Get Messy is an online art journaling school that teaches you to cultivate your creativity. Without perfection.
Ready to consistently cultivate your creativity with art journaling?
Artist SpotlightPietro’s project, @CityLiveSketch, was born in 2014 when he decided to create different and creative contents to share with his friends and followers. He combined his passions for drawing and photography, creating “postcards 2.0” of...
Artist SpotlightRonni creates what she loves to call “Floral Inspired Fossils”. For as long as she can remember, she’s always had a connection with flowers. She’s consumed by all the little details within their design. Even from a young child she can...
Artist SpotlightRebecca Johnstone, aka Dainty Dora, is a Surface Pattern Designer and illustrator with a First Class honours degree in Textiles & Fashion Design Management specialising in Print, from Heriot-Watt University in Galashiels (formerly...
Artist SpotlightMelody is a fifty something wife, mother and grandmother. She is from Arkansas and loves those razorbacks!! She has a wonderful family including a very loving husband.WHAT IS YOUR CREATIVE STORY? My story really began in 1996. My...
Artist SpotlightWHY DO YOU LOVE ART JOURNALING? I love art journaling for the opportunity of processing, working through, and celebrating my life journey in a tangible, creative way. “Art it Out” definitely works for me! I also appreciate the...
Artist SpotlightKate is from Moscow and loves crafty things.Why do you love art journaling? I love the creative process of making something. It’s the time I dedicate only to myself. I can do whatever I want and I won’t be judged. Most of all it is...
Artist SpotlightWhy do you love art journaling and how has it impacted your life? Art journaling has completed me. For me it is the missing piece of the jigsaw. I have been creative all my life but have never before found the perfect creative outlet....
Hey Messians. Misty here. I talked about community a little bit on my blog back in January and about how I missed the community I had in my college art classes. This article functions as a sort of Part Two to the story of how I've found community in Get Messy. Fair...
Messy ConversationsMessy Conversations is a series of interviews with amazing art journalers who share their favorite tools, tips and why they art journal. You’ll get an exclusive peek into their art journal pages and their process. We have a top...
Moriah Costa talks about how to tell people you are an artist.
Artist SpotlightWhy do you love art journaling? I love art journaling because it gives me a chance to focus my mind somewhere else. I am one of those annoying people that have a million thoughts bubbling away in my brain and if you know me and have...
Artist SpotlightMulti-crafting mama of twoWhy do you love art journaling? Art Journaling lets me take a few precious minutes to do a little creative playing just for me. I love that it can be a private or a public thing, no pressure! I don’t have to...
Artist SpotlightLucky wife. Mama bear to 2. Boy mom. Daily life. Homeschooler. Coffee. Lover of all things creative.Why do you love art journaling? The thing I love most about art journaling is how the process of creating allows my mind to work...
Artist SpotlightWhy do you love art journaling? Art journaling has become a way to document my feelings and thoughts, to combine my passion for words with my passion for art, and to explore art techniques & mediums that excite me. For me, art...
Artist SpotlightWhy do you love art journaling? Amy: I tend to follow a pretty structured, controlled, basic pattern in the rest of my life. I’m very type-A oldest child. I love that art journaling is not that. It’s my excuse to go. To not worry about...
Artist SpotlightWhy do you love art journaling? It's my way to be creative. I love trying different techniques and mediums. It's even helped me with my anxiety. Describe your art journaling process? I start with a picture that inspires me. Sometimes...
Artist SpotlightSharon is a painter, pattern maker, flower picker, and collager! She loves things from time gone by, books, peonies, neons, poster colors, and hot sauce.Why do you love art journaling? I really do love art journaling. I stumbled into...
Artist SpotlightWhy do you love art journaling? I love it because it feels good to have something that’s just about the process - the results really don’t matter at all. It’s very grounding for me. Since joining Get Messy I’ve been using my art...
