Journaling is really just allowing ourselves to experiment in a personal book. It is making art for the sake of making art, not for the finished product or the task of completing a painting to hang on the wall.
I think that is why art journaling has taken off so much as an art form. I went to the craft section of the bookstore (and interesting that it is the craft section and not the fine art section) the other day, and there were maybe TEN new books on visual journaling. I think it is a movement, and a good one.
To just play in a journal, play with images and color and composition, and also to just add ideas and words that please us -- what a wonderful and fulfilling thing to do.
and to make the book ourselves, even better.
I am loving Teesha Moore's YouTube videos where she shows how to tear a 30" x 22" piece of watercolor paper into three sections, fold them and sew them into a simple pamphlet binding. I like to use two pieces of paper to start, so there ends up 11 inside pages to work on. All these latest journal images are from a new journal I did using her method.
The pages are making me happy, and I am enjoying sharing them.
and even with all my talk of freedom to be messy and self-expressive and making mistakes, having finished pages I like is a bonus.
So thanks to Teesha, and all the new journaling books on the bookstore shelf, and all of YOU who believe that working in an art journal is a worthy way to spend a day.
"One of life's most fulfilling moments occurs in that split second when the familiar is suddenly transformed into the dazzling aura of the profoundly new." --Edward B. Lindaman
I love this idea... rarely have I given in to the bliss of playing and creating in a journal... so I love reading a blog like yours to inspire me... and I'll check out the you tube clips you recommend too.
ReplyDeletethank you . x
I feel like a stalker... but just know... it's with lots of love, gratitude and admiration.... no weirdness intended lol.
Beautiful pages! And oh my gosh, do you just have stash of absolutely amazing quotes or have you seriously read every book of wisdom out there- new and old? I was just thinking about that a couple days ago on a walk I've taken a hundred times before, trying to see my neighborhood through fresh eyes. The world is a beautiful, amazing place. Thanks for adding to the beauty!
ReplyDeleteChelsy -- a lot of my quotes come from here:
ReplyDeletehttp://quote.robertgenn.com/
and yes, it takes seeing the world through new eyes every day. I also have to work hard at not getting cynical and tired at all the stress there is. My journaling is one way I do that. . . . thanks for your nice words!