Journaling Your Art Experience:

 

I recommend keeping a journal while pursuing art lessons. Drawing and painting can be a very spiritual, emotional experience. As one applies pencil or paint, thoughts and ideas come and go through the mind. It is excellent to tap into what is going on in the mind and “heart”. It is important to connect with your inner being or spirit so you might then, connect the viewer of your art to what you are conveying. Creativity is directly linked to what is happening in one’s life.

 

Julia Cameron, author of The Artist’s Way, encourages those seeking greater creativity, to write three journal pages every day in long hand, to clear the mind of life’s stuff. What goes down on paper can be about anything, and everything, not just art. There is something good about getting what is on the mind, all down on paper, that releases and rests the mind to concentrate on artistic ventures. Mysteriously, answers to plaguing problems often come out of journaling, as well as doing art. Also, making notes on what you see in the world about you, and in nature, will offer material for future art projects. Writing them down captures them for future reference. This exercise is very good for history’s sake. Down the road of revelation and revelry in art, it is good to count the blessings and see the growth made.

 

Cameron also recommends a twenty minute walk every day, to clear the mind, solve a problem, and be stimulated by nature and man created things along the way. I have a favorite labyrinth at an Episcopal church near me that I walk frequently. Labyrinths are small, mystical, spiritual, mini journeys. I high encourage students to investigate labyrinths for the benefits they hold for the seeker of all that is good in life.