I LOVE My Journal!!

And I hate it!! Yes, it CAN be a love hate relationship. But isn't that what it's all about? (No, not the Hokey Pokey! lol)
There has been a lot of talk lately about journaling. Visual Journaling is the journey of the artist. And like all journeys....there will be clear skies, and easy sailing. And there will also be detours and times of getting lost. There will be love and laughter, pain and confusion. And this my friends, is WHY we journal. To give voice to the journey.
A Visual Journal is like a portal to a passage of time in an artists life. And as we are afflicted and affected by all that life has to offer us during that time, we express it....conciously or subconciously in our own little private retreat, our visual journal. It is our place of exploration and growth. It is our voice during that passage of time.
And since we all have our own unique voice, and our own journeys, we will all have a different and unique journaling experience.
We may admire the style of other artist's visual journals, but no matter how hard we try, we can not duplicate them. And that in itself would defeat the purpose of your visual journal, as it would not be your true voice and style coming through. It would not be YOUR journey.
Part of the journey is about play and exploration. And so to that end, we certainly can- and should- incorporate certain techniques, color schemes, and the like, of other artists into our journals. It is that play, exploration, and experimentation that allows us to grow as artists and in the end, that will give our journey some destination.
And that is why I LOVE my journal! I can play and explore. Experiment and have fun. AND I notice that if I do it consistently enough (which really is what journaling is...a consistent outpour)it inspires me to other ideas to explore in the future. I find myself jotting down notes everywhere for future projects. Creativity breeds creativity. It is also very therapeutic to create for process, not just for product. Just mindless, fun creating!
But as I said, I also hate my journal. Why? Well, because I am not always happy with the outcome. I know that sounds like a contradiction to my prior statement of creating for process but after all, I am an artist. And like all artists, I can be my harshest critic. And I can also have a hard time silencing those critics in my head. But usually, the pieces I hate most, are the ones I tried too hard with, to be like someone else.
And usually the pieces I hate most, have taught me something. Kind of like a detour in the road. Okay, I say...going down that road didn't work. But lets make a turn here, keep going and see where it takes us. And usually, the road it leads to- is just where I want to be heading! Or need to heading at that time.
When I can accept that whatever I'm working on, is going to just turn out to be what it is; a little piece of me and my own personal expression, then I'm okay with it. I try to look at it as something valid and good, in it's own right, for what it's worth and the purpose it served. It then has merit. Afterall, you can't have "good art" without doing some "bad art". Though the "bad art" is really just a detour in the road, on your artistic journey.
So, let go and let yourself enjoy the ride. YOUR ride through the passage in time in YOUR Visual Journal.