Secrets from Spirit . . .

If you have been reading my blog, you might have started to get the idea that I think collage gets your mind to open up, and that the opening can be not just of the subconscious, but to something even greater. I think Spirit actually speaks to us through our art, that the silent voice of All Connection can articulate what we cannot always find in our own hearts.

Here are a few journal pages I did the last few days.
I started with some images I just "liked."
I glued them down, added some curls, some color, some dots, some random paper scraps, some words. These are the messages I received:

Being gentle with humanity requires strength.
We can send healing intention to all creatures.
And to Mother Earth.
Have an Intention of Connection.
What would life be without some mystery?
Embrace the question, the unknown.

So there you have it, those phrases and sentences might not be meaningful to all of you reading this, but they are very meaningful to me. And it was the act of collage that summoned them.
Truly.

So make some collages in your journal, play with images without a direction -- see what mysteries reveal themselves.

What in your life is calling you,
when all the noise is silenced,

the meetings adjourned,
the lists laid aside,

and the wild iris blooms

by itself

in the dark forest?

What still pulls on your soul?

—Rumi

the urge to create

You're a kid. You have crayons and newsprint, a few coloring books, glue and blunt edged scissors, and what comes naturally? To play around with all these things, and make a mess and maybe even a picture that ends up on the refrigerator. This trend now in adult coloring books is pretty awesome - we are finally realizing how whole brained it is to just mess around with color and line.

I, for one, need to create.
I need to cut out images, glue them down, add words, more images, colors.
It really lightens my heaviness to do this, it opens up some sense of wonder and love of beauty.

We all are meant to create beauty in our lives, be it cooking beautiful vegetables and arranging them on a platter, adding some interesting colored pillows to the couch, hanging all our earrings on an earring tree, putting the spices in a pretty row, sitting on the deck and admiring the way the light falls through the winter branches on the wood, pairing yellow socks with red shoes, etc.

For me, the act of art opens up something. Deep meanings and subconscious thoughts? Sometimes it's that, but other times it's just a sense that as a human being, I have the right to create. Birds make beautiful nests, spiders spin amazing webs, their work might not be for the purpose of beauty, but it seems to work better if our efforts end up with something nice to look at.

I don't know if my dog has ever just watched the sunset, I do know he can sit outside for hours and contemplate the smells, maybe creating stories in his head of the squirrels and other dogs the smells evoke. Is he creative?
Perhaps.
I did read somewhere that Octopi like to find little rocks and trinkets to decorate their homesteads.
We should remember this and follow their example.

Don't think.
Thinking is the enemy of creativity. It's self-conscious, and anything self-conscious is lousy.
You can't try to do things.
You simply must do things.
--Ray Bradbury

movement : meaning : mood : messages

Sometimes (often, in fact) I just tear and cut out pictures from books and magazines, and glue them down. The random factor is helped by the fact I use scrap paper as my journal page, and the underneath image just occurs accidentally instead of starting with a white background.

I do this because it helps remove my controlling/rational/logical left brain from the process.  I don't want to know what I am doing in advance, I want it to happen in spite of my intentions.

My random/intuitive/feeling right brain often can sneak in meaning when I work this way. When I feel pleased with the arrangement, I know I am on to something. It's not about pretty collage, it's about revelation. I felt satisfied this morning with this collage - I am not even figuring out why, although I did write the words "dance and enjoy the fruit of your labor," something I am working on in my life.

So my sneaky right brain created a message to myself through tearing out paper, cutting out images, and assembling them together on a page in my journal.

Tight control and rational thinking are so over rated in our world.  Let your journal help you break that habit.

“Every morning I jump out of bed and step on a landmine.
The landmine is me.
After the explosion, I spend the rest of the day putting the pieces together.”

--Ray Bradbury

Midori scrap paper collage, part 2

I just spent two weeks in Tucson, dog and house sitting for my niece.  I love being in a new place with no distractions to hike, explore, contemplate, and work in my journal -- we hiked in Saguaro National Park, where the iconic saguaro cactuses fill the dry landscape.