Artist SpotlightWhy do you love art journaling? I love art journaling for the creative freedom. Full stop. This is where I try out new techniques and products. This is where I relax creatively with no plans, no expectations, and no rules. Describe...
Artist SpotlightWhy do you love art journaling? It's just fun! I've always admired great scrapbook pages but felt a little restricted by the style, Art Journaling means freedom to create and just throw anything down on a page and make it art. Describe...
Artist SpotlightI love beautiful things and like to be creative. In addition to painting and stamping, I also discovered photography and scraping for myself. I want to give all these things a space here and share them with others.Why do you love art...
The focus of my life currently is this:
PRODUCE MORE. CONSUME LESS.
It’s a bold statement. With so much great stuff on the internet, and with it being so easy to be sucked into Pinterest, Instagram, blogs, and galleries, I’m needing to step back all the more. We consume so many things every day that actively trying to produce more than that is a big feat. There are two ways of doing it: either producing more than a hundred things per day, or drastically reducing how much you consume and making more than that number. I don’t want what I make to be influenced by someone else’s. I don’t want to be comparing how much I make. I don’t want to be making less because I’m too busy staring in awe at someone else’s stuff. I want my Ideas book to be a to do list and I want to get. shit. done.
There are a million reasons why I want to consume less and the number one reason is to produce more. I want to make a lot of stuff. I want to make up for lost time. I want to record all my memories before I lose them. I want to make a whole bunch of rubbish stuff so that I can get to making the good stuff.
And so I made an action plan. Here are the ways that I’m shifting my default to producing instead of consuming.
In this Messy Conversations episode, Jenna chats with Gilly about her creative process and thinking around art journaling. They discuss how art journaling encormpasses everything and how you make it what you want it to be.
Gilly shares how she’s able to be creative every single day due to the freedom given – no boundaries, and no rules. We are all busy but when we put small bits together with pockets of time, it starts to make a huge difference.
In this video, Autumn Moon shares what exactly a Scraps Diary is about. She pages through her Diary and shares the spirit behind it, the guidelines, the essence, and what it means to her. Video Transcript Please note that this transcript has been automagically...
The Get Messy Season of Collaboration was in January. But community continues to be a Big Deal to us Messy Artists.
If you’ve ever experienced a creative drought, you’ll know the impact that your creative family can have on helping you through it, giving tips on finding the other side, and making you feel less alone in your struggle.
If you’ve ever experienced a creative high, you’ll know how much higher it feels when you share your wins and celebrate your creative flow with others.
In this episode of the Get Messy podcast, I’m calling on the combined knowledge of a small group of Messians. Traci and Meghan, Jenna and Dawn, and Sarah and Melenia share what they learned and what they gained from their creative connection during Get Messy’s Season of Collaboration.
For the month of January, we focused on creative collaboration at Get Messy. Claudette Hasenjager and Char DeRouin led the way to nurture a safe space for artists to find their creative soul mate. For just the month, or for beyond. This excitement about creative...
Nope, Caylee didn't become an American for the new year. That smooth, calming radio voice you're listening to is Get Messy Guardian's @ginnistonik. She's interviewing the marvelous Guardians of the Community to bring even more inspir-action and encouragement to your...
Hello everyone, Im Tanyalee, teacher of the newest Get Messy ecourse Messy Pages. Thank you for joining me for this guest post for the Get Messy Season of Contrast. It is so great to be back on the Get Messy blog. I am going to share with you a little snippet of my...
Ephemera is my number one supply ever, and if I only had one supply I could take on an island, it'd be paper. I am an exceptionally organised human, but I am also a creative and ephemera organisation lends itself to somewhere in the middle of those two things. The...
Every month at Get Messy, we start a new season. Get Messy Seasons are a focused exploration of creating according to a theme. Filled with tutorials, prompts, and catalysts for you to learn and love. In the same way that we go through seasons of our life, we also go...
