MY CREATIVE PROCESS

Art came into my life both as a gift and salvation. I use the word salvation because learning to tap into my innate creativity through art journaling delivered me through some dark times. Art continues to be an essential part of my life. It is as important to my well being as eating well, sleeping, exercise and prayer. I strongly believe that my creative practice has healed me on a deep level, and I strive to honor that gift by sharing my understanding of creating art as a healing tool with my students and clients.

Part of the evolution of my own art journaling practice has been to travel from the literal to the symbolic. I used to fill books and books with literal, verbal interpretations of my experiences and emotions. I would write for hours each day. Although this practice certainly helped me, there was something missing. I was stuck in my intellect and as such was constantly hitting a roadblock on my way to my subconscious mind, and therefore to change and movement.

Thirty years ago, I was taught to move into the visual and symbolic expression of my feelings and experiences through journaling with images. It was a transformational day for me! I thank my wonderful mentor and teacher Deb Jones for that inspiration. Through that practice, I was finally able to access a part of me that could not be fully expressed with words and literal thought, and proceeded to fill many books with images that reflect immeasurable change and growth in my life.

In my current work, however, I have not completely let go of words. I feel words make good companions to my images. Depending on what is going on for me in a given moment, I will usually either start my piece with a written prayer or a stream of consciousness release. These words rarely end up being an obvious part of the page, but rather a layer. If they are visible, one can rarely glean their meaning. They sometimes are secret messages or mindless ramblings, but they hold the page together in their layers, texture, and energetic offerings. I rarely make a page without words as an ingredient; mingling them with images allows for what I feel is very potent expression. Here is a sampling of recent posts...