Sunday 7 October 2012

It's Not So Pretty

In the words of Bridget Jones 'everyone knows diaries are full of crap!' I think this sometimes gets forgotten with art journaling.
Journaling for me is not just about making pretty pictures, although some pages are all about exploring art and techniques, many (although I don't always make it known) are about dealing with personal issues.  
I know some people use their journals just for art, others just to explore their feelings. I feel that not do both, for me at least, would be to miss a trick; I am both an artist and a person with situations & feelings to deal with like any other. I've said on many occasions I think writing is the most therapeutic way to purge feelings, and that basically is all this page is.
Layers and layers of writing, to deal with layers and layers of subconscious, bound in a reoccurring dream I've had ever since I moved out of London. Paying attention to my subconscious - if I cannot stop dreaming about something, there's obviously something that needs addressing. Both the good and bad came out in this page, things I didn't even know I was dealing with.
A journal to me, is a place to splurge, that doesn't always mean pretty pages but at least it means issues recognised and dealt with head on, rather than them being left as dark shapes in the night.

The subconscious is ceaselessly murmuring, and it is by listening to these murmurs that one hears the truth. 
Gaston Bachelard 

23 comments:

  1. You're absolutely right, I love using my journals for exactly the same thing, I think if your subconsious is talking you listen, sometimes its full of crap and other times it's full of wisdom.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I totally agree with your words Jenny. It's art but also a way to say so many things and let your feelings go.
      Lovely greet
      Marja
      (marjascreativity)

      Delete
  2. this is what art journaling is for me, too. sometimes i do a page with the intention of clearing an issue. at other times, i start a page without any theme or intention but some issue surfaces --- in the images i draw or just in my thoughts as i paint the page. very therapeutic. i wish you courage and love...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks for posting this, Jennie. We talk about this often in my art journaling group. So often, people only post their best work online, and journalers feel like their own work can't possibly compare. It's very freeing to learn there is no right or wrong and that a journal is a place to be free to try things and just express.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Its actually a beautiful page in my opinion. I have only recently started art journalling and it can be very therapeutic indeed. I am loving it - totally addicted to it. So I agree - sometimes one feels like making a pretty page and sometimes one lets out one's darker thoughts - but all of the pages are beautiful and valuable in their own right - arent they?
    Love your work - love your videos . You are a great inspiration. Keep being a light in this world!
    much love

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree with Angella - I think it is a beautiful page. But I know what you mean about some pages turning out, shall we say, less than pretty. And sometimes, in my case, downright scary! So I wouldn't want to show them to anyone, but the actual exercise of jouurnalling probably really helped on those pages. Thats probably what Bridget was getting at I guess.
      PS I love your new look!

      Delete
  5. I'm totally with you Jenny! Sometimes pages are all about the writing, sometimes they're all about the art, and often my art journals are chock full of personal symbols that others may not get.

    ReplyDelete
  6. You never cease to leave me in awe. With your art AND wisdom. Inspired by your YouTube videos I decided I wanted to make my own book. I had not clue what I'd do with it once it was made but I felt like the making of it was important. I had a couple of rather lengthy contracts printed on 8.5X11 copy paper that represented debt that I am finally starting to work my way out of. I had no supplies to cover the words up so I had to get creative.

    I folded each page in half with the print on the inside. Then I folded each of those page in half again to make the signatures. Once each signature was sewed together the print was "trapped" inside the fold of the paper. I instant felt better. Like I was the one in charge of that debt & not the other way around. Sadly those signatures haven't been made into a book yet, but I know they will be. My health has kept me from going to buy some supplies. Can you believe there is not one single kind of glue in this house?! I don't often get a chance to craft.

