ART JOURNALING: To me an art journal is truly that. A JOURNAL. A place to be real with myself. A place to put ideas and inspirations. A place for the unrefined JOY of creating. Journals go up on a little shelf. They stow away. They can be a part of our luggage and they keep us company on couches and coffee tables. They cannot be seen all at once. Sometimes they are not even meant to be seen at all. They are snippets in time. Moments in our minds and hearts. Page by page we record our symbols of longing, of desire and events. A journal by its very nature is a record of a life. Proof of our most human experience. Art Journaling has the power to not only express what happens in our lives but to actually effect it. Through artistic explorations and unbridled creativity the art journaler is a traveler between worlds. Effecting the future of his/her life while recording the moment.

*THE CREATIVE PROCESS: Working with the 5 stages to overcome Creative Resistance I believe the resistance is part of the natural creative expansion. Creative expansion is the juicy stuff artwork is made of. Some artists display a faster process and can work more fluidly. I believe this is due to how they react when they hit the edge of a creative expansion. Artwork is made up of steps and mental landscapes. Like a good music soundtrack there are moods and different stages of fluidity and grit. Learning to navigate our creative process is about how our individual minds & emotions operate. The good news is it doesn?require a lot of mental activity as much as a gentle awareness while working. Stage One: BLOOM I generally have a BlOOM stage where I can easily get engaged and enjoy the process immensely. I feel impulsive and guided to an extent and at this point my mind gets excited and interested in the project. It’s a time of gathering, contemplating, enjoyment and play. Materails come easily and there is a genral wellbeing about the artwork. Stage Two RESISTANCE: Then suddenly I hit a place where I have maximized that stage and I hit that RESISTANCE. Remember resistance will occur naturally in the first third of the project. Learn to expect it. Do not be surprised when you suddenly hit the edge of your process. It is Real for every- one. The voice of reason is loud, convincing and intense. It can show up in the form of boredom, disinterest, frustration, tiredness comparing & exaggerated mental chatter about your artwork. Now I have recognized the value and realize that I have to work in spite of that voice. It is crucial during the resistance phase that you keep on working! The more you pause and stop working the more power and habit you provide to the resistance. Most people stop right here and don’t usually push further. This defines an artist from another person. Artist will work through this piece. At this point try your best to observe the critic without reacting to it. Your critic will have some good ideas if you ask yourself questions like: How can I solve this visual question? What is it I don’t like and what flashes into my mind as solutions? That should be the extent of the power you offer your resistance. The resistance only signals that you have hit the edge of your creative breath. And when this happens it simply shows you that it is time for a new strategy or another creative inhalation. Stage Three PING PONG: And that? when I like to PING PONG between materials. Being that I am focusing on mixed media artwork and that is primarily how I like to create we have an added advantage. When I reach my resistance phase or in a sense a place of critical mass, I bounce to a new material and a new perspective. Drop your current medium and pick up a new one. The trick seems to be to move even more quickly and impulsively at this point. Remember your critic will b e trying to grow but by using your impulsive instincts you learn to tame the critic faster. With Ping Ponging you can gain a real momentum in the artwork and trick your brain into a new place. Change your focus from the main image perhaps to the broader. Lay down some charcoal in border areas, switch to fine pointed pen details or doodling for a little bit. Anything that will hone your intuitive creative eye and switch your perspective. Practice step two and step three EVERY TIME you create anything. It is a lifelong skill that will serve your creativity every time. Stage Four FULL EXPRESSION: My high school art teacher told me once that the moments when you return to a piece of artwork after a period of struggle is the most supreme moment in the creative process. I have never forgotten that and it has been a great discovery every day. During the resistance part of your process I believe it creates a kind of artistic vacuum. A puddle of skill and life force builds up behind all of that resistance. Because while you are resisting you are also asking from within yourself to be able to fully express yourself. And once the resistance is released all of that good stuff comes shooting in with a rocket of ability and artistic expression. And this place generally feels good and easy. Music sounds sweeter, the project seems to be coming together. Your body is able to move along with the brush. It? the cream of the process and it? what we all look for as artists. Stage Five COMPLETION: I often find that I might experience the first couple stages again before I am ready for completion. Depending on the scope of the project this can happen many times. But at some point there will be a refining, a detail time. I find at this point I have an pen dialogue between myself and the artwork. I understand the piece more and the direction of it. I work on the details of colors and patterns. Pen designs and finishing touches. I generally know I am there by the slowing down quality. The desire to fuss over it like a christmas tree and fresh tinsel. I keep wanting to see the piece through fresh eyes. That's when I know it's finished. ********************************************************************************************* SYMBOLIC ALPHABETS: Each of us is drawn impulsively to concepts, colors, symbols and moods. When something is used in repetition the artist anchors a new piece in their "Symbolic Alphabet". I call it an alphabet because it is the components of a language. And all languages have an alphabet. For artists it is simply a Symbolic Alphabet and is communicated not in words but through images and energy. Our Alphabet is always changing. Certain themes and things will be predominant for a period of time and then move out of heavy rotation. But they will always remain a part of you. One could identify and really define those symbols individually, but it is primarily an evolving thing. Piece by piece the artist communicates a visual signature. Their repetitive use of certain symbols, colors, styles becomes an intuitive pulse that anyone can recognize, and feel on an emotional level. We do not have to understand an artist or even like it. But if they have been following an authentic impulse their work will have a magnetic quality and a voice of it's own. A dialogue between the viewer and the artwork. This voice is literally the language of the artists Symbolic Alphabet. To me it's more of a frequency. Something we perceive from the gut rather than with our mind. And that is how the Alphabet is built. By following one impulse to another and integrating visual impulses step by step without hesitation or editing.