The journal has always been there. It is a constant, and has been since i was maybe 9 years old. Early on, it was the written word only, page after page in spiral notebooks, the same type of notebook i used for class. Later i added doodles or the occasional photograph, pasted in with rubber cement, which by the way is terrible for posterity. Photos and ephemera fall out of those old journals where i exclusively used rubber cement. (Live and learn.) Then i stopped using notebooks and gravitated towards hard cover, decorated journals. Sometimes i make my own books. Doodles and photos evolved into painted and collaged pages. Soon anything i could glue or attach to my journal was fair game.
My journal can be whatever i want it to be. i can share it with everyone or no one. i can be as open and honest as i want. i can be fully me.
Currently i'm working between two journals, one a Hand Book and the other a Strathmore Field Watercolor Sketch Book. The former doesn't have a single blank page left, so now i'm adding bits and pieces to pages, painting over pages i don't like and journaling on completed pages. The Watercolor Sketch Book is newer and has several blank pages left, though maybe not for long...
When once my journals contained pages and pages of mostly words with little artwork, the opposite is now the norm. It's harder these days to find the words, but the visual pours out onto the pages. What i want to say these days i can't find words to express, so i let the art speak for me.
i need this - a place to make art just for me, a place to record the moments in life that may be forgotten a few years from now. i find peace between these covers.
This post reads like poetry. With eye candy attached. Lovely.
ReplyDeleteIt makes me sad that you are covering up pages you made long ago that you don't like anymore. *sniff sniff*
Thanks so much, Dana! And don't fret - i only cover up the really ugly pages, or the ones that just did not work. :)
ReplyDeleteHi Jessica, thank you so much for your nice comment on my blog. I can really feel what you mean with your words about journaling. I am experiencing the same with art journaling after (still) having a written dairy for years and years.
ReplyDeleteHi Jessica, nice to get to know you. Thanks for the nice comment over on my blog. I really enjoyed looking around your blog, good work!
ReplyDeleteLove your journal pages.I wish I could say I am filling up a journal - but I am learning which is good I suppose.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for stopping by - such lovely comments.
Thanks for your kind words, ladies!
ReplyDeleteVisual journaling can be so helpful. Love your pages here, especially the soft colors.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Seth! :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely piece of art! Thansk for sharing it with us. You are very creative.
ReplyDeleteMad About Pink now following you from SB
"It's harder these days to find the words, but the visual pours out onto the pages. What i want to say these days i can't find words to express, so i let the art speak for me."
ReplyDeleteEgads, do I ever know THAT feeling! I'm amazed that I can still form a complete sentence at all.