Thursday, January 16, 2014

Journal 52-A Special Place

This week, I decided to totally abandon my comfort zone.  Instead of a digital image, I played with watercolors.  I tried my best to ignore my inner critic.  It said, "You don't know how to paint."  I felt like a child again, which is a good thing and a bad thing.  It's good because tapping into my inner child is healthy, in my opinion.  It's bad because my adult self doesn't want to make art that looks like a third grader made it.  I have friends who are awesome painters.  My ego just wants me to pick up a brush and paint like them. 
My child self won out.   I actually had fun, even though I had to have a conversation with the critical voice throughout the entire process.  I certainly know how my students felt back when I taught elementary school.  They would get frustrated and tear up their art.  I tried to nurture their artistic sides by saying that messing up is okay.  It's not necessary to throw away our attempts when they don't please us.  I'm proud to say that I didn't throw anything away.  I kept at it until I decided it was time to stop.  The hardest part was scanning it in two pieces.  You can probably see the fuzzy line where I hastily repaired it.

I believe that art journals are works in progress.  You can't get them wrong, no matter what.  They're captured moments, visual translations of thoughts, often spontaneous journeys into unfamiliar territory.  I will definitely play with watercolors again.  And if my art looks like a child made it, I guess I can thank Little Lou Anne.  Apparently she lives inside this body too!  You'll probably see more of her in the future. 
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5 comments:

  1. Good for Little Lou Anne!! I think throwing away our preconceived notions about what we can and can't do is great. Children step out of their comfort zones more often than adults and accomplish amazing things. I love what you said about art journals ~ you really can't get them wrong. Each page is a snapshot of a particular day or time...when you fill up the pages and look back you'll see the whole amazing journey.

    I love your watercolor, and you are on to great things! It's hard not to listen to that inner critic. Mine shows up all the time. Someone told me that the inner critic is actually the alter ego of your Muse. And if the critic shows up, your Muse will not. I think that's why I'm always wondering where my Muse has gone :-) .

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  2. How Awesome are you? AAAAWWWWEEEESOME!!!!! That's how much!

    I love the fact that you let us share your thought process with your pretty and GORGEOUSLY coloured watercolour! I always find that as soon as I get my hands messy and start throwing colour at a page, that horrible nagging block of 'can't' slinks off into a corner and I DO end up as happy as a five-year old! There needs to be more happy fun in life - your watercolour is happy fun!

    Mind you, I have answered the door to collect post and wondered why the postie is looking at me weird...then three hours later I pass a mirror and realise I have a blue face from scratching my nose with painty hands! Yep.

    Hugs to you and your awesomeness - Shroo:)xxx

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  3. i know how you feel. my inner artist and the cranky critic have a wrestling match every time i turn out an art journal page. i'm getting better at muffling the critic though and having more fun all of the time.

    your page is sweet.

    :-)
    libbyQ

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    1. I love that-Cranky Critic. We must unite to muffle all of them! Thank you for your comments. I really appreciate them.

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  4. I believe we possess a personal visual vernacular ... the more we express/expose ... grow/risk ... our personal language becomes more accessible. LLL

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