SoulPages is a Visual journaling method developed by Rakefet Hadar in 2015.

SoulPages is a powerful tool that allows you to connect to a place of transformation and healing, using various mixed media techniques within a personal journal.

Working within the visual journal under the gentle guidance of a facilitator enables processes of growth, healing, and ignition of the joy and passion of life.

SoulPages values

•         Playfulness. Playfulness improves relationships and our connection to others. It relieves stress and leads to creative thinking and smarter decisions. Through the relaxation and pleasure of playfulness, we have the unique opportunity to exercise both the analytical and creative aspects of our minds.
•         Imagination. Imagination influences everything we do, think about and create. By loosening the grip of perceived obstacles, imagination allows us to open to what may be possible through innovation and a shift in perspective.
•         Creativity. Creativity has an amazing power to provide renewed enthusiasm and energy, even in difficult circumstances.  Creativity helps us to discover new experiences, gain insight, and build resilience in all areas of life. When creativity is encouraged in group settings, we enjoy a deeper connection with each other.
•         Connection. Connection to ourselves allows us to understand better who we really are, what we are feeling, and what we need. This place of awareness then allows us to build friendships and healthy social connections essential for wellbeing, empathy, and personal health.
•         Friendship. Friendship is based on mutual respect, honoring our differences, and opening to the value inherent in each other. Through friendship, we come alongside each other to support one another in our journey toward belonging, purpose, happiness, and sense of self-worth.
•         Joy. Joy arises when we are being our very best selves and have a sense of safety, community, and purpose. Joy helps us to look to the future with hope, clarity, and confidence.

As you know I’m a certified art therapist with an MA from Lesley College in Boston.

I started to develop my art journaling method -SoulPages , when I was in my practicum year.

I created with one of my clients, a young mother, an art therapy journal where she could examine her own life and her experiences as a child.

We worked with different materials and we used also meditation techniques to help her relax and dive deep into her memories.

The art that she made can be called- meditation art because it’s an art that results from a meditative state of mind where our subconscious is open and ready to explore different ways of healing.

One of the most exciting moments was when she meditate and I asked her to imagine that she is hugging her child ( she had difficulties touching her children because of her difficult life experience) She started to smile when she meditate on this mental image of her hugging her younger child.

After that, she took a picture of a small girl and she created two big arms that hug her.. she told me- “this is the big hug that I never got from my parents! I feel that when I created this hug, I can start to hug my children..”

In our next session, she told me she started to sit next to her boy before he goes to sleep and hug him.

This is the true power of creating in a visual journal!!

SoulPages is an amazing art journaling method that involves self-help techniques and mindful art processes.

SoulPages method can help you heal and transform your life with only seven simple elements:

Intention

Magical coincidence

Background

Image

Line

color and text

When you learn how to use the seven elements you can create beautiful combinations of Soul Pages… journal pages that touches your soul.

Intention and magical coincidence are the most important elements. They are like the father and mother of the other five visual elements.

In this short article I will explain in short about all the elements:

Intention-Every spread of the journal starts with Intention or desire to express something. Sometimes, the intention is clear to us right at the start, and sometimes we start creating intuitively and discover the intention deep into the process.

Magical Coincidence- is probably the most loved element. To feel a sense of freedom and inner passion as you create in your journal, you have to love and accept the surprise that magical coincidence offers. Looking at the world through the eyes of a child lets us discover wondrous ways of creating, ways that we wouldn’t have discovered otherwise.

Background- every art journaling spread start from the background. This is the first step we make. It can be a scribble, a writing exercise, a blot of color…everything we want to start with and express ourselves.

Image- In SoulPages we use the language of inner parts or inner images. to explore ourselves..Images are symbols that allow us to go deeper into our inner world, we use images from magazines, books, etc to represent inner parts.

Line- the line element connects the different parts of the artwork into one coherent story. there are lots of line exercises that we can learn, we use doodling, mark making, and simple drawing exercises.

Color- color is so important! it creates a mental atmosphere, it adds emotions to the story that we are creating.

Text- the element of text give us context and combine all the elements into one insightful process!

If you want to learn more you can check up this blogpost

https://soul-pages.com/soulpages-journaling-and-the-seven-elements/

Art journaling is a well-known self-help practice, but recently we hear a lot about the term- meditation art, what does it mean?