I gathered some materials from the tourist office, from the gem and mineral show I attended, and from the park for journaling ephemera, and just messed around a bit.  Is there a theme?  Not really, sometimes it's all about playing around with no intention, some revelation might occur, or not.  This is an important aspect to creativity - to mess around with no goal.  Some of the collages I like, others not so much, and that's okay.  I might add more work to some of these, I might not.  It is good to let the control-oriented, rational mind take a back seat for a while.

Here are some of the results:

Random scrap paper collages

In this previous post, I explained how I like to create a Midori journal insert made of random scrap papers, trimmed and sewn into signatures with no organizing plan. When the pages are opened, the random combinations really do inspire interesting collages.

After inserting the booklet into my journal cover, I will add this and that (images, ephemera, stickers...) for a few days, until a page spread seems full enough of images and words. I try to leave some blank spaces for journaling later. To take this book of partially complete collages to a coffee shop or on a hike gives me a kickstart in creativity when I sit down to write.

I don't worry if the words I write complement the collage, although they often do.
I also open the book to any page to begin work, no need to follow the sequence of pages as they appear in the book. (A date stamp helps keep track.)

Most of these images were cut or torn from a National Geographic I happened to have on my desk at the time. Another trick I use is to NOT plan the collages, I simply take the pictures my eye is attracted to. When the left brain/control center/rational thought process is removed, I seem to connect more with the right brain/intuitive/creative/emotional side. The work ends up feeling more relevant and real than if I had controlled the process.

and here, some of the collages before I add more words:

"Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of 
arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid 
in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, 
and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride!"

--Hunter S. Thompson

Mixed media owls with Tibetan thanka background

“Quand le hibou chante,
la nuit est silence.”

(When the owl is singing,
the night is silence.)

--Charles de Leusse

Journaling in a Midori

Japanese Midoris are a system for journaling which are well-made, compact and flexible, not to mention portable.  They have totally changed the way I journal . . .  I am now using them as my art journal, calendar, note keeper, to do list, etc.   My habit of only journaling in hand-made books worked for me for quite a few years, but I find now I need more flexibility and the Midori journal really achieves that. It's smaller, refillable, and a pleasure to hold.

The system is basically a heavy leather cover with elastics that can hold in any number of inserts which you can buy or make yourself.  I like to combine a few plain-page purchased inserts with some scrap/junk paper inserts that I make myself.  I also like to add pockets and clips to hold paper supplies and ephemera, so all I have to do is grab some pens, double-sided tape, and perhaps some inks and stamps, and I am ready to take the show on the road.  It's so nice to have a separate section for lists, reminders, and day-to-day tasks, and another section for calendar items, and a third for pure art journaling.

Here is my cover, and a few of the inserts I have already filled up.

To start making a junk-paper insert, I like to gather pages from the pile of large books from the thrift store.  I use a tear bar to tear out the pages, and pile them up in random order.

I cut the papers into 8 1/4" x 8 3/4" sheets using my amazing paper cutter, and I then fold them in half.
The extra scraps of paper left over make nice small pieces that fit nicely into the little pocketed folder I made in my Midori, useful for collage.

I assemble the folded sheets into signatures.  (It's nice to also include some blank papers so the pages are not all covered in images.)  A signature is just a stack of folder papers.

Once assembled, I trim the signatures' edge so they fit neatly into the Midori cover.

I use my sewing machine to sew the signatures (you can use a large straight stitch, or of course, sew them by hand if you prefer.)  I tie the thread ends to hold them together.

It's fun to see the random arrangement of papers; it kickstarts my creative brain to have some image or color to work with, so the collage doesn't start with a totally intimidating blank page.

I insert the signature booklet into the elastic band. I like to insert one junk page signature, along with two blank page booklets.  Since they stack, you end up with alternating sections of blank and picture-filled sections.

A page ready to collage!

Assembling my journaling materials and I'm off. It helps to use binder clips to hold the book flat.

Some ephemera, stamps, glue, pens, ink, and a page is done.