    So thank you for your guidance from across the pond. :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh so true and so wonderful. Love the layers and layer of writing. At my age that is one thing I can say is that the layers aren't as deep or many because things have been accomplished. I am sending you blessings so that all your layer are lighten sooner than later. Hugs, Linda

    ReplyDelete
  8. My way of art journaling is about not so much my feelings on a daily basis but, I tend to lean towards current events in my country.
    I do have feelings about places and things that I like to express too.
    I combine my journaling by describing what I feel about issues, places and people.
    I don't know why, I just do.
    It gives me comfort to, lets say, how schooling is important and the way to improve the foundation of learning. I release my thoughts with writing about politics, school and places I have lived and etc. It may be because I am retired and don't deal much anymore with my kids situations since mine are adults and things important to me now have a different outlook since they are grown. If I had started art journaling at a younger age, when my kids were young, my outlook on journaling would have been so much different than it is now.
    Barb
    USA

    ReplyDelete
  9. i love the look of your journals, so personal, journals you are right are suppose to be about what you are interested in, not what others are doing

    ReplyDelete
  10. Absolutely! And this is a an awesome page. It's very expressive & like a tiny glimpse inside your mind & I love art like that! There are some things that get poured out in my journals because I would much rather have them on the pape than stuck inside my head..

    ReplyDelete
  11. I'm glad you did this blog entry. Being new to this medium, I have been struggling a bit. I am not an artist by nature, nothing about art comes naturally to me. That being said, keeping a journal that one writes out the evnts of their day, or feelings about a fight they had with a loved one, or writing out feelings about the demons that live within, is also something I find difficult. I have never been able to keep a written diary either. There are many unpleasant reasons why. There was a very dark point in my life where I was told I had to keep a written journal, to sort out my feelings, and the events surrounding the feelings, it was less than pleasant.
    Now I do find writing a great outlet, but I wanted something more cathartic as an avenue to release the inner demons so to speak. Finding this whole world of art journaling as a way to do that has been an appreciable and immense journey. The most frustrating part though is my art work or lack there of. So once again I find myself questioning "am I doing this right"???
    "shouldn't this look prettier"??
    Though I find your artwork miles ahead of mine, I love that you share how art journaling isn't always supposed to be pretty. I found myself 2 nights ago working on my current page which I have yet to finish because it looks to neat. There is nothing neat or orderly about my inner self. Neat and orderly is what I show society so I can function as a member, my journal is or should be the outlet to get out the junk that isn't the norm of society. Otherwise what is the point, RIGHT????
    Just, Thank You!!!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Jeni, you are wise beyond your years & have such originality!! I find reading your posts to be inspiring. Thanks for sharing these pieces of yourself.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I particularly enjoyed this entry. I suffered with PTS after a divorce from a violently abusive man and had nightmares for years. If it had not been for journaling and expressing myself through my art work... who knows where I would be. Art journaling is an incredible tool for the healing process to take place. Thank you so much for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Jenny I so love everything you do. You have inspired me and I thank you for your wisdom and for teaching all of us!

    ReplyDelete
  15. I agree with you, Jenny. I think it's important to journal the "crap" and I use a "sacred" journal for arting those thoughts & feelings. I rarely share anything from that one.

    ReplyDelete
  16. You're page is actually quite pretty. But I hear you. Not every page in an art journal needs to be "A Masterpiece".... I do however, keep a "Written only" journal, too... for the more "Personal" stuff... but... I'm thinking of just finding ways of hiding the journaling that is more "private"... on the pages.. I think it'd be a cool Challenge... I do kinda like to have both types of journals, though. =)

    ReplyDelete
  17. Your page is actually quite pretty and interesting. But I do get what you're saying. And I agree. Not every page of an Art Journal needs to be a "Masterpiece"... I like to keep a "Written only" journal for the more private issues. But I'm thinking of finding creative ways of hiding the journaling, in my art journal... I think it's be a great challenge. =)

    ReplyDelete
  18. I agree with what you're saying, but I really love the look of this completed spread too. So you can accomplish both :-)

    ReplyDelete
  19. This journal page is 'terrific!" :]
    Such an expressive piece.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Love your journal!!! I need a place to just let go and do whatever comes to mind!!!

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...