The end of the year holds so much resolution and finality. It’s the closing of a chapter. But this also implies the newness of the next. It holds so much promise. Rather than focusing on the end or on the beginning, I encourage you to sit right in that feeling of...
When I started art journaling, I started because I wanted to be an artist. But, step one to being an artist is making art. It's the same for writing a book. Step one to writing a book is actually sitting down and writing. The absolute Queen of Process, The Queen of...
Sarah and I chat about the way she sees creativity - a place that has space for both structure and chaos. We talk about the harmony of her left and right brain sides of her brain. Creativity is impossible unless you're willing to embrace uncertainty. You have to widen...
You guys. This is an episode in which I share the wisdom and kindness of my life coach. This is the one single human who has changed my life the most in the past year - the beautiful Kelli Saginak. Kelli opens up about her history with control and anxiety, we talk...
I have a massive girlcrush on Laurel. If you've ever struggled to create art that looks like the art going on in your head, then you're going to discover your newest girlcrush too. If you're a food person, same thing. Hell, if you are a living, breathing, creative,...
Last year, Kellee went through an intense creative burnout. I've been through many of those myself. This episode is about what's waiting on the other side. Kellee and I have loads in common, including writing a book with the same publisher and even the same superhero...
Shay is so full of wisdom and kindness, and she encourages that you create the same within yourself too. After hearing a testimonial about her class, that it was “like a spa for your creative soul”, I knew I had to pick her brain. Grab your supplies and listen while...
Rachael is my friend in real life. Not only is this episode proof that I have friends, it's also an exploration into what creating art in the "in-between" looks like. Rach is someone who says things that are so profound that I have to whip out my notebook in real life...
This is the story of what happens when a perfectionist decides to actively go against her own nature in lieu of making the art that her soul needs. Iris and I talk about her brave decision to deliberately choose wonkiness, ignore self-doubt, and go for process over...
The podcast is back! And we’re jumping right into the deep end. We’re not talking about surface level art here, no no, you can’t really do that with my guest. Vanessa Oliver-Lloyd and I are talking about a way to get around how damn hard it is to put your inner heart into your art. Not just putting your likes and dislikes onto the page, not just your paper ephemera, and not just what you did that day (although all of those are great). We’re discussing V’s favourite technique for telling your story without it being draining.
Cause we all have issues. We all have a story that has led us to the point we’re at. We’re all still on a journey. It may be beautiful, it may be painful, it probably is raw. Art is very good at helping unload that weight. But it’s not necessarily easy to do.
We wanted to talk about the creative process of making an online class, but in true Vanessa fashion, we ended up talking about so much more than that.
I’m glad you could join us.
One of the biggest things that art journalers struggle with in their creative practice is the journaling part of art journaling. It’s weird. I know. A while back, I invited a journaling expert to help the Get Messy community with how to find the words. Elaine Kiziah...
What is it about art journaling that makes it actual magic? Out of all the different ways to be creative, why do we choose art journaling? Why is this the one thing we have stuck with over time, and the one thing that we are constantly falling in love with? In order to answer this question with Wendy Solganik, we need to dissect her entire creative story.
Interview with art journal artist, Rory Grimes.
Interview with Amanda Trought about art journaling, creative practices, advice, and what to do in a creative rut. Take a peek into the art, and heart of your new favourite artist…
Interview with Mou Saha about art journaling, creative practices, advice, and what to do in a creative rut. Take a peek into the art, and heart of your new favourite artist…
Interview with Felicitas Mayer about art journaling, creative practices, advice, and what to do in a creative rut. Take a peek into the art, and heart of your new favourite artist…
Interview with Kiala Givehand about art journaling, creative practices, advice, and what to do in a creative rut. Take a peek into the art, and heart of your new favourite artist…
Books are awesome. I am a massive book nerd. My interior design style is “books and plants”. My love for books is part of the reason I love art journaling – I get to create my own library of art. I get to fill my bookshelves with the tangible containers of my own...
Interview with art journal artist, Brooke Gorrell-Beaudoin.
