New 2015 Labyrinth Journal & Another Labyrinth E-Book

Every year I make a new labyrinth journal. It started with this one:

That's my Healing Labyrinth Path CD cover as the labyrinth artwork. Then a
transparency sheet over that with purple dimensional paint to make a finger labyrinth.
I got it bound at the local office supply store.

The Labyrinth Journal 2012 was the first time I offered it to the general public. Prior to that, I was making journals by hand to give to friends and family. You can still get The Labyrinth Journal. The focus is on labyrinths and creativity and writing. Here's 2013's:

Pretty paper as a cover, with sparkley dimensional paint on transparency sheet on top of that.

 This year's:

We can see a theme, here . . . 

 For the first time, I've written another one to offer the general public again : The 2015 Labyrinth Journal: Wishes, Desires, & Aspirations. This is different from the first one in that there's not a lot about labyrinths or writing. It's more about setting goals and planning out your year.

Here's my 2015 journal:

I printed out the cover onto a piece of scrapbook paper, cut to size.
I know this is a bit hard to read, but since it's mine, I know what it says.
I could take a Sharpie to it, but . . . meh.  Because I'm lazy.

Then I added a finger labyrinth with glow-in-the-dark dimensional paint:

Here's the back; Chartres Cathedral labyrinth printed onto scrapbook paper:

Here's a labyrinth journal I've made for a friend:

Chartres Cathedral labyrinth printed onto scrapbook paper. Quote strips on 
the left, ready to go!  Will prolly Sharpie the title so it's easier to read . . . .

And the back:

Both journals are Pdf's that you download so that you can print it yourself. It takes a bit of time to put together, but is much cheaper to do it this way. Plus, you can make it as personal & unique as you are! Here's a link to my Etsy shop to check out both journals. I am working on offering these as hard copies, but for now, they are only available as pdfs.

Labyrinth Arts Projects

I had started a book on Labyrinth Arts Projects when I was at the River House. It's a collection of all my labyrinth projects that I've written about on the blog, or have on my website. I've also included templates for original labyrinth designs like my butterfly design and heart labyrinth. So I've finished it & it's a pdf, instant download as well. 

So there you go--not a mention of a dog anywhere in this post!  It's a Christmas miracle. ;-)

Online Labyrinth Art Class by Sonya Gonzalez

Artist Sonya Gonzalez is offering a mixed media collage labyrinth class online. The class is very affordable at $40, and once you purchase, you get instructions on download so that you can go at your own pace.

There is such beauty and whimsy to her work. BEAUTIFUL!

When I asked Sonya about this class, she said:

"When I began working on this labyrinth I had an intention in mind, that is  to use some of the greeting cards I had made with my artwork that did not come out just right.  What I found in creating my labyrinth was the feeling of Gratefulness to all who have given me opportunities and supported my art.  It is always amazing to me what is revealed in creating these labyrinths."

She also has other art classes available on her workshop page. Click HERE for more information about all her classes.

Featured Artist: Sonya Gonzalez

Artist Sonya & I connected via labyrinths, when I sent her directions on how to draw them. And LOOK at her artwork! She calls these collage labyrinths:

Flower Labyrinth & frame.

You can see (and buy) her artwork at her Etsy shop. And she has another website with more of her artwork: Cards by Sonya. Her art work is so cheery and full of whimsy. I thought as I was scrolling thru that it's reminiscent of Chagall, one of my favourite artists. And then look at this collage labyrinth:

The Chagall Labyrinth; collaged Chagall calendar & Sonya's art work. BEAUTIFUL.

Google Alert

This is prolly where Brother D says, "Yeah, Hal. And there's this thing called the internet...." But it's new to me, so perhaps you may find it useful, as well. I learned this from Peter Shankman, the HARO Guy. Loyal readers of this blog (hi Mum!) will remember that HARO is a service that sends out reporter queries & other writers, media people, etc. looking for sources to interview for their stories. It's also how I'm quoted in next month's Good Housekeeping. [More on that when the issue comes out.] One of the rules of being in HARO is not to repost any queries on your blog. You can FW a query via email (which is when you get my email "Reporter Query for You,") but no posting. So, apparently someone posted & Peter said, "There's this thing called Google Alert...."

Me: Google Alert? What's that? [googling] COOL!

So here's the deal: whatever topic you're interested in (at least do your name), you put on alert and then you get an email once a day listing all the websites with new postings on said topic. So I put in "labyrinths" and here's an article on teens taping a labyrinth on the floor for their new youth center. COOL! Integrate those brain hemispheres! Then I got a blogpost by a fellow labyrinth enthusiast & artist, Jane Dover. Get this: she paints labyrinths on rocks, too. Way cool!

Hmmm...I wonder if she has her name in Google Alert? Hi Jane!

Colourful Afternoon

Plastic egg cartons are great as paint holders.

I read about a batiking process from That Artist Woman using Elmer's blue gel glue. This is a "kid-friendly" activity, but it's a bit messy. Especially the painting part--but it all cleans up! I needed some table napkins, so I got a plain white packet of 12 at Target. I drew a coupla labyrinths, wrote some quotes, etc. and let them dry . . . for a week. Yesterday, I moved all my art stuff to the back porch, and had a creative afternoon. I followed Artist Woman's directions & watered down my acrylic paints, and painted. I hung up a line & here they are drying:

waiting for the final process of glue-removal. Stay tuned.

Lessons from the Labyrinth

The bedroom I stayed in at Susan's overlooks her Cretan labyrinth. There's a division within the labyrinth community where some people insist it be called a Classical labyrinth. Whatever. Potato-potahto. Funny how we can get our knickers in a twist over names. Reminds me of a 7th Day Adventist woman who was hellbent on making sure that I knew the REAL sabbath was on Saturday, NOT Sunday. Really? This is what you argue about? Anyway, back to the labyrinth: Susan has had her Chartres Cathedral labyrinth for about 12 years. Her Cretan/Classical one was a more recent addition. The first time I walked it, it seemed tiny. Tiny. I was comparing it to mine-at-the-time in Martinsburg, WV which was a bit larger. I had not walked Susan's since I'd left WV. So here it was a year & 1/2 later and I walk it again. It's HUGE compared to my little labyrinth now. It's all perspective, innit? What do you compare things to?

View from my bedroom window.

Chartres Cathedral labyrinth. Part of it, anyway.

First thing Saturday a.m. Susan & I walked the Chartres labyrinth. I didn't get a picture of the whole thing--it's about 100 feet across, I think. She said if I went down the hill and into the woods, I'd get a good shot. I wasn't that motivated in the wet, dewy grass to do that. Anyway, as I was walking through, I thought about how it was fun because I didn't know where I was in the labyrinth or how much more there was to go before I got to the center. Plus it's just so HUGE. If I stopped & turned to take a picture, I wasn't sure which way I needed to go if I'd not paid attention to the direction Susan was walking. In a word, it was unpredictable. What was funny about that was that 2 minutes prior to that realization, I had been saying that I wanted my life to be essentially . . . more predictable. Hmmmm . . . .