“The creative is the place where no one else has ever been. You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you’ll discover will be wonderful. What you’ll discover is yourself.” — Alan Alda
As the New Year approaches, consider making a resolution to find new outlets for your creativity. Earlier this year, a close friend introduced me to art journaling. This form of expression presents many possibilities for exploring and documenting your own creativity (or, for that matter, the creative efforts of young children). I have found an interesting book called Inner Excavation by Liz Lamoreux, which presents ideas for expressing yourself using photography, poetry and mixed media. Readers can enjoy the photos, poems and perspectives of different artists as a starting point for their own creative journey. If this interests you, you can learn more at http://www.lizlamoreux.com/know/ .
There are also many excellent web links you can look at for suggested ways to start an art journal, or to discover endless creative ideas. Just Google the words ‘art journal blogs’ and this will guide you to many useful resources! Visit YouTube and enter the words ‘art journal’ to get all kinds of links to techniques, tutorials, ideas, pages, backgrounds, covers, supplies etc. In the meantime, take a look at the following links and see what they inspire for you:
http://www.milliande.com/index.html
http://kellykilmer.blogspot.com/
http://oneyearartjournal.blogspot.com/
http://robruhn.blogspot.com/2010/02/journal-workshop.html
http://allendesigns.typepad.com/blog/2008/12/index.html
http://artjourney-gennie.blogspot.com/2010/04/journal-backgrounds.html
Many of the items you need to get started can probably be found around the house or become the treasures you discover while browsing in thrift stores. Needed materials might include:
- A blank journal
- Collage materials (e.g., magazines, pictures, paper scraps, lace, doilies)
- A table for working; containers and space for storing your art materials
- Scissors, Exacto knife, ruler, rags
- Water-based acrylics, crayons, colour pencils, markers, pens etc.
- Brushes (for paint and glue)
- Glue sticks, Gesso, Podge glue
- Inspirational quotes
A while back I created my first art journal entry related to music. I am not a stranger to writing down my thoughts, but using visual art to express myself presented a new challenge for me. My friend shared a quote that really spoke to me about my childhood, my family and my creative experiences. By connecting this quote to different images and by writing about significant memories, I could see the role of music in my life from an unexpected point of view. While I wish I possessed greater artistic talent, I realize that this kind of journaling might provide me with an opportunity to explore new materials, to play with art techniques and to travel down new creative pathways, feeling safe and knowing that there is more than one right answer.
I resolve to take more artistic risks in 2012, to invite the children in my life to see the beauty around them and to find ways to express the beauty within them, and to continue encouraging you to do the same.
Have a happy and creative New Year!