Welcome back to another exciting episode of HobbyScool! I'm your host, Dr. Destini Copp, and today we have a special guest joining us.

Meet Ivana Lako - an artist, blogger, photographer, and graphic designer. Ivana is here to share her expertise in the world of art journaling and how it can unlock your creativity and bring a whole new level of joy to your life.

In this episode, Ivana encourages us to embrace the simplicity of getting started with a creative project, shares her own journey in art journaling, and offers valuable tips and insights into this unique combination of art and journaling.

Whether you're a beginner looking to dip your toes into the world of art or an experienced artist searching for new creative outlets, this episode is sure to inspire and motivate you. So grab your notebook and some basic supplies, because it's time to embark on a creative adventure with Ivana right here on HobbyScool!

Exploring Creativity with Ivana Lako: Discover the Joy of Art Journaling

In this captivating episode of HobbyScool, hosted by Dr. Destini Copp, we have the pleasure of learning from the delightful Ivana Lako, an artist, blogger, photographer, and graphic designer. Ivana shares her expertise in the world of art journaling, a beautiful combination of making art and adding personal journaling elements. Join us as we dive into Ivana's insightful tips, inspiring experiences, and guidance on how to get started with this creative journey.

Exploring the World of Art Supplies

To begin your artistic adventure, Ivana recommends gathering a notebook and some basic supplies. Acrylic paints and basic brushes are ideal for beginners. Dive into the playful side of creativity by experimenting with painting shapes and blobs on paper. Rather than trying to create something specific, embrace the freedom to let the paints guide you.

Embracing Curiosity and Exploration

As you delve deeper into the world of art journaling, Ivana explains that new supplies will spark further questions and inspire further exploration. While markers, pencils, and stamps are additional tools you can experiment with, they are not essential. Embrace the excitement of discovering new materials and techniques along the way.

The Joy of Starting

Ivana reflects on her own journey, reminiscing about the initial excitement of starting with art supplies. She encourages beginners to cherish this early stage as it is the most thrilling time for making art. With her website, Artful Haven (artfulhaven.com), Ivana provides valuable resources, including a free starter kit for art journaling beginners, complete with information on supplies, an art gallery, and step-by-step instructions for creating an original page.

The Magic of Art Journaling

Art journaling is the beautiful fusion of creating art in a notebook or diary while incorporating personal journaling elements. Ivana expresses her personal connection to art journaling, as it combines her love for writing about emotions and thoughts with making art. This creative hobby allows for experimentation with art supplies without fear of ruining a costly canvas.

Finding Satisfaction and Confidence

Combining art and words in an art journal brings great satisfaction and Ivana has discovered that many others share this sentiment. It eliminates the fear of a blank canvas and enables an uninhibited creative process. Ivana highlights the importance of removing the pressure to achieve a specific result and instead focusing on enjoying the artistic journey.

Simplicity and Flexibility

One of the many joys of art journaling lies in its simplicity. Get started with creative projects using materials readily available at home. Art journaling provides an opportunity to create treasured pieces that can be cherished for years.

Incorporating Art into Daily Life

Ivana is curious about how listeners incorporate creative projects into their lives. She emphasizes that creative endeavors do not need to be forced into a daily routine. Creativity should be expressed when there is a need or time for it. Each person's creative journey is unique, and it's important to approach it with a relaxed and open mindset.

Learning the Basics and Expanding Horizons

For those starting out, Ivana advises learning the fundamentals of art, specifically design and color theory. This foundational knowledge will help generate ideas and provide a solid base for experimentation. By venturing outside of one's comfort zone and trying various supplies and combinations, new artistic territories can be explored.

Conclusion

Art journaling is a magnificent outlet for self-expression and creativity. With Ivana Lako as our guide, we have learned the value of embracing curiosity, experimenting with different supplies, and shedding the fear of perfection. Through art journaling, we can tap into a space where art and personal reflection intertwine, allowing ourselves the freedom to explore, grow, and find contentment.

Listen to the full episode with Ivana Lako on HobbyScool and visit her website, Artful Haven, to embark on your own art journaling journey. Remember, the purpose of making art is to enjoy the creative process, not to put a label on oneself or achieve a specific result. Let your imagination roam and create art that brings joy and fulfillment to your life.

Mentioned In This Episode

• Where to find Ivana: ⁠Website⁠ and ⁠Instagram

• Free Gift: Art Journal Starter Kit

• Don't forget to join our wait list for the next HobbyScool online learning summit. Our summits are free to attend and you can be the first to know when the next summit launches by ⁠getting on the wait list here.

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Transcript:

Dr. Destini Copp [00:00:02]:

And my special guest today is Ivana Leko. Ivana is an artist blogger, photographer, and graphic designer, and she has a she has a passionate artist with many years of experience in Art journaling, scrapbooking, photography, and graphic design. She's also the owner of Art Haven, a blog about Art Journaling, where she teaches beginner, how to start an Art Journal and grow their confidence in art making. She's been a teacher for more than 15 years and loves teaching others how to art journal in a simple step by step approach with lots of feedback and no overwhelm. Ivana, thank you so much for joining me. I am super excited to jump into this topic with you. We're gonna be talking about art journaling today. And if you don't know anything about it, that's okay. Yvonne is gonna walk us through it and tell us all about it. Now, Ivana, before we get started in all the questions I have for you, can you tell the good audience just a little bit more about you and how you help people?

