Fill 'er up please

I love to make books/journals. I stress over filling them up, over not having a "style" for art journaling. This morning I've had a "aha" moment when I realize I do have a style and several completed books to prove it. My style is "Experimentation". I play with different forms of arting/creating inside my books. From pure image books (Beauty and Motherhood) to a doodle sketchbook to memory books to my first completed book which is a "Tag Book". 

I have many unfinished books where I've experimented with a style (e.g., Kelly Kilmer) which have been started in a class but dropped shortly afterwards. 

The style that I enjoy most is "Scrappy Journals". I love photographing life and take photos most days. I don't like photo albums, and have numerous ones filled with people and landscapes that have no meaning. Now my photos reside in my computer (which reminds me ... I need to back them up!) But a few get printed out to visually record the story of my life. As interesting or boring as the day may be, there is a story, a glimpse of something of beauty or interest, that begs to be told. That wants to be remembered.

My scrappy journals don't hold deep glimpses of my soul. I don't "work out issues" within these pages (I do that with my morning pages). They aren't meant to be "art" but they are "arty." Sometimes a page is quite simple. Other pages are more filled up. I don't worry about layering, I just start with the page that is there. It usually has something on it ... a strip of paper, an image, a stamp, a pocket ... there are few "blank pages".

These pages tell my story. My daily story. Like I said, some days are exciting and fun. Some days are boring. That is my life. And these journals, this process, helps me appreciate it.

So ... that is my style. I play in scrappy journals to record/document life. I play in other books to experiment with technique or materials. I prefer to do this in books. This may lead to art outside the journal (I call that "real art") or it may lead to a piece of art itself, like my filled up creative doodle art book.

Now that I realize that "experimenting" is my style, I can relax and stop chasing the "I need to find my artist voice" muse/critic.

I'm so grateful to Mary Ann Moss and the Remains of the Day course for introducing me to this art style. 

If you're reading this ... I hope you have a wonderful art-full day.