Meditation art is an art activity that slows up the mind and creates quietness. When we are creating without thinking about the visual result, we are not bothered about the outcome, we just let our hands do what they want to do- then we are meditating through art.

 SoulPages is an art journaling method that incorporates special meditating techniques.

We use the seven elements to create meditative peaceful states that are very healing.

For example, the technique of “painting with paper” is an artistic way to paint an inner image with small colorful pieces that we tear and glue. The process starts to be very meditative and healing and also metaphorically we tear something and then we glue it to create something new..

In this work, you can see how I created a tree out of small paper tears, this tree became a symbol of transformation and healing.

If you invest only 15 minutes a day in a meditative art practice I promise you that you will feel an immediate improvement in your life. You will feel more vibrant and creative!

Try one of these transformational courses

Color archetypes is a spiritual-artistic method to identify and understand the source of energies available to us from the day we were born – core energy, connection energy, and spiritual energy.

These three energies, inherent parts of us, navigate and shape our lives. Understanding them will help us live better, happier, and more fulfilling lives.

Art Journaling is an art activity within a personal journal. Another name for this activity can be Visual journaling, art diary etc.

For many years, artists have developed their artistic ideas in a journal and called this a sketchbook. Creating in a format of a journal has begun to develop as another language of art that anyone can do, without learning any complicated techniques, in the last thirty years.

Some artists in the United States and Europe have begun to teach the unique way they create within a diary to allow freedom, creativity and un judgmatical behavior.

Soul Pages is a special method of visual-art journaling that I developed in the last 8 years and its main idea is the focus of our inner development and the connection to the archetype of the inner artist.

Art Journaling basic concepts

• The use of mix media techniques – any combination of materials and techniques is acceptable
• It’s not about the outcome- the process itself is important.
• It’s a form of self-care art so usually it incorporates writing
• We use meditative techniques such as doodling and collage
• We create in a bound journal
• We use layers of different materials and techniques that expose different meanings
• We can use prompts to create meaning in our spread
• Freedom, joy and play
• There are lots of different approaches of teaching, but usually they either teach art techniques or teach transformation.

About my method- SoulPages journaling

I developed SoulPages journaling method in order to allow for self-care, transformation, joy, playfulness and also cultivating our inner artist.

SoulPages is based on seven elements: Intention, Magical coincidence, background, image, color, line & text. You can learn more about the elements in my book “Elements of visual Journaling”

You can learn more about  SoulPages journaling in my short courses.

Or join my in-depth facilitator training and transform your life.

SoulPages facilitator training is the only mentoring program in the world that actually teaches how to become a group facilitator with the amazing tool of the visual journal.

In this one year program you can become an independent artist that creates freely in your bounded journals.

You will learn how to create endless art processes that are healing and also artistic.

art journaling for beginners

There are lots of art journaling for beginners classes and tutorials online but what is most important to understand is that beginners’ minds are an essential part of art journaling.

A beginner’s mind is a state of constant surprise and creativity where you feel that everything is new, fresh, and exciting.

So when you are looking for art journaling for beginners, you need information about the materials and techniques that will help you start an art journaling practice.

In SoulPages Journaling- creating the art journal from scratch is an amazing intention process- You can create a vessel for all your hopes and dreams.

After the art journal is created, you can start exploring materials and techniques that you like.

In my first years, I was so excited to discover that you can use any combination of materials. I felt like an explorer and it was an amazing feeling of being a child in a candy shop.

Try to look for materials that allow for magical coincidence. These are techniques that bring results that we have no control over.

The book “Layers of Meaning” by Rakefet Hadar is the perfect book when you are looking for art journaling for beginners’ ideas.

art journaling for beginners-ideas to get you started

When you want to start creating a visual journal, you can concentrate on the different elements of visual journaling as described in my journaling method SoulPages journaling.

here you can get a few ideas to get you started

• Intention– create your art journal from a cover of an old book or by using a Coptic stitch binding.
• Magical coincidence– start exploring new materials and techniques such as jelly plate, ink, tea bags, marbling, etc.
• Background– prepare a few simple backgrounds on your journal pages. use watercolor, acrylic, collage simple torn pieces of paper.
• Image– glue some images on your pages.
• color– add color to connect the images
• line– add some lines to give depth to your images and make them yours.
• text– give a name to the art that you created.

Finally, all you need is to embrace your inner child and start creating

The seven elements of visual journaling can help you start journaling on your own. If you want to try a free tutorial you can press here:

The red violin

more art journaling for beginners classes are available in my online courses: The HomeBook.

