Such inspired creative energy. I'm impressed by the level of detail and the sheer number of pages you've accumulated in that journal just since the end of July. Do you have a set amount of time you work on it each day? And do you keep all your journals after you've created them? Fascinating, thank you.
Hello Elizabeth, I don’t usually watch TV or stream movies etc. so I typically work on my journals in the evenings when most people (like my husband and son) are doing that. However, it’s been so hot, humid and rainy this summer that time I normally would be working in the garden has been spent in the studio and I’ve gotten a lot done. Also, when an idea grabs me I’m pretty much at its mercy and focus my time and energy on bringing it into being. Creative work and inner work which are one and the same for me are a high priority so I do something every day. It truly is a “practice” (I wish I was that regular with my yoga practice!). I don’t sell my journals because they are so personal, the imagery etc. likely would only be meaningful to me. I do see lots of this style “junk journal” for sale on Etsy, and many are elaborate and amazing. I actually love going back and looking through my art journals and do that frequently they bring me both joy and insight into my life.
Thanks for the thoughtful reply, Jan. It never occurred to me that you would sell these journals, but I suppose some do. I can imagine that revisiting them is fulfilling. Do you always remember what you were exploring or thinking at the time?
Don't mind me and all my questions. Curiosity is running high right now, it seems. No hard feelings if you want to just let this topic rest. :)
I'm happy to continue the conversation. I definitely do remember what I was exploring in each journal. That's part of the re-visiting process, to look back and see where I was, and contemplate if I have changed, or resolved an issue, or to question if what was so important to me then is still so now. I suppose this is what most people do with their written journals, go back and continue to reevaluate, but when I've done written journaling I never do that, partly because I find it emotionally overwhelming, it's a bit too much to have to have all the thoughts and struggles, anxieties and joys spelled out plainly through words in no uncertain terms. I prefer the safe distance working visually provides by telling my life stories through image, symbol, myth and metaphor. This approach also provides structure, and interesting facets of universal stories of which we are all apart providing much needed context and perspective by setting my own singular life into the wider story of humanity. This journal thus far has been a comforting experience, celebrating and honoring the prosperity and bounty of the first harvest season, and paying homage to all of the beautiful plants and animals that enrich my life, but soon I'll be gently exploring the first inklings of the death of the year and that will once more bring me into the realm of exploring my own life, the season I find myself in after six decades and the inevitability of my own mortality. Every year as summer turns to autumn and autumn to winter the inescapable fact of death appears again along with all of the emotions it brings, and as Rumi councils they must be welcomed as a guest into the Guesthouse of our hearts and minds. Perhaps this was more of a conversation than you bargained for LOL, but it's authentically where I'm at in this journal making process.
This has been most informative, Jan, and I appreciate your willingness to share so much detail about your process. I am particularly drawn to the idea that a visual journal is less in your face (please pardon the lack of creativity in that phrase) than a written one. Before you came to that part of your response, when you wrote about looking back to see where you were or what had changed, I was thinking "I never do that!" Ding-ding -- written journal, looking at you. I currently lack a studio or anywhere, really, to spread out or leave the materials for a visual journal where I could access them with ease, but you've definitely given me something to think about! Thank you!
Hi Genevieve, I’m delighted that you like my art journal! Creating a visual journal to explore a season is a wonderful way to understand more deeply how we are influenced by the seasonal patterns of the earth and helps us feel more in tune to nature. This is also the beginning of my favorite season, late summer into autumn and then landing in winter so it’s a great joy to me to be working with these themes.
Such inspired creative energy. I'm impressed by the level of detail and the sheer number of pages you've accumulated in that journal just since the end of July. Do you have a set amount of time you work on it each day? And do you keep all your journals after you've created them? Fascinating, thank you.
Hello Elizabeth, I don’t usually watch TV or stream movies etc. so I typically work on my journals in the evenings when most people (like my husband and son) are doing that. However, it’s been so hot, humid and rainy this summer that time I normally would be working in the garden has been spent in the studio and I’ve gotten a lot done. Also, when an idea grabs me I’m pretty much at its mercy and focus my time and energy on bringing it into being. Creative work and inner work which are one and the same for me are a high priority so I do something every day. It truly is a “practice” (I wish I was that regular with my yoga practice!). I don’t sell my journals because they are so personal, the imagery etc. likely would only be meaningful to me. I do see lots of this style “junk journal” for sale on Etsy, and many are elaborate and amazing. I actually love going back and looking through my art journals and do that frequently they bring me both joy and insight into my life.
Thanks for the thoughtful reply, Jan. It never occurred to me that you would sell these journals, but I suppose some do. I can imagine that revisiting them is fulfilling. Do you always remember what you were exploring or thinking at the time?
Don't mind me and all my questions. Curiosity is running high right now, it seems. No hard feelings if you want to just let this topic rest. :)
I'm happy to continue the conversation. I definitely do remember what I was exploring in each journal. That's part of the re-visiting process, to look back and see where I was, and contemplate if I have changed, or resolved an issue, or to question if what was so important to me then is still so now. I suppose this is what most people do with their written journals, go back and continue to reevaluate, but when I've done written journaling I never do that, partly because I find it emotionally overwhelming, it's a bit too much to have to have all the thoughts and struggles, anxieties and joys spelled out plainly through words in no uncertain terms. I prefer the safe distance working visually provides by telling my life stories through image, symbol, myth and metaphor. This approach also provides structure, and interesting facets of universal stories of which we are all apart providing much needed context and perspective by setting my own singular life into the wider story of humanity. This journal thus far has been a comforting experience, celebrating and honoring the prosperity and bounty of the first harvest season, and paying homage to all of the beautiful plants and animals that enrich my life, but soon I'll be gently exploring the first inklings of the death of the year and that will once more bring me into the realm of exploring my own life, the season I find myself in after six decades and the inevitability of my own mortality. Every year as summer turns to autumn and autumn to winter the inescapable fact of death appears again along with all of the emotions it brings, and as Rumi councils they must be welcomed as a guest into the Guesthouse of our hearts and minds. Perhaps this was more of a conversation than you bargained for LOL, but it's authentically where I'm at in this journal making process.
This has been most informative, Jan, and I appreciate your willingness to share so much detail about your process. I am particularly drawn to the idea that a visual journal is less in your face (please pardon the lack of creativity in that phrase) than a written one. Before you came to that part of your response, when you wrote about looking back to see where you were or what had changed, I was thinking "I never do that!" Ding-ding -- written journal, looking at you. I currently lack a studio or anywhere, really, to spread out or leave the materials for a visual journal where I could access them with ease, but you've definitely given me something to think about! Thank you!
Wow Jan, I love your art and thank you for sharing your seasonal journal, it's very inspiring!
Hi Genevieve, I’m delighted that you like my art journal! Creating a visual journal to explore a season is a wonderful way to understand more deeply how we are influenced by the seasonal patterns of the earth and helps us feel more in tune to nature. This is also the beginning of my favorite season, late summer into autumn and then landing in winter so it’s a great joy to me to be working with these themes.