piece of flash fiction every week.
• Finish This Book – With Wreck This Journal winding down over the next couple of months, Keri Smith’s most recent book will be my next source of reckless creativity. Pages and experiences will be posted on a bi-weekly basis.
• Pinhole Camera Adventure – On a whim, I bought a kit for a pinhole camera and I plan on documenting the experiment from start to  finish, including the photographs I take with this contraption!
• Project Upcycle – Pinterest has turned me into an upcycling fanatic.  I have several projects lined up and I’ll be documenting each one as they are completed.
• Q&A Journal – Another summer project where a question a day can lead to anything.  A weekly post will document my answers and the inspiration that will likely ensue.

Thanks again to all my readers, new and old!  This year has been an incredible experience and I can’t wait to see what is yet to come.

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c.b. 2012

Wreck This Journal: Make Your Mark

With spring in the air and a new garden blooming on my patio, bright colors and flowers seem to always be on my mind these days.  All the fresh air is also bringing out my inner child, who simply cannot wait to play, (hence my rather whimsical post, Hop and Seek).  Naturally, the inspiration of spring has found its way to the pages of Wreck This Journal.  When I came across a page that instructed me to make handprints or fingerprints, I pulled out my brightest markers and started coloring the tips of my fingers.

Instead of making a random Pollack-like smattering of prints, I decided to “draw” a little picture with only my fingers and thumbs.  As a child, I remember entertaining myself by inking up my fingers with magic markers and making prints all over construction paper.  For some reason, I was fascinated by how I had a built in stamping system on my little hands.  As an adult, I’m no less mesmerized.

My fingers danced across the page, pressing prints one oval at a time until I got a few flowers with a sun-filled sky in the background and a patch of green grass.

Fingerprints Galore!

While the page itself had a pretty clean outcome, the space around my journal was a disaster!  I left prints in places I never intended and my fingers were stained for days, (nails, too).  At the same time, I enjoyed walking around with what I call “artist hands.”  When there’s color left behind from ink or paint it means I’ve been creative and I’m bold enough to wear it proudly.  Art is meant to be seen and so is the creative soul.

From this standpoint, I’m proud to be an adult who isn’t afraid to play every once in a while.  I’ll leave my mark with words, photographs, art journals, and a slew of other creative creative pursuits, but I’m also ready to dabble in coloring books and fingerprint art.

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For previous Wreck This Journal posts please see my sidebar and tag cloud.

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c.b. 2012