Color the Emotion

Pick a few colors and create without stiffness.

Rainbow Journal – Fill a Small Notebook with Happy Art!

Rainbow Journal, an art project by Paivi Eerola of Peony and Parakeet.

This week, I get back to the project that I started earlier this spring. It’s a small notebook that I have filled with happy art. I call it Rainbow Journal because it has brought me both joy and hope. Here’s a quote from the video below:

“When working on this journal, I have been able to live inside a happy bubble momentarily. It’s been refreshing, and my inner critic has got gentler. I have gained new inspiration for my paintings and classes.”

Watch the video to get inspiration for yours!

Creative Prompts for Your Rainbow Journal

Use the following prompts to make yours!

Cover – Make It as Decorative as You Can!

Use a limited color palette and let the colors and shapes flow.

The covers of a small traveler's notebook insert. Raibow Journal by Paivi Eerola of Peony and Parakeet.

Spread #1 – Get Inspired by Happy Interiors!

Think about textiles, wallpapers, and painted motifs on wooden furnitures and dishes.

Decorative paintings on a small notebook. By Paivi Eerola of Peony and Parakeet.

Spread #2 – Embrace the Good and the Innocence!

Once you have set the style of the world you are building, who could be wandering there, full of happy thoughts with an innocent mind?

A small art journal spread inspired by Jane Austen's book Emma, by Paivi Eerola of Peony and Parakeet.

Spread #3 – Paint Something Juicy!

Show how it feels when the glass is full, even overflowing.

Rainbow journal. An art journal spread by Paivi Eerola of Peony and Parakeet. Gouache paints and watercolors.

Spread #4 – Grow the Flowers of Imagination!

The dark soil makes flowers grow and shine.

Floral notebook page spread by Paivi Eerola of Peony and Parakeet.

Spread #5 – Show the Bright Future!

Get creative with rainbows, how many can you fit in?

A spread of Paivi's Rainbow Journal. By artist Paivi Eerola of Peony and Parakeet.

I hope this lifted your spirit and inspired you to keep creating!

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32 thoughts on “Rainbow Journal – Fill a Small Notebook with Happy Art!

  1. I love this journal , every page and the cover! It is Cheerful, joyful, and Beautiful!

      1. Watching Your painting videos Brings me great joy especially this one with the horse. Thank you for making my day better.🌹

  2. I just love to watch you paint and to see your work on the Rainbow Journal; fascinating!

  3. I enjoyed this video. I feel the same way. Don’t dwell on the negatives. Embrace all the beauty around us. Your work is so happy feeling! Thank you for this video

  4. I am always inspired by you, although I do not have the delightful studio and good equipment…so I like to try anyway. There are too many little notebooks and sketchbooks on my shelves that I bought simply because I loved the covers!! Many of these do not have papers that lend themselves well to to water colour, but there is always pencil crayon and collage, isn’t there?!
    The great thing about art is that one is never bored…I am always puzzled when a person says “I don’t have a subject to sketch or paint” !!! My lifestyle was very secluded and solitary before Covid ever showed up, and art has been my constant companion.
    Thank you, Päivi!

  5. Thank you so much for your encouragement throughout this pandemic and also sharing your beautiful talent. I so enjoy you. Everything you create is Magical!

  6. Such happiness here- to see and feel this light and richness-JOY!

    Thank you1
    Stephanie

  7. Paivi, once again you have filled my day with joy and delight.
    Thank you so much for sharing your paintings and your background – the history of Finland and Russia is so intriguing. You seem to have been very much influenced by the Russian icons. Did the Russian/Finnish folk art of that part of Finland also reflect the style of religious paintings? Complicated, detailed, brightly coloured?
    I once read that the folk music of the areas of Finland closest to Russia tend to be in minor keys, the areas closer to Scandinavia have more major key melodies. Do you feel that is true?
    Anyway, thank you again for sharing – your flowers are so glorious in their abundance!

    1. Thank you for the most interesting comment, Jakki! Yes, I think that folk art in the eastern parts of Finland is highly influenced by Russian icons and other Russian folk art. You can search “Karelian folk art,” for example, to see some. I didn’t realize that about folk music, but they say that Karelian people both laugh and cry a lot more than the people in western areas.

  8. Delightful! Thank you Paivi for sharing your work, the music and the celebration of beauty.

  9. This was so relaxing! I LOVE watching you paint. I could watch you for hours. You make it look so easy and yet you instill hope….Thank you my Dear!
    Jan

  10. Thank you for sharing this lovely and inspirational journal and the process whereby you started it. It has been difficult to get going with painting and drawing as it all seems so overwhelming and sad. I have taken much comfort in the watercolor I did (Creating My Sacred Space) inspired by your class on Magical Forests and am slowly doing more. But this journal is a great idea.

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