Telling your story is important. Telling your story of your life is what connects you to others, and helps them feel a little less lonely. By telling your story, you give others permission and remind them of their worth. The story-telling champion, Kristin Tweedale,...
Prepare yourself for a bucket load of fangirling. Jeannine is one of my favourite people in the world - my editor, my Fairy Bookmother, and all-around dream maker. She changed my life, and in this episode, we're sharing insight into the process of publishing a book...
The life of a creative can be lonely. And let’s face it: whether we identify as creatives or not, we all know what this pretty rubbish state of being feels like. As humans, we’re hard-wired for connection: we long to be understood by others, we long for relationships...
Deborah is my business bestie. She runs a membership for handmade sellers called Tizzit. We send each other daily voice notes about the highs and lows of business and everything in between. In this podcast episode, which is essentially a one-hour voice note, we...
I believe that anyone can make art but not everyone can be an artist. I know that the common narrative is that everyone can be an artist, however, I disagree with that. Well. Slightly. Let me explain... For some, capital A Artist is a stifling term. It renders them...
The proposal was the first official task to writing my book. It's also what ended up being my compass and my rock. It was a mammoth task, but it was also easy? Why? Because I had already done the work... the year before in a very deep way and also every single year...
Whether you're exploring a new country or your own backyard, here are practical tips on how to travel like an artist rather than a tourist. Podcast Show Notes We discuss: how to fill up a travel journal - whether you're away from home or just around the neighbourhood...
Life is experienced in moments. Some of these moments hold more weight. I don’t know about you, but sometimes I can feel the weight of some moments. There are certain moments in my life that I knew while they were happening that they would change everything. Bookcast...
My dear beautiful, beautiful Messy Artist It’s time for us to go back to our roots. Get Messy has always been a place that evolves and adapts and fits around your life rather than the other way around. It’s never been a place where you have to change to be a part of...
I had never thought of photography as art. I had always thought it was just for logical people following a very precise way of doing things. It felt like the opposite of creativity to me. Enter Pete. Pete sees creativity in a way not unlike my own - as a looping...
Today I sat down with Tricia. Tricia is wise and someone that you wanna have in your corner because she's very zen about art making, very knowledgeable and plays between the right and left side of your brain so well. She's a great encourager and wise mentor. We talk...
Every guest I have on the podcast is my favourite, but this is my favourite favourite and most exciting. It's someone who excites me every day. My husband, T Grey. We're talking about what it's like being on the other side of someone who lives life creatively. We get...
This is an AMA (Ask Me Anything) episode, where you’re the one who asks me anything and I’m the one who answers. We cover a host of topics, mostly about supplies and where I’m at in my creative practice.
I share my favourite tools, classes, and resources for making art.
I discuss themes I’m processing through art (now and always), coming back to art after a creative drought, and a new way I’m merging meditation with creation.
A host of miscellaneous questions and answers.
And an in depth look at my love for white hair and #ff66cc.
The best thing to come out of 2020 for me has been my studio. It’s my one true love (sorry T). It’s an old shipping container in an old slaughterhouse. It’s gritty, and raw, it’s hipster as hell, and its mine.
This studio has enabled me to do that weird thing people talk about called “work-life-balance” and for that, I am truly grateful.
I wanted to dedicate an episode of the podcast to it. It has a story. It’s a love story. And to make it worth your while, I’m sharing what a studio space of your own might do for you…
Why is it so difficult to just. make. art? We know how much we love it and how it feeds our soul. We know it makes us better in a multitude of ways, but sometimes even the thing we love the most can feel like a massive effort.
I talk to Anna Baer, aka Olive Green Anna, about this. We talk about her mad skills – in creating art, in getting others to make art, and in pep talking directly to the heart.
I wanted to get together to talk about her latest offering, the Take Time to Make at-home artist residency, mainly because I’m taking part in it. I also sneakily wanted to learn more about her as a human since she lives so close to me.
