The Minimalist Art Journal is all about finding your calm and putting your emotions on a page. Nothing more, nothing less. Sit down, get a nice cup of tea and face the blank page. Get away from the clutter and overload of normal life and just focus on what makes this moment, this hour, this day important. No overload of extras and stuff. Just you, a blank page and the basics.

This is about taking time.

This is about doing less.

This is about you.

Lesson Plan

In this lesson we will build a supply kits of tools that you LOVE. We will choose simply but impactful supplies that are strong enough to stand on their own without needing the hoards of gadgets that distract from your message and meaning. We will hand bind an elegant, yet understated journal to give you full control of your minimalist art journal

In this lesson we will learn to not only not fear the blank page but to embrace. We will create subtle and quiet backgrounds for our pages through 6 different techniques. Our guests artists for this lesson are Riet Poch who will teach us to create Depth in our Backgrounds and Tanyalee Kahler who will introduce us to the magic of Watercolour Backgrounds.

In week 3 we will practice restraint, learn to listen to the natural flow of our pages and practice the art of simple, yet meaningful when it comes to embellishing our pages. This lessons guests artists are Essie Ruth who will teach us to Collage in Monochrome, Tiffany Julia who will help us use Image Transfers quiet down the noise in photographs and Zinia Amoiridou who shows us that Botanicals can also be Minimalist.

Lesson 4 will teach you how to express your ideas and thoughts as simply as possible. We will quiet the mind and the world and translate our ideas to be clear and concise. Our guest teacher Anika Lacerte will walk us through making an Impact with Less and Jennifer Bilton helps us reconcile the business of Collage and Lettering with minimalism.

In case you didn’t have enough ideas, this is a super practical lesson where we look at minimalist art journal pages, translate it into actionable inspiration, and learn how to apply it directly to our own pages.

Student art

You could be making this…

Caylee Grey, your Fairy Artmother

I’m Caylee Grey. My favourite things to make are art journal pages. I’m wildly enthusiastic about encouraging others to make too. To make things with paint, or scissors, or to make their dreams come true. 

I am passionate about what I teach, so I delight in answering questions, and being your own personal cheerleader. I’ve put every piece of this course together with love, glitter, and hard earned experience, so I’m 100% committed to it, and to you as a participant. You’ll have direct email access to me throughout the course – and not the “two weeks later” kind of “direct email”, actual communication. I really want you to succeed and make beautiful art.

Freaking amazing Guest Artists

You are going to love them as much as I do.

ANIKA LACERTE

@thehandcraftedstory

Anika will walk us through making an Impact with Less.

ESSIE RUTH

@essie.ruth.makes

Essie will share her signature style and teach us to Collage in Monochrome.

JENNIFER BILTON

@stitchandletter

Jennifer helps us reconcile the business of Collage and Lettering with minimalism.

RIET POCH

@rietpoch

With Riet, we’ll learn to create Depth in our Backgrounds

TANYALEE KAHLER

@tanyaleekahler

Tanyalee will introduce us to the magic of Watercolour Backgrounds.

TIFFANY JULIA

@aerialovely

Tiffany will help us use Image Transfers to quiet down the noise in photographs.

ZINIA REDO

@ziniaredo

Zinia will show us how Botanicals can also be Minimalist.

The story behind the sequel

I started art journaling in a minimalist way because I was in South Africa and didn’t have access to supplies. I had a single box of creating things, including my ephemera, Pritt, scissors, and literally one colour of paint (gold). I then moved to Germany where I could get new tools and supplies shipped to my door overnight (bless you, St. Amazon). I was like Jasmine on a freakin’ flying carpet. It was a whole new world.

But after a while, I actually sat back and took stock. I evaluated what I wanted in my space, and in my art, and realised I didn’t want a room of supplies that sat collecting dust. I wanted to use everything. I wanted to love everything I kept.

I did a mssive purge, with the aim of ensuring that the only things that stayed were things that I loved dearly. That’s when I made the first Minimalist Art Journal class.

Fast forward three(!) years and minimalist art journaling is something that has once again evolved and taken on a new meaning for me. It’s no longer just an aesthetic choice, but a creative necessity. Last year, I brought a new human onto the planet, and I’m not as free to create as I used to be. I have less time, less room, and less brain-space to devote to my art journal. But my need to create has remained as burning as ever.

If you’ve ever had a drastic change in your life, you’ll know what I mean. Having a son not only took away my sleep, my time, and my boobs (HA). It also took all my thoughts away from me because damn does that cutie pie occupy my entire brain.

So I had a problem: how could I have my creativity fulfilled while working within these new limitations_

The answer was to go back to my roots, and return to minimalism.

