In June the Treasure Valley Artists’ Alliance held a panel discussion on journaling. The artists on the panel included Melissa ‘Sasi’ Chambers, Lisa Cheney, Pam McKnight, Terry Burkes, Jeanette Ross, and Beau van Greener, moderated by Dr. Kathleen Keyes.

The “Aha!” moment for me happened when each of the artists on the panel talked about my biggest journaling fear — not  wanting to mess up any of the pages — and that particular fear is one shared by lots of artists. The phrase “dirty the page” was used many times as a way to just get over the fear and not take it so seriously. This was a huge relief to me and so the next day I began journaling again after a 30 year hiatus. Thank you Melissa, Lisa, Pam, Jeanette, Beau, and Terry!

For me, by the way, journaling is not writing, it’s drawing. Not only that, it’s drawing without the baggage of a Serious Art. It’s more about play but it can also be about practicing, figuring out a painting problem like composition or even anatomy.