Art Journaling

And The Art of Procrastination

I think I should change my name to Procrastination because that's what I've done all this week.  I'm not sure if it's an artists' way, but it seems to be my way of doing things.  For some reason I feel more creative at the last minute.  Call it a rush to the finish line, or maybe it's the fear of failure. That I won't be able to accept each piece once it's finished. Whatever this thing is, I need to find a better way of dealing with it, so that I might be more productive.

As an Artist, I have never been one to journal my ideas. Once an idea manifests, it runs constantly in my head like a reel of tape.  Whoa, man that's really dating my age there!  Sometimes I try to write down my ideas in words in small segments just to get the tape to stop reeling.  A lot of Artists say that their art journal really helps them to sort out ideas and to come up with new ones.  I'm not one to poo on their parade, so maybe I should give art journaling another try. 

Now on to putting my ideas down in my art journal. My first two ideas were inspired by a couple of 36Crazyfists songs from their album "A Snow Capped Romance".  They played here in Little Rock last month at Juanita's.  The show was awesome and completely inspiring! "Skin and Atmosphere" was the first song I was drawn to because of the lyrics.  The words just kind of hit home for me with some feelings I've been dealing with lately.

Rename My Heart The Calender.

The second song that I was drawn to was "Installing the Catheter." When I was in Las Vegas in February, I went to a Chihuly exhibit.  I found this vase that Chihuly had created with an impression of a human's face on the front.  I'm not sure if he made this intentional or by accident, but if you look carefully at the top you will see the portrait.  Needless to say I was intrigued.  This vase, along with the song lyrics, inspired this next journal entry.

Chihuly Vase

Heading For The Bottle of You.

My last entry into my art journal was created from the manifestation of ideas and letting the tapes reel in my head.  I decided to depict the reel of tape with a film camera reel.  I really love antique gadgets because they have so much character.  This type of film camera reel really pairs well with my profile.

Reels Are Turning.

Now to add these images to paper.  I have decided to use the textile paper that I created in the last post.  The textile paper has been cut down into sizes that I thought I might want to work with.  I used my rotary cutter, ruler, and self healing matte to get the job done.  Most of the pieces came out to be 8x10, but there is also a 12x18 and a 16x24.  I also cut several odd shaped pieces, as well, just because my fabric was oddly shaped to begin with. 

Cutting Textile Paper.

Textile Paper Ready to Use.

Now that my textile paper is ready to use, I can finally add my images from my art journal.  How do you prepare your ideas for creating?  Do you let the tapes reel, or do you have a better way of managing your creativity? Check back next time for the finished pieces and my journey with art journaling.