The fifth person on my list is....

10 Most Artistically Inspiring People of 2011

No 5
Lori Vliegen
for absolutely Elegant Journaling

Next let me introduce you to the work of Lori Vliegen, she has the most amazing style of journaling - OK so you're not into journals - no problem, just imagine her work on a card front - her style really is incredibly versatile.  Lori has a fabulous blog Elvie Studio where she shares her journals, her thoughts and some of her life.  I love both looking at her work and reading her blog, we share a lot in common, a love of art, of journals and of love of food especially CHOCOLATE!  Lori - you're my kinda girl!  I found Lori - via Martha Lever's site & boy am I glad I did. 

I find pretty much everything I see of Lori's blog inspiring and not just the art itself.  I love the way she photographs her pieces in their natural state on her desk, with some of her tools in the photo.  I love how she can make a coloured blob into a cute and fun animal (check the birds and pigs below) and most of all I love the amazing clean lines of her work, her fabulous lettering, her colouring and OMG her SHADING.  

To me Lori's art is the epitome of elegance!

I don't know if it's the lettering, the shading, the borders or whole thing - but something in Lori's art is soothing to look at.  Clean lines, beautiful colours, uncluttered - I could look at this stuff for hours - Lori - hint hint - this would make an AWESOME book - some lettering tutorials, some art tutorials and a bunch of your pages!!!!!.  It doesn't have to even be 'about' anything I swear Lori could make a sock look artful! It's not just her amazing art either, I really admire the fact that Lori includes her life in her journal, and its equally obvious her journal is part of her everyday life (I aspire to this).  There are sketches while waiting in the doctors office, a page while Lori has coffee and some of my favourites are the pages where she collects her thoughts about what makes a perfect porch or compares draw handles - who would have thought that I would gain so much pleasure and inspiration from looking at a page of draw handles!!!  And do I need to mention her flowers .....

Now as luck would have it, Lori has put together a wonderful lettering workshop called Letter Lab - run via  Shabby Cottage Studio.  How could I resist, my lettering really lets down my journal pages, so I signed right up - much to my delight not only is Lori easy on the ears, she is clear, simple to follow and jumping for joy, includes the creating of one of her amazing journal pages from start to finish!  This is on my list of classes for 2012 and I'm so looking forward to putting pen to paper and having a play.

So Lori - I'd just like to say a huge thank you for sharing your elegant and inspiring journals, being so willing to  share all of your secrets for creating beautiful letters and art in your class and for sharing a little of your life via your blog - for me you are one of the 10 most inspiring people I've 'found' this year.

Images re-posted with Lori's permission,