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Pages of Calm

Claire's Art Journaling Journey

Words: Paul Chapman

Images: Claire Stead


I first met Claire (pictured) in the most ordinary of places: the school playground. We were two parents stood waiting for our children, for a while, we were also school governors together at Westfield. What I didn’t know then was that Claire was quietly at the beginning of an Art Journaling experience that would transform her life and thousands of others.


Claire worked as an early year’s teacher and has always been creative, but art journaling came into her life almost by accident. While attending a workshop at Straightcurves, she didn’t quite know what to expect as she sat down and began to explore what it was all about, and something clicked.


When she got home, she gathered whatever supplies she had, sat at her kitchen table, and began her art journaling journey in earnest. She started following other creatives online, watching how they worked and learning as she went. Soon after, she set up an Instagram account to share what she was doing. Her expectations were modest. “If I can gain some followers and maybe get some stuff for free,” she thought, “that would be great.”


At the time, Claire was working part-time at Libby’s and like so many others, her working life shifted dramatically during lockdown. Art journaling was beginning to take up more of her time and she realised she couldn’t do both. Around the same time, she started to build her confidence tutoring, alongside her teaching role, and clearly has a natural ability to guide and encourage others.


What stood out most, though, was the impact art journaling was having on her mental health, the practice became a way of processing daily life, worries, thoughts and emotions that might otherwise stay tangled in her head. Creativity, she explains, is proven to be good for mental wellbeing, and art journaling is just one of many tools available.


Claire set up a YouTube channel and began uploading her own videos. “I felt like I was learning all over again,” she says. “I’ve always been creative, and I started thinking, maybe I could make some money by creating tutorials.”


Suppliers started getting in touch, sending her materials in exchange for content, creating journals that the suppliers used and shared. Her personal following is now around 28,300 followers on Instagram and 17,000 on Facebook!

From the outside, it might look effortless, but Claire is quick to dispel that myth. She works on her business every single day, “it’s not a nine-to-five,” she says, “but I always do something.” She’s built her own website, developed courses, and created a working life that gives her balance. Her quality of life is high, her mind-set positive, and art journaling remains at the heart of it all.


Her work has even taken her to Australia, where she has delivered in-person tutorials and she’s heading back this year. What began as a hobby at her kitchen table has grown into a business rooted in creativity, connection, and wellbeing.


Claire’s range of products includes collage papers, stencils, and stamps designed to support journaling, alongside online classes. There’s also a subscription option offering exclusive content, weekly live sessions with Q&As, downloadable resources, and extra perks for members.



So, what is art journaling?


At its core, it’s about freedom. You can use any media you have available. It doesn’t matter if it goes wrong, you try things, see if they work, and if they don’t, you simply move on.


You start with a journal, a book. Put your thoughts onto the page, worries, frustrations, things that feel heavy. Sometimes it’s just words, a kind of brain dump, you then choose colours and begin building up layers. Claire loves using rainbows, bright, hopeful, positive. As the layers build, the original text becomes obscured, losing its sharp focus, just as troubling thoughts often do over time.


Then you add stamps, collages, scraps of paper etc and a central focal point. Add a quote, something that resonates with the reason the page was created, use large letters, bold fonts, words that stand strong. The page has done its job.


Each piece Claire creates comes from a particular place or issue. And the most important thing she wants people to know? You don’t need to be a skilled artist and you don’t need to get it “right.” Don’t be afraid to try, sometimes it’s deeply personal, but it’s always a safe place to put thoughts down, let them breathe, and gently move forward.


Claire’s story is a reminder that creativity doesn’t have to be perfect to be powerful, sometimes all it takes is a blank page, a few supplies, and the courage to begin.


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