May 1, 2009 journal pages
I thought I'd open up the blog to any questions anyone may have about my journals, my process, classes,-whatever. ;)If you want to leave a question in the comments section of this post, I'll answer them in a blog post.
One thing that I want to stress about art journaling, it's not all about making pretty pictures. It's not all about spending a ton of time on a page. It's about opening up yourself and expressing in the here and now what you need to express. I did a page today in 10 minutes-it's all the time I had before I needed to pick my son up from school and I started and finished the page in that short period of time. Don't compare. Don't judge. Don't worry about what your pages look like. Don't you dare give a rat's ass about what someone ELSE is doing in THEIR journal. You worry about YOUR journal. Just MAKE. Sit and play with your journal pages. When you're done, turn the page. Don't even look at it now. You can go back and look later on. I don't spend a lot of time worrying or even thinking 'is this page perfect?'. Hell no. The question is 'does this say and express what I want it to?' That's what you're striving for. Total expression. NOT perfection ;)
*****
Via What You Love's blog-which I absolutely LOVE, adore and treasure and insist that you run over there and come back...
You must drop what you are doing and go look at the work of these two artists-
Jessie Chorley
Alice Gabb
Go. Now. I'll still be here. Just make sure you wipe the drool off of your chin before you return.
Comments
I like to have lots of pages-some prepared, some half way through, some finished etc. I don't always have a clear idea of what I am doing, what I want to express but just enjoy the process of creating and as you say playing. Some pages never get finished but what I really love is when I go back to pages and add bits and pieces. They suddenly seem to lend themselves to an idea I have been mulling over.
I use my journal in different ways too-sometimes more as a sketch book and preparatory place for other work and sometimes more expressively of my ideas, feelings and observations. I am quite new to the idea of art journalling and what I love about it the most is its ability to be used as a tool, a place to get out all the things which do not quite fit anywhere else. I am rambling now and actually I am supposed to be working so better get on!
Can't wait to get started on my prompts!
Sarah
Sometimes I use real photos. Sometimes I use photos printed out on copy paper. I like a heavy weight 24 lb or so, bright white paper. Other times I use photos printed out onto photo paper from my portable photo printer. It depends on what I have on hand and what image I grab.
I hope this helps!
I am really loving your work and hope to take one of your classes when I have more time on my hands. I have started preparing by collecting paper images I like, and 4 pens in my collection so far. whooohooo!
But do I wait for the prompts then go out and look for the images or should I just keep on collecting?
I put the prompts on the site in advance. My goal with the class is for you to use what is on hand. I don't want you to spend a ton of time picking the perfect image. The prompts are set up so you can do them quickly and not spend hours on them. (Though some students do like spending a lot of time on them-lol). I put up all of the painting prompts in advance. I put up the whole day's prompt-painting, collage and journaling usually a day or 2 in advance and longer if it is the weekend or I have to go away to travel and teach. The painting prompts consist of different ways to paint and layer colors, different ways to apply the paint, etc... The collage prompts are design ideas-different ways to lay out papers and focal images on the page. The journal prompts are a vast array of subjects and things that most can relate to-it could be anything simple from who is in the room with you right now to something more complex. NONE of the prompts relate to a specific day or date. For example, I don't set up a Christmas prompt on Dec 25th-it would be an anything prompt. I hope that makes sense. I have geared the class towards all levels and so that people can jump in using the materials and supplies they have on hand (4 pens is enough). If you have access to personal photos, color copied images, magazine images, junk mail, etc... then you have the stuff you need already. ;)
If you have any questions, please email me.
Yes! I'm actively looking for new stores to teach at now. I just found out today my favorite store in No CA, Stampers Warehouse in Danville is closing this week. I'm very sad about it...
thanks
kelly
Thanks! I saw them when I was looking up stores in No CA. I may look into them. I've never been there before ;)
Thanks-I appreciate it!!!!
Just wanted to say that what you wrote resonated with me big time. I was nodding my head and saying "Yes!" in my head. I even e-mailed it to a g/f because it's just so real and so true. Thanks very, very much for writing those words.
Phinny