hey peepers. :-)
ok, a few things here that i feel are really important to say.
I read an interesting post today on Danny Gregory's blog about journaling.
(*I'll be putting the link at the end of this post, so you can all read it for yourselves.)
It was about the importance (or the irrelevance) of journaling,
depending on whose opinion you share.
The mere thought of not journaling
sends me into convulsions.
ok, i'm exaggerating, but you know what i mean.
I am who i am today because of journaling.
I almost said 'I am who i am as an artist'... but really,
journaling is more than that for me.
It has not only allowed me to sharpen my skills
as an artist,
but it has given me the space i needed
to make sense of my world.
To see myself through different eyes.
To give my thoughts a voice.
To help me move past some of the dark days.
Journaling allows me to chronicle parts of my life
in a way that feels liberating.
Without fear or pressure.
Without obligation.
Without an agenda.
It allows me to put my feelings/thoughts to paper,
so they can slowly make their way
out of my heart
and onto the page,
and leave room in my heart
for more good stuff.
Maybe that's what wrong with the world today.
Too many people have their hearts crammed with crappy stuff
and there's no room in there anymore
for the good stuff when it comes along.
Maybe they don't even recognize it as good stuff?
You should all be relieved that i journal.
I'd be a fucking mess if i didn't.
I'm just saying. ;-)
A journal doesn't need to be one thing or another.
It can be precise and perfect
or it can be dark and depressing.
Because, my friends, that's what life is!
That's the beauty of an art journal.
It can be meaningful to you
and absolutely meaningless to others...
when i look at these yellow flowers,
i am brought back to that precise time in my life
and to what was happening at that time,
and it reminds me of how far i've come.
Keep journaling folks.
Keep making art.
The world would be a happier place
if there were more artists in it.
god knows we have enough lawyers. ;-)
oh, and the link to the Danny Gregory blogpost is here.
(i so admire this man and his work, i can't even tell you...)
xox
I agree also fire proof safe thought of that when I read journal page about grandmas letter now you have me thinking of ways to guard my greatest paper treasures.
ReplyDeleteOver the years I have amassed a huge pile of sketchbooks. They are not art journals per se in the sense of colorful finished works but just sketches of things I see as I go along. For me it is the only way to record as well as imprint an image on my psyche.
ReplyDeleteWhen I look through old sketchbooks I know almost exactly where I was and what I was thinking at that exact moment. That doesn't happen to me with a photo.
Sketchbooks, journals, whatever you want to call them, as artists they are our life blood.
Journaling is extremely therapeutic many ways. I have been very inspired by Danny Gregory's work as well. Yes, keep journaling. It's good for the creative soul. :-)
ReplyDeleteYour work is amazing. I agree- journaling is an essential part of life!!!
ReplyDeleteWow--your journal pages are gorgeous!! And I love the little girl on the music page below...beautiful work and such a wonderful message to keep journaling and making art!
ReplyDeleteI am fairly new to journaling but I love it when I look back over what I wrote or drew. I am a person who doesn't keep lots of things but I believe my journals will be around for a long time.
ReplyDeleteYes, I wholeheartedly agree. I feel like I've missed out on something important that day if I don't take at least some time to journal - even if it's only a few lines. I need to journal. I must journal - it soothes my soul, comforts my spirit and heart. My journals are my soul's companion - which reminds me: have you ever read the wonderful book about journalling, by Christina Baldwin, entitled 'Soul's Companion: Journal Writing as a Spiritual Quest'? It's a wonderful, beautiful and inspiring book.
ReplyDeleteYour post is so 'spot on' about journaling whether written or painted ~ it provides one with so much mindful living ~ so glad I read this!
ReplyDeleteLove your painting of the paint tube!
(A Creative Harbor)
Lovely journal pages - you are such a talented and varied artist. The dots on the yellow/red/orange painting add a touch of Australian aboriginal art that makes everything 'pop'.
ReplyDeleteLike Roberta, my sketchbooks from years past are my most treasured art items, visual diaries that remind me of places and faces and the exact happenings of that time. I often take one or two off the shelf and look through them ..... and there are days when I think I could draw better 20 or 30 years ago!
But journal or sketchbook, it's recording our thoughts and feelings that matters.
"You should all be relieved that I journal." -
ReplyDeleteWe are relieved and blessed that you journal - you are an incredible artist and I am in a happy place whenever I visit your blog!
I have only just discovered journaling and I now wonder how I focused before. You are so right! First time here your work is amazin g!
ReplyDeletePauline, the beauty of your work always amazes me (that watercolour tube is perfection) but your words...they just take my breath away. You capture and express a thought like no other xx
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