Our conversation lit me on fire. I loved hearing about how her process and seeing art as wildness in control; a way to see what comes out of her. We speak about destroying your own art in order to make space, removing the preciousness of supplies, making shit art, and where we put our worth as artists.
Grab your supplies and let us keep you company while you create…
Interview with art journal artist, Barbara Martin.
Interview with Risa Iwasaki Culbertson about art journaling, creative practices, advice, and what to do in a creative rut. Take a peek into the art, and heart of your new favourite artist…
Interview with Tammy Murdock about art journaling, creative practices, advice, and what to do in a creative rut. Take a peek into the art, and heart of your new favourite artist…
Interview with art journal artist, Kay Losey.
Interview with art journal artist, Traci Taylor.
Interview with Noor Unnahar about art journaling, creative practices, advice, and what to do in a creative rut. Take a peek into the art, and heart of your new favourite artist…
Interview with Tamara Egem about art journaling, creative practices, advice, and what to do in a creative rut. Take a peek into the art, and heart of your new favourite artist…
Interview with art journal artist, Cindy Gilstrap.
Interview with art journal artist, Shannon Yates.
Interview with Arlyna about art journaling, creative practices, advice, and what to do in a creative rut. Take a peek into the art, and heart of your new favourite artist…
Interview with Cathy Nichols about art journaling, creative practices, advice, and what to do in a creative rut. Take a peek into the art, and heart of your new favourite artist…
Interview with art journal artist, Janet Joehlin.
Interview with art journal artist, Flo (@Flo_HereThere).
Interview with art journal artist, Shilpa Nagaonkar.
Interview with art journal artist, Mandy “MediaMixerArt”.
Interview with art journal artist, Tanya Hardy-Dobney.
I've been art journaling for eight years, but it was only two years ago that I've fallen for written journaling. And man, have I fallen hard. My journaling journey For a long time, art journaling helped me say everything that I couldn't say with words. As Georgia...
Interview with Tiare Smith about art journaling, creative practices, advice, and what to do in a creative rut. Take a peek into the art, and heart of your new favourite artist…
Interview with Jana Clinard Harris about art journaling, creative practices, advice, and what to do in a creative rut. Take a peek into the art, and heart of your new favourite artist…
Interview with art journal artist, Eva Donges.
Interview with e bond about art journaling, creative practices, advice, and what to do in a creative rut. Take a peek into the art, and heart of your new favourite artist…
Interview with Alyssa Griese about art journaling, creative practices, advice, and what to do in a creative rut. Take a peek into the art, and heart of your new favourite artist…
Interview with art journal artist, Wendy McGowen.
Interview with art journal artist, Karen Price.
Interview with art journal artist, Meghan Deinhard.
Interview with art journal artist, Sheri Sears.
Interview with art journal artist, Misty Granade.
Interview with art journal artist, Sarah Gardner aka Juicy*S.
Interview with art journal artist, Vanessa Oliver-Lloyd
Interview with art journal artist, Tanya Watson
Artist SpotlightWhat journal do you use? I am at the beginning of my art journal practice and therefore I am still experimenting with different types of journals. At the moment I am using a Fabriano Venezia, which is a little bigger than an A4 size...
Artist SpotlightWhat is art journaling to you? It helps me to exercise my creative muscles and idea. Art journal for me is more process-driven. I love to create meaningful pages. Art journaling allows me to experiment with my creativity in a way that...
Interview with art journal artist, Sara Barnes.
The main thing that stopped me from keeping a journal in the past was fear of the blank page. Specifically, fear of the very first blank page. My initial way of dealing that fear was to simply keep the first page blank, turn the page, and make the art. It’s not a bad...
The main thing that stopped me from keeping a journal in the past was fear of the blank page. Specifically, fear of the very first blank page. My initial way of dealing that fear was to simply keep the first page blank, turn the page, and make the art. It's not a bad...