Art Journal Page - The Freedom of Choice
Another page in my Field Notes dual sketchbook. You can view the previous pages HERE.
This page was quite interesting to me, especially today when its message seemed to appear out of no where yet resonate so deeply. What first captured me was the image of the girl, and her look of being lost. The artist may not have intended to relate her in that way, but that is how I connected with her. As I began these two pages, I simply wanted to practice sketching the human face or figure in unique stations of life, just like this female, so I began sketch. I also began to read a book on China that I was given and gained much of my inspiration from the images I viewed in that book, beautiful, haunting, and so telling.
I was also taken by a memory of my family, who are professional clowns, and what importance the concept of putting on a mask does for folks. As I sketched, I also sketched what was around me, my car, the trees in the distance, and the barb wire fence. Over the course of several days, as I continued to layer, I still had no clear message about the meaning of the pages other than a practice, an observation, a record of my viewing a book and choosing to play with my paints and markers.
When I got the book out again I noticed a pattern.....every image resonated with the concept of freedom, or the lack thereof. From the car, the barb wired, the bird, to the images of people in places, each had a significant relation to our freedom, either of choice or having our choices taken from us.
I plan to sit with these pages a while and really absorb the process, not only of how I made them, but what I am to learn from them. I live in a country where freedom is taken for granted so easily, and do realize, just how incredibly blessed I am to live here, and not in a place where my body, mind, or spirit is in bondage. Art journals can give us incredible insight into the life lessons we are meant to learn, today I am most grateful for the freedom of free expression and the freedom to share what I create with a greater audience. So many will never have this.
This page was quite interesting to me, especially today when its message seemed to appear out of no where yet resonate so deeply. What first captured me was the image of the girl, and her look of being lost. The artist may not have intended to relate her in that way, but that is how I connected with her. As I began these two pages, I simply wanted to practice sketching the human face or figure in unique stations of life, just like this female, so I began sketch. I also began to read a book on China that I was given and gained much of my inspiration from the images I viewed in that book, beautiful, haunting, and so telling.
I was also taken by a memory of my family, who are professional clowns, and what importance the concept of putting on a mask does for folks. As I sketched, I also sketched what was around me, my car, the trees in the distance, and the barb wire fence. Over the course of several days, as I continued to layer, I still had no clear message about the meaning of the pages other than a practice, an observation, a record of my viewing a book and choosing to play with my paints and markers. When I got the book out again I noticed a pattern.....every image resonated with the concept of freedom, or the lack thereof. From the car, the barb wired, the bird, to the images of people in places, each had a significant relation to our freedom, either of choice or having our choices taken from us.
I plan to sit with these pages a while and really absorb the process, not only of how I made them, but what I am to learn from them. I live in a country where freedom is taken for granted so easily, and do realize, just how incredibly blessed I am to live here, and not in a place where my body, mind, or spirit is in bondage. Art journals can give us incredible insight into the life lessons we are meant to learn, today I am most grateful for the freedom of free expression and the freedom to share what I create with a greater audience. So many will never have this.
