I Created a Monster...or Rather an Artist!

I have been journaling for decades now (how sad/wonderful when you realize those years are actually decades). I have always had a sense of lust for paper and pens and diaries. Hand me a diamond from Tiffany's and I'll thank you nicely. Hand me a fountain pen or a journal with a leather cover and nice paper and I'll shower you with affection.

Anyway, my journaling has gone from a strictly written entry only, to art journaling, to a hodgepodge of whatever takes my fancy.

And I have never hidden my journaling. I journal at home in the privacy of my bedroom, at work between calls, in public at the bookstore, waiting for appointments, whenever and wherever I fancy. As a tribute to my boring life, no one has ever read my journal without my knowledge. And those who read it with my knowledge, were less than impressed I'm sure.

I talked openly to my BF about my journaling and as I got more and more into art journaling or decorated journaling and altered books, she got more and more interested. Hence, the monster was created.

BF has collected quotes for the past XX years I've known her. And with the internet and surfing, she has collected a lot of interesting images. From these quotes and images she has put together several altered books on various themes. her latest is "The Faces of Christ". She puts her work down, saying she isn't really doing altered books, (I am working getting her to "own" her art) saying all she does is cut and paste, there is not real art involved. I disagree.

First off and primarily, it fills a need in her. Like for most, if not all, of us, the act itself is therapeutic. We relax, rejuvenate, heal, purge, overcome, celebrate through whatever form our journaling or art takes.

She is creating something. Granted she is not creating the images or quotes themselves, but she is putting them together from totally different sources and combing them in a new form, ie, creating.

She has made "books" for some close friends (like me) and many for herself on various topics, but they are all very personal. What amazes me is how she can tell you not only why an image resonates with her, but also who the artist was/is who created the painting or other form of art whose image she used. The collage above was created from pictures of some of her different books.

There is also a thought process behind what she does, not just cut and clap like I do. She deliberately plans out where certain pictures go in relation to each other. Her remembrance of quotes is encyclopedic. She can pull appropriate message to go with the image or idea she is trying to convey out of the air.

So now when her hand tremors get too bad to cross stitch (and she is an award winning stitcher) she galls back on her books. When she has an idea or thought she cuts and pasts.

SHE IS AN ARTIST!