Art Journaling

I have been listening to the very inspiring book, "We Need Your Art" by Amie McNee. It is a manifesto in how to get your creative flow going without needing approval from the world. She talks about the gate-keepers of art, the way we are discouraged from personal expression unless it produces money or prestige. No one expects you to be a professional tennis player if your hobby is tennis, yet anyone whose hobby is in the creative arts is asked if they sell their work. If you write for fun, you are asked if you have published. If you paint you are asked if your work sells in a gallery. It's as if you need permission to make art, and the permission isn't given easily.

I love her lists of reasons that making art not only saves the maker, but saves the world. I love that when we create, we not only heal ourselves, but give healing to all who witness, are inspired by, or engage with us as creative beings.

I am once again using my art journaling time as a spiritual practice. Since starting ceramics a few years ago, I let my art journaling work slide to the wayside, and it's wonderful to get back into sitting with art journal pages, adding words and watercolor and stickers and decoration, simply to be in a creative flow. Making a product is not the goal; spending time in creative joy is the goal. These pages will only see the light of day here in this blog, they are not created to be in the commerce world, they are designed to be my personal expression of flow and healing in my own creative space.

These pages are not masterpieces or even finished works, they will never sell or be part of anything commercial; but they do give me the joy of being in the creative process. We are entitled to make things just for fun, just for pleasure, just for the freedom of expression. And the beauty is that the act of creation is so healing, so soothing, so uplifting.

Go attend to your mental health by creating something. I give you permission.