Starting With a Blank Page

I love this.
http://www.this-page-intentionally-left-blank.org/
I have seen it in booklets before - normally government-produced booklets.
But that is not what I am writing about today.

What I am writing about is starting with a blank page in my art journal.
I have done a few art journalling classes and heard others talk about art journalling on blank pages.
For instance, Julie says that journalling on a blank page can be intimidating. That seems to be the general theme for many.
I love doing the ink splotches and the watercolour washes, I love scraping paint down and across the page with an old credit card, but in the end I don't know what to do with the page. I just realised today that I actually prefer to start on a blank page.

Even though my pages are not actually blank - an old diary - I treat them as blank pages. I am always to tempted to buy brand new art journals with lots of clean white pages - I love them. But I have such a huge supply of paper at home that I usually withstand the temptation and remind myself of my stash.

Right at the moment I am working through a gold-edged diary from 2009. Only 3 months to go and I will be moving on to my next journal. I haven't decided what it will be yet. I am thinking it should be my SMASH journal except that it doesn't have blank pages. Maybe I should pretend they are blank pages too - that will be tricky. Let's call it a challenge.

Lately I have been inspired most by...
Julie Fei-Fan Balzer - I love seeing all the wonderful things she puts up on her blog - Balzer Designs.
Lori Vliegen of elvie studio - I just love her lettering and watercolour fun.
and Martha Lever - her blog, Art du jour,  is full of inspiration - from watercolour painting, to journalling, to lettering, to acrylic painting and more.

So, do you like art journal on a fresh, clean, white, blank page or do you like to shabby the pages up a bit with ink and paint and texture and collage and stuff first?

Who inspires you?

PS: Those two pages there were done (mostly) while I was in hospital with Hudson. I was inspired by such pages as this, along with a bit of doodling, scripture and whatever.