Art journaling is a new idea for me, yet it somehow also feels very familiar. Like stepping for the first time into a house built specifically for me. I love (that is to say, adore in the extreme) that the linchpin of art journaling is #norules. None. Not one teeny tiny rule. Only the invitation to the page, and a list of prompts for when I’m in need of a small push.
I began my own altered book project a few months ago, spurred on by Teresa and Mandy‘s work, not quite sure if I would have the time, or how exactly art journaling would play out for me.
I really wasn’t in need of another journal. Of more pressure to write words. As a writer, there are times I need an escape from words. At least, from my own words.
I keep multiple journals for writing long thoughts, for scribbling down quick notes, for drafting poems and story ideas, for ranting and raving and going stark bloody crazy. These I will always keep.
But staring at the ugly book of quite dismal poetry that I had been saving for some unknown artistic purpose, I suddenly saw a place for a different means of expression.
Creative people, I am fully convinced, need multiple outlets for our inner explosive energies.
There is a need for us to be focused, surely, to know what it is we are and what we must (MUST) do with our brief flashing lives, but there need also be set in place, sluiceways, fissures, cracks and windows through which all the dammed-up things inside us bursting for life can escape. Not everything that wells and thralls in me is meant to be a poem. Not every idea is story-shaped.
Some things find their way out as I skill-less-ly strum my guitar, other things as I re-arrange the furniture in my house to open up new pathways, and still other things through the meditative practice of art.
This is what my art journal has come to be. Although there are times I use it to generate spontaneous ideas, and times I find myself spilling out poems (NoRUles, right?!), more and more I am drawn to the pages as an escape from words. I turn a fresh leaf, grab the box of art supplies and scraps of strange paper that’s now stashed under my desk, and turn off conscious thought.
Splashing, swashing, swirling, spackling, drawing, doodling, meticulous and intricate, or swift and blunt, my hands work their work and I am allowed to swim the deep currents underneath. The places that do not correspond to language. The places that I must learn to dwell with in instinctual understanding and knowing, in order for the work of words to come to me, full of truth and light.
And for once I am under no obligation to make my pages ‘right’ or ‘beautiful.’ I do not need to be a grand artist. I compete with no one. This does not have to be my one great work. This can be only what is so gorgeously is, an active, creative mediation. A place to set down stones of remembrance for things I am learning, places I have traveled, things I have seen and heard and felt. A reminder to myself that I know the things I know.
Strangely (or perhaps not so), I draw strength from the creation of this book. The time spent creating in this first small book, I hold inside me and it colors me brave. It lifts my head. It connects me to the places inside that are most alive; a tangible relic of the deep soul excavation that is continually taking place.
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About this series: I am a collaborator … and a story-scribe. That is why I have invited art journaling friends to share images from their art journals. The focus of this series is visual expression {collage, doodles, painting, photography, music, etc.}. The mission of this series is to present a wide variety of art journal pages — different styles and media, utilized by women from a wide variety of personal beliefs and backgrounds.
Because planning and dreaming {envisioning} what we want for our {wild and precious} lives begins with creative expressions {and excavations}, Braveheart. And our choice of expression is unique and specific to each of us … Dare to experiment with various artistic techniques and discover what you enjoy, what expressions “feel” right for you — what allows you to creatively remove layers and uncover your dream seeds. ~stargardener
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{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh I love this. I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s ok to have everything spread out in different journals. Who am I to try to contain the artist inside of me that needs space to be a little bit all over the place for those, “inner explosive energies.”
Thank you Shawnacy for reminding me that I can give myself this permission. <3
PS. I’m feeling the pull to begin a poetry art journal now. Thank you for inspiring me.
Shawnacy, you have spoken such a vast amount of “true” here. I grew up with music, became a musician, and feel that pull to create with sound. But then I felt the need to write. So I did, still do. And finally came color and form and line and mess, and that has become my greatest outlet of all. But as you said, we need multiple places, venues, ways of creating, allowing each voice inside us to speak in the way it wants to without censorship. This is so beautiful and inspiring!
reason #54705930003 why i love you.
love the art & words! thank you for sharing! <3
Oh the richness of your words and those stunningly red feathers…
this —> And for once I am under no obligation to make my pages ‘right’ or ‘beautiful.’ I do not need to be a grand artist. I compete with no one.
yes.
love this beautiful post of truth & beauty. xoxo
I so love this group, and this work. The inner work we all do because we have to, and the way we get to do it in such a beautiful, satisfying way.
Thank you Teresa, you wise and wild sister woman. <3