And also in the Memory Pocket course, that demonstrates how I work with the 7 elements.

Try one of these transformational courses

Color archetypes is a spiritual-artistic method to identify and understand the source of energies available to us from the day we were born – core energy, connection energy, and spiritual energy.

These three energies, inherent parts of us, navigate and shape our lives. Understanding them will help us live better, happier, and more fulfilling lives.

art journal collage

I love to create a small collage journal that is the background for more layered artwork with color and other materials in my practice.

I love to bind my journals in this unique way because collage is the primary technique in art journaling.

When we create our handmade collage journal from scratch -we create a vessel for our inner dreams, wishes, and hopes.

Collage is an artistic technique that incorporates different papers, fabrics, and all sorts of ephemera to create a new image that combines small glued parts into one surface.

The process of collage creates integration in the soul and this is why it is such an amazing art technique.

When I start working on a new journal, I always glue collage pieces to some of the pages so when I bind them together- I will already have images that inspire me to continue and create more.

In this way, I overcome my fear of the white page.

Some people call these special journals- junk journals because you can combine so many parts of yourself artistically.

Collage journal- what kind of material can you use?

• pictures from old books
• vintage pictures from Pinterest
• journals and newspapers
• your art
• stamps
• gift packaging
• colored papers
• scraps of fabrics
• any ephemera material that you can glue.

Collage ideas for art journaling

In my courses, I teach lots of collage techniques with endless materials.

In my free course- The red violin, you can learn the process of collage with the seven elements.

If you want to join this course log in to the site and try the free course.

In the “memory pockets,” you can learn how to create collage journal pages with family pictures.

you can learn more about this course here:

Memory Pockets

In my “HomeBook” course you could learn a special collage method that is made inside old books. I also use the pictures that are already in the book as part of the overall spread.

This is a truly remarkable course with eight different collage techniques.

And finally, you can learn all my collage secrets and become a master in collage journal if you join my facilitator training and learn how to invent collage techniques and create amazing art journaling processes.

Artistic journal

Artistic journal is one of the many names of the visual or art journal.

It is similar to a written journal, but you can add many elements such as colors, images, patterns, fabrics. You can play in your visual journal and create infinite worlds of wonder.

In your visual journal, you can connect with your inner child and play with different materials and techniques. There are no rules of right and wrong- everything is possible!

I want to share a short story of how I discovered the visual journal.

Six years ago, in my final year of studies for a graduate degree in art therapy, I met a good friend of mine for lunch. She pulled an old children’s book out of her purse, and when she opened it, I saw that between its covers, instead of regular pages, there were thick sheets that were hand-sewn together. My friend had drawn on the pages in pencil and markers, pasted snippets of newspapers, and wrote down her inner thoughts.

“What is this?” I asked her, feeling its magic start to permeate me.

It’s called art journaling,” she said. “It’s a kind of artistic journal anyone can do it; anything goes, no rules, and it’s a lot of fun.”

I went home, not knowing that this meeting would be life-changing. I felt an overpowering need to create a book of my own, and that same day I sewed myself an artistic journal with the covers of an old book.

And I haven’t stopped since …

Today, six years later, I teach the method I developed for visual journaling, a method designed to empower freedom, meaning, and connection to passion, self-acceptance, and love.

you can read more about it in the book “Layers of meaning” by Rakefet Hadar/

If you want to see some short videos for quick fun 15 minutes visual journaling practices go here

Art bites- your daily art journaling practice

You can also enjoy my book “Layers of meaning” by rakefet hadar that has lots of exiting prompts and tutorials.

Artistic journal – set your inner self free

there are numerous ways to start a visual journaling daily practice.

• In your journal write your thought on the right side of the page and then use felt markers on the other side to react to the written words.
• choose a daily word and glue a few images that are connected to this word.
• paint with colorful colors on black background.
• create a face from 10 pieces of colored paper.
• write dialogue about this face.
• work with family pictures
• Join an art journaling group

Daily visual journaling practice will improve your life

The method I created SoulPages journaling is based on seven elements: Intention, magical coincidence, background, color, line, image & text.

when you are working with the elements-visual journaling can be like meditation because in every layer you concentrate on one element.

with only 15 minutes a day, you can experience connectedness to your inner self, more joy and happiness, and above all self-love.

I invite you to join my free course and get to know the seven elements of visual journaling.