“A good journal entry - like a good song, or sketch, or photograph - ought to break up the habitual and life away the film that forms over the eye, the finger, the tongue, the heart. A good journal entry ought to be a love letter to the world.”
― Anthony Doerr




and more Midori ideas can be found at my Pinterest Midori Board

A Journal Letter

I recently organized my studio, and now my bookshelf full of journals . . . 

 . . . is right by my desk where I can see it.  Whenever I am stuck or bored or need a break, I can scoot over and choose a book to page through, and this morning, I happened upon a journal letter from 2008 that I made with a journaling friend, Laurel, then from Pacific Grove, California. I even got to fly out at one point and meet Laurel in person, which was a real treat. Laurel is a gifted artist, and her generosity in sharing her art was so cool and inspiring.

It was so fun knowing the pages I made would be enjoyed by another human holding the book in her hands, and not just shared on line.  and if I was stuck, knowing a person was awaiting my work also was a little kick in the pants to boost my creativity out of it's stupor. Connecting with another artist through mail and collage and art journaling is really a great way to start the year, if you are wanting to up your journaling commitment in 2016.

So here is the cover, and a some of the pages from our shared journal letter:

Beauty in our lives

If you look for beauty around you, you will find it.

"Something opens our wings. Something makes boredom and hurt disappear.
Someone fills the cup in front of us: We taste only sacredness."
--Rumi

Hey World!

How's your day going?

BIG MAGIC

I am visiting family and friends back East, and have a few days in between places.  I noticed Elizabeth Gilbert's podcast http://www.elizabethgilbert.com/magic-lessons/ and started listening last night.  She sought out people who were creatively blocked, called and chatted about their issues, then helped them as well as sharing their story with one of her creative friends for ideas.  I ended up binge listening into the night, then raced out this morning as soon as the bookstore opened to get the companion book, "Big Magic, Creative Living Beyond Fear."

Companion book isn't really the right label, try CREATIVE BIBLE!

I want to write Ms. Gilbert a letter telling her this will be the most meaningful book in my life, that I will keep it right next to my paints and pens and journals, and it will end up paint splattered, dog-eared, underlined and quoted.

I actually believe this book will advance humanity in our quest to be creative people, because she gives permission.

She gives permission to follow your creative expression simply because that's what humans do.  The sad truth is that the world tells us we are simply to lay bricks. NO, we are to create new ways of buildling.

One of the very many revelatory parts of this book is the explaination that we are to be lovers with our inspiration, we are to court it and seduce it and make it our priority.   You know how you always make time for that special fling -- even just 15 minutes of stolen connection?  We need to be that in love with inspiration, that connected to the whispering voice of creativity that can be so very allusive.  Creative ideas are floating around out there, and they will settle upon the one who is ready and listening, the one that entices the muse into being by being available and ready to listen.

I actually have been feeling very guilty about making my art, who am I to do this indulgent thing, my fears say to me.  You aren't making money, you aren't being noticed, you aren't getting comments or praise or acclaim or certainly not paychecks.  But in this beautiful book, Liz explains that if we are doing work for anyone other than ourselves, we may as well pack it up.  Success, if defined by money, will sabatoge us faster than we can cash the checks.  Also, that the creative urge is our right, our instinct, our connection to what makes us alive.  How can we shut that off?

Fear tells us we are not enough, that trying this crazy thing will result in horrible failure.  Her answer?  Accept fear's worry for our safety, and say no thanks, I will be okay, I will embrace inspiration and creativity and my own best authentic self and spend my life force there, thank you very much.

I have had a love affair with creativity for a long time, and this book made me realize I actually have felt guilty about it!  I felt I was supposed to be monetizing my work, getting acclaim or praise or attention or at least some cash, or it all meant nothing.

Silly, silly me.
I didn't realize how deeply that incorrect message was imbued in my self worth.
(and she also points out that every single cultural message to women is that we are not, and never will be enough.  Unless maybe we buy this product.)