Ivana Leko [00:01:16]:

Okay. Well, hello to everyone listening. yes, you already said my name. I'm Ivana. I currently live in Germany. And I've been making art, I don't know, since forever. you know, since I was a little child, but my first kind of, actionable, you know, tangible thing with art was photographer and scrapbooking. And through that, I learned a lot about, design and art composition colors and so on. And then when I discovered our journaling, all these things were really useful to me. And since I also have a background in teaching. I'm a teacher of English, actually. this also helped me to connect with people, to be a better teacher, especially for beginners. And that's what I want to share with you today is, that I teach art journaling, but mostly to beginners because I know how hard it is to start for people. And usually, people start with our journaling, I don't know, somewhere after their 30 or 35, and somehow their confidence isn't, that high at that age. And these are especially women, mostly, and I want to teach them that it's really possible to be artistic no matter how old you are and no matter how what skills you have because art journaling is something really personal and, you don't have to share it anyone. It's a place where you can really be yourself. You can experiment with, techniques, with colors, your supplies, and really spend quality creative time with yourself. I mean, I could talk about this, for hours, but that's that's the gist of it.

Dr. Destini Copp [00:03:19]:

Well, and we're definitely gonna dig into this. And I think the first question I have for you for people who are listening and they're not familiar with art journaling. Can you explain to them what exactly do you mean by that?

Ivana Leko [00:03:34]:

Oh, definitely. well, if you take these two words, you know, art plus journaling, it actually that you take, a notebook, a diary, any kind of notebook, and you make art in it while you also add journaling. And that's the thing that I loved the most when I started because when I was younger, I used to have diaries and wrote about my feelings and thoughts, and so on. So when I realize, okay, there is something that people do, and it involves sharing my thoughts and my feelings while making art. This was a mind blow for me. So, it's a really, really nice habit hobby, creative time where you can combine these 2 things into 1 and really do many things. You can Just make art for our sake. It's fine, and you don't have that fear of the big white canvas. You know, when you take a notebook that's really small, and you experiment with your art supplies and you make something and you really feel good about yourself. And then you can write words You can write your own feelings, like a diary. And all this together is a really, really wonderful, wonderful experience at least for me, and I've been in contact with many people for the last 4 years since I've had my blog. and, all the people say they have the same feeling of satisfaction to combine art and words in this way. especially because, there is no fear of the canvas, as I already said, because I was afraid to paint on the canvas before, you know, I'm going to ruin it. This is expensive, but in a notebook, I mean, it becomes something, very much different.

Dr. Destini Copp [00:05:33]:

And it's very personal. Right? I mean, it's something that you're created. You're putting your private thoughts there. Yes. So, basically, I'm envisioning myself, getting started. go on to Amazon. I push purchase like a journal on Amazon. And then, you know, I can start journaling in it, and then I take those pages and add art to it. Am I just driving this correctly?

Ivana Leko [00:05:57]:

Yes. Yes. You can go either way. You can first make art and then journal or journal and then make art or do it at the same time. or you don't even have to journal. That's the beauty of it. Sometimes I just make, lovely art on my pages. no words at all. And if I don't know what to journal about, but I still feel the need, to put some words on there, then I can write a quote or some lyrics. Anything that inspires me and that I can relate to. So there are so many opportunities there?

Dr. Destini Copp [00:06:34]:

Let's say somebody out there is wanting to get started on this, but they don't feel like they're very artistic. What would you recommend to them?

Ivana Leko [00:06:45]:

Well, that's the thing. Most people usually say, okay, you know, I want to make art, but I'm not artistic at all. and then I say to them, okay. But, is this activity of making art? Is it, is the purpose of it to put a label on yourself in your work, or is the purpose to enjoy some creative time no matter what result you get? because the point is that, you should enjoy making art. You shouldn't enjoy that process. And I know it sometimes sounds like, an abstract thing. You know, oh, you need to enjoy, but but butts. There are always butts, but it really is the truth. So if you, think about the end result, for example, a picture you've seen on Pinterest or Instagram and you want to replicate it and then you get disappointed. I mean, then, you will stop creating, but if you focus on, experimenting on getting to know your supplies, asking yourself questions like, oh, what can this page do? What can it do with this brush or maybe with this brush? Or what if I use my fingers to paint? and then you suddenly, enjoy the process and not think about the end result because this end result is usually what makes you feel, not confident about yourself, about art making, and it, produces fear inside of you. You know? But if you decide, okay, I'm just going to experiment. I'm just going to learn you things and try out new things, then you take a lot of that pressure off yourself.

Dr. Destini Copp [00:08:43]:

Now, Ivana, if somebody is just wanting to get started here, what are some of the first steps that they need to take?