MAJ2 is not about “making itime for art”, but about fitting art into the life you already have. The real one, with commitments and responsibilities. The one where you don’t get to take a day off to commune with your muse, or follow a magical unicorn into the forest of mystical inspiration. MAJ is about creating where you are, with what you have.

Less supplies. Simpler process. Calmer art.

I’d love to have you along for the second leg of this adventure.

This class is included in the Get Messy Membership or available for purchase on its own.

As a member of Get Messy, you have access to the class as long as you are a Get Messy member.  If you prefer to have lifetime access, you may purchase this class separately. This means that you will pay a one time fee for access regardless of your status as a member. Lifetime access is not tied to a membership and will give you access for the lifetime of Get Messy. As long as this class is offered, you will have access. 

Membership

Included in the Get Messy membership

$39 per month 

Access to the class as long as you are a Get Messy member.

Access to the entire Get Messy library – 20+ classes, 30+ seasons, 1000+ art journaling lessons, 100+ teachers

14 day money back guarantee

One-time Payment

Access only to the class

$127

Lifetime access to the class, regardless of your status as a Get Messy member

14 day money back guarantee

Should I choose the one-time payment or membership option?

You have the option for purchasing this class on its own or as part of the membership. 

The choice depends on how you create.

Membership: the Get Messy membership is here for the creative soul with restless hands and a busy mind (and schedule), ready to cultivate a consistent art habit that allows you to release your truth, emotions and dreams onto the page. For those who prefer to live an all-encompassing creative life with catalysts that spur on the creative habit.

One-time payment: for the creative who loves knuckling down and diving deep into a class. Someone who prefers to focus on one thing and take the time it requires before moving onto the next. The bonus is that you get to keep the class forever and it will wait for you during your busy seasons and be there when you’re ready again. You might also be wanting to test the Get Messy teaching style out a bit and this is a good way to dip your toes in.

WHAT EXACTLY IS MINIMALIST ART JOURNALING? IS THIS A COURSE THAT’S GOING TO SHOW ME HOW TO MAKE A COMPLETELY PLAIN, STARK NAKED PAGE?

There is a beautiful movement in art that is minimalist art. Sadly, I am not Jo Baer and I need a little bit more paint and glue to say what I need. So for this course, we’re going to be focused on minimalism being reflective of less stuff, a simpler process, and a calmer page.

Minimalist art journaling is art that strips away the excess. It takes away the non-essentials and focuses on what’s important.

I’VE NEVER ART JOURNALED BEFORE, IS THIS FOR ME?

The beauty of art journaling is that it can be anything that you want it to be. That makes it super easy to start. And super difficult – this class is not going to teach you to start. If you’ve never made something before, I recommend that you do (you can go through the absolutely free Introduction to Art Journaling course to help) make your first page, see if you like creating in this way, and then come back here.

I ALREADY HAVE A PRETTY DETAILED STYLE THAT I’D CALL THE OPPOSITE OF MINIMALIST. DOES THIS COURSE TRY TO CHANGE MY STYLE? WILL I STILL LEARN SOMETHING?

Please don’t stop making those magical, detailed pages that I only dream about. A lot of the guests in the class are not solely minimalist creators, and neither am I.  This course gives practical ideas for you to try out – you can incorporate them into your current style or try a new style and find that it speaks to you too. You don’t have to do a 180 in your style. Once you make one minimalist page, it doesn’t turn you into a minimalist artist completely.

I’M ALREADY A MINIMALIST ART JOURNALER. I BASICALLY JUST PUT ONE PAINT STREAK ON A PAGE AND IT SAYS WHAT I WANT AND LOOKS INCREDIBLE. WILL I GAIN ANYTHING FROM THIS COURSE?

Yes. If you love minimalist pages, you’re going to love them even more. You’ll finish this class with a whole stack of new techniques and ideas to try out.

WHAT DO I NEED TO BUY FOR THE COURSE?

The basic supplies needed for this course are: paper, pen, scissors, glue, watercolour paint, acrylic paint. You don’t need the expensive stuff, old cheapos will do just fine.

DO I NEED SPECIAL TOOLS?

Nope. The whole point of a minimalist art journal is using the tools that you already have instead of buying more. Beyond the basic supplies, you can follow along without need for anything fancy with what the tools you’re currently using.

WHERE CAN I ACCESS THE COURSE?

After payment, you will be redirected to choose a username and password to access the private membership site. The course is available on the membership site, along with downloadable PDF content.

HOW LONG DO I HAVE ACCESS FOR?

As this is a premium class, class access does not expire and is not linked to your Get Messy membership.

HOW LONG IS THE COURSE?

The course has 20 lessons. You can go through them all at once over a weekend, or you can go through them slowly and do one lesson a week.

WHAT IS YOUR REFUND POLICY?

Get Messy has a 14 day no questions asked money back guarantee.

I STILL HAVE A QUESTION.

Please contact me and we can chat.