Marit's Paper World (blog)

Marit's Paper World (blog)

Become an Island

By 19 Comments

Don’t you just love that sentence?
Do you ever want to ‘become an island’?
I do!

Here’s my haiku for today.
Again: books from my collection.
I realize I open up and expose myself quite a lot by showing you my books  –
I “showcase some of the building blocks that have crafted my knowledge,
personality and identity.”

“Sharing your shelf is sharing yourself “ says Peter Knox on the Guardian
website (September 7, 2012 – Read the article here)

Well… here’s again a part of me for Haiku my Heart Friday

Een eiland worden

Tussen iemand en niemand

De prijs der vrijheid

 Become an Island

Between someone and no one

The price of freedom

(The top and bottom books are Dutch, the book by Joseph Brodsky
is originally titled ‘Less then one’.)

I have been obsessed by circles lately…
I have no idea where that comes from but here’s a page in my art journal,
showing you what I mean.

(Size: 21 x 29,7 cm - 8.3 x 11.7 inch)

Usually on Fridays, I have visitors from the Haiku circle coming over to
my blog (hi guys!) All these haiku writers love language and play with words
– are creative in that field – but not all call themselves artists or know about
art journaling. Last week I received a comment from Joe Spado, a loyal and
loved member of the Haiku circle. In response to this art work he said:

Your Fall Fearless and Fly Challenge looks like a corn cob. Do you write
in an art journal after you make one? Or is the art itself  that appears the
journal? (I am an art dunce and by asking these questions and mentioning
the corn cob I am showing that side of myself unashamedly)

My thoughts and answers may be interesting to the rest of you too,
so here it goes:

First: I love the idea of a corn cob. I never saw it that way and in fact the
idea fills me with new inspiration… I’m tempted now to explore shapes of
corn and corn cobs to use in my art. I love the fact that viewers sometimes
see art completely different then the artist and I think that’s alright.
Art does not have to be ‘obvious’ – I like it when the viewer is allowed to
speculate and interpreter a work of art in a way he/she chooses.

(By the way: the image on this page is a stone covered with ancient types
or runes, I cut it out of an old ‘National Geographic’ magazine.)

My thoughts about Art Journaling and how I work

An art journal is sort of a ‘visual diary.’ This meaning is quite ‘open’ so there’s
a lot that can be called ‘art journaling’. When you create something for fun –
like a collage for example – and add a random quote to the page: it fits the
meaning of ‘art journaling.’ Some artists work on loose pages but I myself like
working in blank books that I make myself. I never buy a sketchbook! I buy
good quality paper that is suitable to hold paint and glue and writing and
hand bind it into a journal. I have several laying around to work in (mostly
different shapes and some of my journals have a ‘theme’)

With my art journaling I always try to give the pages a personal touch.
To me, art journaling (art in general!) has to be about emotion or show
a certain ‘urgency’ – but that can be reached in several ways (by images/
shapes/colors or text – or both)

When I create I go back and forth between text and image. I might start with
an image or certain colour in mind and during the process think of texts, or
maybe a song lyric comes to mind. The latter was the case when I worked
on this page Without knowing where it came from, the following song lyrics
popped in my head:

Or have you come by again
To die again.
Try again another day

(from “Another time” – Pearls Before Swine
full lyrics are published under the video)

These lines somehow seemed to complete the image, so I wrote them
on the page.

My ‘Chronicles‘ on the other hand, are sort of an ‘old fashioned diary’.
In short, I jot down what I did that week, write about my thoughts and
events and what happened. It’s a bit of a mix between a diary and a calendar.
I keep the ‘Chronicles’ mostly for art-related thoughts because I don’t like
to share too much personal/private stuff on the Internet. These things does
sneak in on the pages though – that is why I sometimes blur the text before
I show it on my blog. In this art journal, the text is important and I illustrate
it with images. There are some pages that I find an image that completely ‘fits
the week’ and says it all. In that case, I use the picture instead of words (like
on this page – nothing happened during the week that was worthwhile writing
about, exept that it rained all week. This image said it all.)

I hope you appreciated this glimpse into my art process.
If there are more questions: let me know and I will do my best to answer them.
I wish you all a wonderful weekend.

NOTE: There will be an extra (special) post on my blog this weekend.

Comments

  3. I may be unusual, but I never wanted to be an island – call me co-dependent, but I would love to LIVE on an island, with my mate! And I tend to doodle circles – they are so complete….

    Reply

  7. Hello Marit, I love the haiku. I am going to be thinking on that all day… Circles. They seem to always find a way into my art, even through words. I love what you have done with them here, and now you have me thinking about corn cobs and all the little pearls they hold… Our dear Joe, he doesn’t yet see what an incredible artist he truly is. His writing, his cooking, the way his beautiful heart sees the world… I am glad that you answered him here and shared your process with us all. It makes my day to come and visit you here, dreaming of when we might meet again… XO

    Reply

  9. beautiful Marit! hope that you will consider sharing an offering for this year’s 4th annual gratitude word quilt. You can find information about the project and how to participate at the top of my blog. If you’ve already sent something thank you and forgive my poor memory. The quilt is growing quite expansive and with only first names, I can’t always remember who already shared. Feel free to write in your native language google translate is available on my blog so every one can read and understand one another. Every Blessing~ Laura

    Reply

  10. You are so full of creative juices, my Friend ! You blow me away with all you do.
    Love your convo with our friend Joe. And thank you for your insight into the journaling flow.
    Much love to you on this fine Friday, Soul Sister !
    (PS – Circles are around me all the time these days too. Circles of artists creating, perhaps ? 😉 ) Love ya !

    Reply

  11. Well, I said “Unashamedly”, so I will accept the consequences. I sincerely thank you for this explanation. I have a hard time dealing with understanding what i am supposed to understand as opposed to what I do understand when it comes to art.
    I am not an artist. At least I will not ever say, “I am an artist” when asked about the items I create. I want others to see that and say so if they are so inclined. If they don’t want to call me an artist, I accept that. I am what I am.
    Same as being an Elder or Warrior. I let others make that determination. If I walk my walk, they will see who and exactly what I am.
    So, I admit I don’t know about art journaling. I wanted to know, so I asked. And you, my dear friend, are so gracious to answer and offer an explanation.
    I appreciate it greatly and have learned something today. You have been instrumental in allowing me to be unafraid to try new things and see art by my own hand for myself.

    Thank you.

    Much Peace sent your way

    Reply

  15. Your haiku this week is so authentic – I always look forward each week to reading your book haikus. I don’t often comment on blogs anymore but I find such inspration in your blog and always follow it. I read your comment on my blog, checked my old email account, and found your message. I will email you tomorrow.

    Reply

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