Run, do not walk to the nearest bookstore, and get this book.
or download it from Amazon and read it now.
Listen to her podcast (linked above) and hear the creative coaching and tender compassion she sends out to the struggling writers, artist, photographer and song writer she has chosen to share.   Their stories and her response (and the response of her awesome, talented friends) will move you.
They will move you back to your eisel, your note pad, your guitar, your camera, your garden.

We deserve to, yes, we must, inhabit our creative selves, or this energy festers and, as very much experienced by me, turns into depression.

I had a bunch of cute journal illustrations for this entry, but my ipad doesn't want to share them, so, in the spirit of better done than perfect, (which she talks about in the book) I will hit publish.

No go get that book!

Wanderlust. . . .

"The real voyage of discovery consists, not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes."
--Marcel Proust

Painting Time Out

I'm dog/studio sitting for a friend for a week on Sante Fe Arts District here in Denver.
What a treat; a big empty studio space, me and paints and books, with a loving little friend to throw a ball for and walk with a few times a day.

Makes me wonder why I can't get this much done at home -- why I don't buckle down in my studio and work consistently.  It seems like the distractions (dishes, laundry, garden) aren't really the culprit. It's more that there is more room for self doubt when I am in my routine; that the usual and the mundane actually make me think I can't make good art.  The old me is the me that wins that mind game. I love keeping the house, watering the garden, walking my dog.  But the familiar routine snaps me to the self that doubts myself as a creative person, the self I am working to grow out of.

It doesn't happen as much here in this new space.  New space = new thoughts.
I need to start training my brain to remember this positive outlook, and believe in myself.   I am going to work on keeping these patterns when I am back home.

Another treat about being here is reading time. I am in the middle of an awesome book called Wild Earth, Wild Soul by Bill Pfeiffer -- it's about setting up workshops and communities based on living in reconnection to Earth in community. It is inspiring me to join in a little more. Gathered together, we can make a difference.  The media world wants us alone and separate in out little cubicles so we think consumption give us fulfillment.  We know it doesn't, and I know joining in would help me also to remember that more.

I am going to try to remember that a week away alone can reawaken the essential self -- we all deserve time to remember.

and some doodles in my journal so far:

"I told my students that to become intimate with the outer landscape it is important to become intimate with the inner landscape.  The two are not separate.  The inner landscape is as vast, deep, and wild as the outer landscape."

--Paul Rezendes

tournesol

Hello!
It's been a long time.
Summer means gardening, and that's where I've been a lot this season.
I have found the therapeutic value of getting up from my desk/easel/computer and heading outside to dig in the dirt.
and the rewards of all the planting are blessing me right now.
I have glorious sunflowers (that my daughter, Ola planted) reaching their pretty faces up toward the light.  They are one of my favorite things in the yard.
In French they are called 'tournesol" which means "turn toward the sun."

I was stewing over a particular problem.
My mind was chewing on it over and over, thinking of the negative side of this situation, not knowing where the solution would be.

So I have learned in these cases that going off to my journal to work - something I have not done in quite a while, is a good way to redirect nagging thoughts.  I had some photos of my glorious sunflowers, so I cut out one, tore out the other.  ('cuz cutting can be pretty tedious.)
Gluing them down, then adding some dressmaking pattern paper, some washi tape, some ink, some words . . .

Suddenly, it made sense.
The flowers turn toward the light.
They don't worry about the shadow side.

Perhaps my own mind could try this same thing with my problem, turn toward the light.
Yes, the difficulty is still there, but the higher choice in my mind is to choose the brighter outlook.
Seems like such a small thing to realize, yet it took my picking up my journal, doing some collage, some ink and glue and just messing around with something that delighted me to remind myself to turn toward the light.

This is why I journal.

"Turn your face to the sun and the shadows fall behind you."
--Maori Proverb

Stuck?

Find some scrap paper.
Cut shapes.
Tear some paper.
Arrange.
Glue and sew.
Done.

"Creativity is conceived as a reproductive act with a tangible result -- a
child, a book, a monument -- that has a physical life going beyond the life
of its producer. Creativity, however, can be intangible in the form of a
good life, or a beautiful act, or in other virtues of the soul such as
freedom and openness, style and tact, humor, kindness."
- James Hillman