This Spring I tried out a new class offering in Creating Art Journals. It was a challenge to me although I have done journals for myself for many years. Teaching a person to create something that they would be pleased with is difficult since we all come from a different mold. What I would want to feature is most definitely not what another creative person wants to do. At best the instructor becomes a coach and not a teacher. It is a matter of discussing ideas and techniques that will assist an individual in becoming successful. Sometimes the progress is slow but in the long run well worth the effort!
My theory is that art journals are a personal picture book that you may or may not want to share with other people. If a person were to take photographs and place them in a photo album... that picture book is only seen once or twice because you must be with that book in order for the photos to be fully interpreted. When you do an art journal... you will write something about the photo...something that describes where you took the photo... how that scene made you feel... and you may even include a diagram, a hand drawn map, or a small sketch to enhance that scene. Voila! A story book!
My student, Lorrie, worked on an art journal of her trip to the Galapagos Islands. Her journal pages take the viewer along the cruise route and hiking paths where she and her husband took many photos of wildlife found only on these islands. I think she was quite successful!
I concentrated on My family beach excursions on the Oregon Coast. I used my photos and simple drawings as page development examples. My pages featured ocean views, family photos taken on the beach and the more common wildlife which can be seen any day on an Oregon beach. The family, however, is unique and amazing!!