Drawing From Life - Reflection

Margaret says, "Read your classmates' blogs!" Laura posted one that I really wanted to comment on and did. It ties in with our latest assigned reading. That is, why and how we create what we create may change and expand as our lives develop and unfold.
Like Martin Wilner (gotta love those dream enthusiasts) I believe that the creations of an artist are, at least on one level, about the artist. The artist's own eye selects the subjects, mind processes and hands render the images. My dream studies have brought me to a similar conclusion. Everything can be interpreted on multiple levels. One or some of the levels may be more obvious than others at any given time. All are valid.
An example of the artist making choices throughout the process of creating an image in order to share some information while keeping other information personal is given by Anderson Kenny's coded images. His multimedia, layered sketches are beautifully & carefully presented on the pages for anyone to see and yet they contain personal "work" unavailable to viewers. This incomplete knowledge of the work's process in no way diminishes it as meaningful, in some way, to viewers.
As I finished reading the "observation" section I started to become aware of the lead in to the "reflection" section of the text. Journaling is a process with, as the author states, the multiple purposes of observtion, reflection, exploration and creation. The creative work invloved in producing visual and text records of people, places and things takes as many forms as there are recorders. Reviewing what has been recorded is as important as continuing to record new observations. Journalers are able to see and reflect on their own choices, processes, styles, and gain valuable awareness of themselves and their evolution/development both personally and professionally.
Whether begun as emotional outlets, event/time trackers, rituals/habits, or maps, journals become much more rewarding. Tucker Shaw's food photos prompt memories of people and events and have led him to become more aware in the moment. Idelle Weber's habit of drawing small sketches of heads has helped her through difficult periods when the creativity was not flowing freely. Renato Umali reaps the benefits of tracking and rating how his time is spent. Marcy Kentz consideers her journals to be life partners. Whether literal maps of personal journeys, like those of Masayoshi Nakano, or process maps recognized as such after the fact, our journals can and do show us our progress along the way and sometimes "the way" itself.
Happy Journaling! - Margaret R.