artist journal ideas

This is just a memo to myself and also just information to you.

I was reading "Creative Wildfire", and it says, about interview of Brenda Beene Shackleford, "Do what interests you - don't worry about what everyone else id doing or about the hot theme... don't use an image or style of collage just because it's popular with the masses. The quality of your art will show through if it's truly from the heart. When you create something you love or that holds interest for you, it speaks to others." 

When I read it I thought of using my own photography for my pages. Besides class stuff, I take photo at a day outing and on traveling. I have been doing travel photography since 1995. I mean when I started taking photographs with a single-lens reflex camera (SLR). The schools work has been busy, but I have been editing my past photos on Photoshop while I am on a computer. I have been posting my photos on online photo sites, but I did not print out my photographs lately, unless using for my painting or giving to someone. So I thought that I should print out my photographs and collage with other paper and mixed media. That would make my page "truly from the heart." I would still want to present photographic works with traditional way, but I am also interested in making art out of my own photographs. 

Another thought, is about language. I am able to write both Japanese and English, but Japanese off course comes more naturally, so I think I will use more Japanese (my own writing, or other collage). And I think artist journal should be more intuitive than other genre of art. And a journal is a diary to put your thoughts from your daily life or traveling. So I should be able to continue doing even 10-30 minutes in one day, than thinking too hard what to write or create and get tired of continuing.  If the concept of the page is not clear to you. I will translate and explain the meaning.

Here this is my teacher, Christine Rolik response to my ideas.

I think it would be great for you to make a daily practice of working in your journal, and using your photography makes perfect sense. It's also a resource you have available to you all the time, and from the sound of it, you already have a lot to work with. It also makes perfect sense to use a lot more Japanese, since a journal is primarily a private book, filled with your ideas and sketches and artistic experiments. Of course I will be curious about what you write, but isn't it kind of fun to think that your could write your deepest secrets out on the pages, and even though they are in plain sight, if someone can't read Japanese, they have no way of knowing your secrets? I find that fascinating.

I will be curious to see how your collage techniques develop as you introduce more of your photographic work into the mix. There are many possible ways to go here, as well - very clean and precise, very full and layered, and so on. As you experiment and do more, I'm going to ask you to rate your own work as you create it, telling me what you like best, what you like least, and why. I think this will also help develop your eye for composition and materials. Looking forward to seeing more pages!