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Monday, July 30, 2007

What I Do

What I do is I journal. With paper and pencil I am happy anywhere. It is my sanctuary - where I can sort through all the flotsam of the day and decide which of those things really matter to me. We all have too many demands on our time; the journal is the place where I go to find my answers, set my goals, regret my errors and continue on. It clears my head for what comes next.

Before I write on each page I have usually set the stage with an overall colorwash of acrylic. Over this I experiment. It will always be an experiment involving the media I am currently involved with. For a long time it was bits of collage from the day to write over or around. Inkjet photos of daily events. Oddities I found on the web and liked. Napkins from restaurants or momentos from travel. It helped me place the entry without looking at the date on the page.

More recently it has been a vehicle to deconstruct my dreams and my past and to explore the ways I can apply that to the symbolism in my work. It takes a lot of time and deep reflection to discover what lies in ones heart and to encode that into an image. But what a joy when it can be accomplished. It's habit forming; the love of that 'high'. And it is your gift to your self.

This page is one I did last night while experimenting with graphite and acrylic. I was thinking of the Joanie Mitchell song, "The Hissing of Summer Lawns". It will be written over too in the coming days. I like to look at it an see my progress. It is the beginning of something but I don't yet know what that is. I love having that, or any, strange image to becken me on. It is like a mysterious whisper from off-stage.

Only one more day before the Artfest schedule is posted. I can feel the excitement.

11 comments:

Jan said...

I've been admiring your journals for a while now. How big are they and what kind of paper are the pages, Judy? Do you make the journals yourself or do you purchase them and dive right in?

Diane said...

Judy,
What a cool post~your words just float off my monitor!

Paulette Insall ~ Reflecting Colors of the Soul said...

What wonderfully rich journal pages as usual Judy! I'm counting the days 'til the Artfest classes are posted too. :) Can't believe so much time has passed since the last one. Boy, time sure does fly huh?

Sounds like you're still super busy. I am too...not getting as much time to create as I'd like, but I'm just trying to go with the flow and not worry too much.

Hope to see you soon. xo

liz elayne lamoreux said...

"a mysterious whisper off-stage"
i love this image.

thank you for sharing more of your journal pages judy. i just drink them up...

Rebecca E. Parsons/Cre8Tiva said...

i love the layers and depth you create...blessings, rebecca

kate smudges said...

I like your journals ... and enjoyed hearing how you go about making them. The dream one is interesting. I'm curious to see where you go next with it.

Anonymous said...

It seems you'd be a natural to participate in this art project:
http://thesketchbookproject.com/

Sherri B. said...

Judy, your journal is beautiful...I long to do this and combine it with my poetry. It's intimidating, though -- the white pages on the journal stare at me and I don't know what to say back! lol Your blog is a pleasure -- thank you.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing all the awesome pages, Judy! I can't wait to see where you take that last one...

Anonymous said...

how disiplined you must be with your journaling - what a terrific record it must provide for various moments. A wonderful staring point for artworks.

~Red Tin Heart~ said...

I love your journals. There is nothing like having a journal of one's own. Nita