the JOY of discovery

When I sit down to collage in my journal, I don't know what I will be doing. In making art, it is the process which brings me insight. Planning ahead, and just executing something which I already know how it will turn out doesn't do it for me.
Because if I want to get to that authentic place of self expression, if I am using my journal to discover my true inner feelings/thoughts - knowing in advance what the collage will be dampens that voice.
and yes, sometimes the playing, the messing around, the journey of seeing what happens means the page is not so pretty.
sometimes something tears or spills or doesn't work.
but very very often, it is this VERY mistake that surprizes me.
The spill or tear that results in something totally new and wonderful.
and I have discovered something.
then the words are different too - more real, more me, more what I really wanted to say and not what the planning careful me would have said - a to do list or gripes from my day.
So try to let your journal lead you.
Try to let a spirit of adventure mean some pages are messy and uneven and not so perfect.
because that's how we are.
messy and uneven and not so perfect.
Human.




the flower collage on this page is not what I thought of when I started - but the purples and greens are beautiful and work for me. . . . I enjoyed finding this out.