Ivana Leko [00:08:51]:

Okay. First of all, I mean, if you're listening to this, I bet that you're already, in some kind of creativity and you have some kind of supplies. And, I would suggest that you get a notebook any notebook will do for, at the beginning and, take a few of the supplies. For example, the best thing a beginner can do is get acrylic paints, some basic brushes. It doesn't matter which ones, and just start painting on the paper. You can create shapes. You can just create blobs of paint. It doesn't really matter. And just don't try to create something specific, you know, just play with the paints. And then you will realize that some things happen on that paper, and then you will start asking more questions. okay, what if I try this? If I try this and so on. So, get a notebook, get some acrylic paint, And if you can afford and have desire too, you can get other things like, different markers and pencils, maybe some stamps them some always great. And then, start experimenting with those supplies. Oh, I I remember my beginnings when I, went to the store to get some of the supplies. It was so exciting, you know, to learn new things and to try them out. I mean, it's also exciting today when I get new things, but especially for beginners. And I want to, remind all of the beginners that, this beginning will pass. So enjoy it while it lasts because is the most exciting time for making art. At least it was wonderful, to me.

Dr. Destini Copp [00:10:46]:

I love that. So it seems extremely simple to get started here. And just, like, get that notebook, get those, paint if you have around the house or markers or anything that you have and just get started. And I love doing this. Well, I love the thought of doing this because I think this is something you can treasure and keep for years. Are you finding that a lot of the clients and customers that you work with? They do one maybe quarterly or how do people typically incorporate this in their life?

Ivana Leko [00:11:17]:

Well, as far as I'm cons concerned, before I was really, You know, struggling with, this question, with this problem, I need to create art daily in order to be called creative or an artist. and people struggle with this a lot. They write to me. They send me emails and questions asking me even now, how can I create art daily? And then I asked them, why would you want that? Is that really something that must be done? I mean, create when you feel the need or when you have the time. So for me, sometimes weeks pass, and I don't create anything. And it's fine because I'm not, I'm not on clock here, right? So you can't force, creativity. That's, I believe, the main point. And, when you realize that, this is something not to worry about, then you can include it in your life and be more relaxed about it. So this is the problem I hear the most, how to start and how to do it daily, but you don't have to.

Dr. Destini Copp [00:12:36]:

And I think that's such a powerful message, Ivana, that you can't number 1, you can't force creativity, and you can just Do it whenever you feel the need. I love it. I love it. Can you -- Definitely. Do you have any last minute tips for the audience here?

Ivana Leko [00:12:55]:

Okay. Since, I think 90% of my audience, has asked me Ivana, how can I actually start? I have all the supplies. I have many art journals. I've gathered all the things that you would advise. but how to start, how to get ideas, and they are really, really lost. So this is a big problem, in any creative field, I believe. but one of my biggest advice is to, learn some things and keep things simple. What I mean by this is, the you should spend some time when you would have the time, of course, to learn a few things about art, more specifically about design and colors. but basic things. You don't need to overwhelm yourself. There's too much to learn, but basic basic things, and then these things will give you more ideas and more ideas for experimenting. And experimenting is also a good tip. You know, when you don't know what create, but you really feel the urge to create, then just gather some supplies. If you have too too many supplies, just limit them. and then experiment. What can I do with this? If I combine these 2, what will they make? What about these two colors or this tool and this paint and so on, and keeping it simple. I mean, people usually expect that they need to spend like 3 hours in order to create something, meaningful for them or to create something art that's beautiful. but you don't have to spend 3 hours. Sometimes they spend just 10 minutes on my original page, and it looks wonderful. I just took an image. I wrote it down. I did some paint. I put down a quote that resembles how I feel that day. And that's it. It only took me 10 minutes. but I still had that precious creative time for myself. That's keeping it simple.

Dr. Destini Copp [00:15:03]:

I love that and just experiment on different things and try different things, and you're gonna find something that you absolutely love. Now, Ivana, thank you so much for joining us today. Before we leave here, can you tell the audience where they can find you? And I believe you have a free gift for them also.

Ivana Leko [00:15:22]:

Yes. Well, I'm going to share, my website, which is called Artful Haven, artfulhaven.com. there you can find many articles about art journaling and color theory that I already mentioned, design ideas prompt tips about supplies. I mean, I cover everything. And also there, you can find, my free gifts. I have a special, starter kit for our journaling for beginners where they can find a little bit about art supplies, a little art gallery, and our general recipe which is a step by step, I believe, 4 or 5 steps, that you can follow every time to create, an original page. and I will also share some tips, some inspiration, and so on. It's a really nice and neat, ebook, but not overwhelming.

Dr. Destini Copp [00:16:23]:

and we will make sure all of those links are in the show notes so people can click on them and find you Ivana. And thank you so much for joining us today and sharing of your wonderful knowledge about art journaling with us?

Ivana Leko [00:16:35]:

Well, thank you for having me. It was really a nice time talking to you. And I really hope that this, will be inspirational for beginners in art.

Dr. Destini Copp [00:16:46]:

Thank you.