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Expressive Visual JournalingTM
- by Juliana Coles
But what is a Visual Journal?
What is the difference between diaries, art journals, scrapbooking and memory making, sketchbooks, altered books, artist
books, and Visual Journals? Some of these terms are very specific and
have their own definitions, while others can be used interchangeably. I
have a unique definition for the process I have developed and teach,
and use the term Visual Journals as the container for that process A
Visual Journal is a blank book, sketchbook, altered book, scroll, used
scrapbook, antique photo album, classical record set, a well traveled
atlas, a worn wallet with pages stapled in, antique handkerchiefs sewn
together, or any other form that might be considered or used as a book.
These
Visual Journals come in all shapes and sizes with rice paper, Bristol
paper, watercolor paper, old ledger paper, graph paper, notebook paper,
glittery paper, painted paper, whatever anyone can imagine.
What makes these books Visual Journals is the act of combining journal writing assignments such as non-dominant handwriting, letter writing, Declarations of Independence, lists, dreams, word associations, etc. with art making assignments such as collage, drawing and painting, old photos, rubber stamping, totem/fetish creating, and various mixed media techniques to create a unique book of self expression. In a visual journal, we are after the rich interior. We are concerned with our own and unique inner, ancient wisdom. We want to find our voice, our style, our flair for life, by documenting our past, present and future in a book. We are NOT concerned with making art. We are NOT concerned with a product or pretty picture. We want to know how to unfold and in that moment, there is remarkable beauty on the page we did not know we possessed.
Choosing A Book
To get started, you'll need to find a
book...Think of some things that could be used to house your art and
words in a book format. Don't worry, you can always start another,
and another ...
Michelle loves old scrapbooks, photo albums and baby books from thrift
stores and garage sales. The paper is so old and brittle and just
disintegrates while she's working on it. She loves the painstaking
process of taping all the black pages back together with black
electrical tape- it reclaims the book as her own. It's her way of
developing an intimate relationship with her book.
Christel took an issue of her favorite magazine and
redecorated it with her favorite things, complete with a table of
contents to make her own magazine about all the things she loves.
One student has volumes and volumes of those black speckled
notebooks with lined paper. She has them all on a shelf: volume 3,
volume 15, on an on. The consistency of book form en masse is quite a
site.
Mary keeps a dream journal, Carol works in two books: her
night book- with black pages and those images more suitable for the
dark, and her day book- those images and ideas more easily shown in the
light; Kim keeps a Punk Rock journal of the posters of all the concerts
she goes to and then covers everything in packing tape; Amy used a large
Atlas to house her visions- the title was All Roads Lead to the Center,
Sri found a very large art table book on Buddhism at a local library
sale to tell her story by going boldly into a book that others might
hesitate to work in. What about CD plastic covers glued together, a
scroll, all your junk mail sewn together, wow it's really endless what
we can come up with.
Uncover, Discover, Recover
Your book is an extension of YOU. Pick it up.
How does it feel? Put your hands around it, touch the pages- it must
feel right - like an old friend, or a new one you instantly fall in love
with. Will it be leather bound-do you imagine your story to be an Out
of Africa or an Indiana Jones Discovery Book? Should you alter
Grandma's old cookbook, or even your own baby book? Should it be brand
new, pristine, a clean slate to begin your journey fresh? Only you can
decide.
Developing a Relationship with the
Self
The Visual Journal
allows us to develop a relationship with the self through the
development of a relationship with our books. So it really doesn't
matter what form the book takes or what kind of paper it is made with or
how thick or how thin. It is important that you choose the book
that seems to choose you, for whatever reason. And then learn to work
within it's framework, and persevere in solving the problems
it is setting up for you. Because it is asking something of you.
And the problems it sets up for you, or the problems you have while
working in it, are actually important steps you need to take to get to
know yourself better.
The Visual Journal is a
metaphor for self. By combining journal writing with artwork, we are
simultaneously accessing both the left and right hemispheres of
our brain for deeper introspection. By encouraging discourse between our
intellectual self and our animal or visual self, we are creating a
dialogue between our conscious self and the unconscious, shadow,
psyche, or soul. When they meet on the page, and begin to
talk about their worlds, a unique thing occurs: the medicine or
salve for transformation presents itself. Working in this
compassionate way is where we find the healing. In the safety of our
pages, nothing is to be rejected. The visual journal makes space
for all our beauty and beast, and there, in the light of the page,
change can occur as we welcome and forgive all aspects of the self to
encourage harmony.
Welcome, to the Revolution
Jule's Journal Rules:
1. Date everything including year.
2. Don't tear anything out -otherwise you are responding to your
critic - bad art - not good enough and that kind of attitude does not
create safety for the self we are trying to welcome. Our journal is
like a dream - it has symbols for us to decode. Give your image some
time and then have a dialog with it - why are you so uncomfortable in it -
ask it why it's ugly. And then you can always paint over it. A Visual
Journal is more concerned with gathering information - not creating great
art - save that for your artist books.
3. I like to sign everything and give it a title - that kind of sums it
all up for me and creates closure.
Visual Journaling is active meditation
Rites of Passage: A personal
Mythology
The book as container is an
integral part of the visual journaling process. It is important to
develop this series of self in order to tell the tale of our existence:
our own personal mythology. And contrary to any beliefs you may hold
about yourself, what is dormant or hiding inside you is as meaningful as
the stories the ancients told, as powerful as Homer's Odyssey or the
abduction of Persephone The heroine's journey, the journey to the
underworld and back, are all paths of initiation. The Visual Journal
allows us to document these initiatory rites of passage and growth and
give name and meaning to them by deciphering their clues and symbols,
just like learning to understand ancient myths, fairytales, or fables.
Turning the Page
This constant page turning allows us to
know what comes next. This enables the unconscious to participate in
our pages and help to bring it forth, like dream material. It is
important NOT to create separate pages and then bind them later.
Judgment and critic have all ready entered the picture. Oh this one
looks better here or that one needs more work. The self needs
boundaries, safety, and consistency. It also knows more than it lets on
to you and it's chronological wisdom needs to be respected.
Intimate Relationships with Books Historically, we have always had
precious relationships with books. It is in this way, working in this
intimate manner, that we develop a preciousness of self. There is a
ritualistic aspect to opening and closing a book: opening a book says I
am here, I am ready to receive, and takes us into it's world of unknowns
where all sense of time disappears. Closing the book says I am ready to
return to the known world.
- Juliana Coles
www.meandpete.com
Extreme Visual Journaling workshops/retreats