Slide Show of Paintings

Journal Writing

Somebody brought up the book the "Artist Way" by Julia Cameron. I bought the book several years ago when I was starting to paint after a long hiatus. I hadn't seriously painted in sixteen years, raising my daughter and running my graphic design business had taken most of my time. Somehow though, as fulfilling as those jobs were, I felt very incomplete. Was it that someone suggested the book to me? Or had I just tripped upon it in an online bookstore. (I secretly love on line sources Amazon, iTunes because of all recommendations and cross-references.)

I probably went through half the book, getting up at 5 am to write in my journal. (I found the journal writing helpful and a cathartic process ensued, ridding myself of things that got in the way of my work, bad relationships was #1) The journal writing helped, but the actual process of painting was the most important. Getting into the studio and painting, (no matter how bad the paintings were) helped me find my creative voice again. The whole process of painting I feel is a way of communicating things that I can’t express in words. Those first few years, when I felt I was going nowhere, and “I had lost what ever talent I might have had… (If I had any at all, now real doubts were setting in)”… were very difficult. Somehow I got through it. I have painted over some of those real bad paintings, the old strokes coming through the layers of new paint add and not detract from the whole.
I don’t journal write anymore but am thinking about restarting. I ‘m not sure if I will get up at 5 am to do it, I’m not really a morning person. Perhaps the whole journal-writing thing will help give me some perspective in different areas of my life, and make me more disciplined. Keep you posted.