Sheri is primarily a wife and mom who homeschooled her four children (now adults) through graduation. Her days are spent on a couple of acres in Oklahoma with a multitude of pets (including her corgi Millie) and “not really pets but they adopted us”, her husband Mike, those of her kids that are still at home, and her parents (who bought the house across the road from her upon retirement).

What is art journaling to you?

Art journaling to me is a healing practice where I can pour out my heart and joys and hurt into paper. It’s a release.

What does community do for your art?

I’ll admit that I do love when people comment on my art or like it, it makes me feel as though what I do might matter after all. I have found the art community to be incredibly supportive and loving to one another, sharing inspiration and ideas. In short: community helps me grow.

How do you live a creative life? How do you incorporate journaling into that?

I suppose I’ve always had a creative side. I don’t follow recipes, I decorate my home per my own whim, I draw, paint and play in my free time. It’s easy for me to journal or as we call it “art” because it’s a huge part of my life anyway. Aside from their college studies one of my children is an artist and two are musicians. We live a very artsy lifestyle.

What does your creative space look like? Where do you journal?

My creative space is my dining room! I have completely taken it over! On holidays the dining table gets cleaned up, otherwise, it’s a pretty perpetual artsy mess.

Do you have creative routines?

I don’t try to follow routines too much, but every morning I wake up hours before the rest of my house, I sit and sip hot tea, draw and paint, read a Bible study, and plan my day.

It’s peaceful and calm.

What is your favourite art journal page that you’ve ever made and why?

Wow, that’s a tough one because it really depends on the day. Currently, I love this page, I’m not good at including images from magazines, but I felt like this girl just fit perfectly. That’s really it. I just really like the “x” I drew on her lips.

What is your biggest barrier to creating? And how do you overcome that hurdle?

Having faith that I can do it, trusting in myself is easily my biggest barrier. I just do it. But there are times I walk away for a few days.

In addition to that, I’m always in a hurry to get to the end. I have to really slow myself down. I don’t overcome that, I am messy and perpetually covered in paint and cuts.

Have you ever made something you don’t like? What did you do?

Oh goodness yes! I used to throw away things I didn’t like, now I set them aside and come back to them later because I have found that your viewpoint really changes.

Have you ever been through artist block? How did you return to your work?

In the words of the Nike “just do it”, anytime I have any block in life I just make myself face it full-on. It’s never easy but it’s also never as difficult as I built it up to be in my mind.

How has Get Messy impacted your creativity?

Get Messy has helped me so much. Often times I feel stuck, I know I can always head over to Get Messy and look at the old seasons for inspiration or tackle a new season or class.

What journal do you use?

I like to create my own journals. When in a hurry I’ll grab a bullet journal that I ordered off of Etsy.

What is your one *must have* supply?

Ahhhh…a Tombow Fudenosuke pen.

What do you make when you don’t know what to make?

I put globs of paint on paper and spread it around.

What is the most important (non-tool) thing to your creative practice?

The most important thing in my creative practice is quiet time. I suffer from depression and have found the solitude of creating (at 4am when I get up for work) to be quite healing and also a great way to start my day.

Who are your favourite Messy artists?

My favorite art journalers? That’s a tough one! Everyone is so amazing and there are so many I love. @mikosun (Michelle) has a beautiful heart; @willa.wanders (Wendy) has inspired me in so many ways, and @seesarastitch (Sara) has an element of freedom that makes me want to try everything.

What’s the best art advice you’ve ever received?

My daughter would sit across from me and tell me to keep trying and not give up. It’s difficult to ignore advice when you know it’s advice you’ve given in the past.

Advice to new art journalers:

Don’t be scared! Seriously! It’s so easy to be overwhelmed, it’s okay, just take it one brush stroke at a time. Your style will change and evolve, it’s an amazing thing to watch.