Art Journal play
You know those times when you just can’t settle…the times when cleaning the studio is the thing you do and you fuss around the outskirts of the stacks of work that sits waiting for completion. This is me at the moment but something interesting happened. As I looked through the bits and pieces I collected, I found myself wanting to create a play journal. Not about the art work I was making but simple playing with images and words and media. I could handle the small moments each layered step took. My head space was too distracted for anything more. And yes I have lots of visual journals but I am inconsistent. I found myself revisiting small drawings I had done in the past and chose to work in an A5 journal as it was portable. I add lots of layers and am still going. This started as a words and pictures play and is extending into something else. I am enjoying the randomness and the imperfections as the images take shape. It feels almost like a dream journal. Not in the sense of writing down dreams but of the feeling of stepping into a dream. It is a Typo note book pages are too thin so I have laminated some together with medium. The laminated pages are much stronger and allow me to build the layers. I also adding washi tape which created an interesting new element. I needed something to strengthen the seam where the 2 pages met and this was a perfect option.
I think I will rename it as a ‘visual journey’ as I continue exploring. This is three weeks worth of play and an evolving collection of my unique interpretation as I read between the layers.
Sometimes small and portable is what it takes to move your ideas forward and help you break out of the hesitation to begin again…Just do it and each moment opens up new possibilities.
The interesting thing is that so many people explain how to do an art journal and show you pages as if you create them in one sitting. This post waited in draft form for weeks for a page to be completed as I flipped back and forth adding details as my muse inspired me. The initial pages were drawn in pencil but who know what they will evolve into…certainly not me. I love the fact that the pages surprise me as I listen to the possibilities they inspire.
I do wonder how so many artists seem to complete a page and move on to the next. I need to move back and forth through a collection of pieces. On reflection this is the same way I work on all my art pieces. I need a series of works to move between and then I can choose which piece to move forward with at any given moment. It is that instinctual flow which guides me. In this way, I know that there is always something that I am ready and able to take to the next point. An exhibition opportunity helps me narrow my focus as I have to complete.
Each page is continually evolving as new pages are added. It is all intuition and play. I wonder why I have taken so long to jump into this exploration of possibilities. Yes I have a visual diary but that is more targeted on the specific works and techniques evolving in my studio rather than the pure joy of play.
Of course I will add the completed pages as I progress but for now am simply enjoying the process.