VISUAL JOURNALING CLASS

SOME VISUAL JOURNAL PAGES I DID A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO:

(CLICK ON THE PHOTOS TO SEE DETAILS AND READ WRITING)

I'll have to admit that I am kind of disappointed with my Visual Journal class. It sounded so promising: "An imaginative journey into recording everyday events....a snapshot into time and space, of memory and history...a delicious variety of materials..."

The first class was taken up with the definition of what a visual journal is. The only trouble is that all three of us participants already knew what a visual journal is. We weren't there to do scrapbooking; we had something far more ambitious in mind.

This week, all we did was create our own giant color chips. I feel like I know the basics already, except I know that I am weak in composition. So I'm antsy to get beyond the basics and get to work!

I thought we would be doing journal pages in class by now. At the end of class last week, our assignment was to find images that showed how we were feeling each day, along with a word or a phrase to accompany the image. Tonight in class we all had some very interesting images, words and quotes to share. However, I was disappointed because I thought we would actually DO something with them in class.

I think I will do something with them anyway. These were my seven images for the week:

A woman floating in an eerie, green underwater world. My word: powerless. It's how I felt at work that day.

A black and white picture of an old woman with very poor posture standing in her yard in a shapeless apron. My word: Old. I feel very ancient when I am experiencing my joint pains.

A black cat with vivid green eyes, wearing a very ominous expression. My word: furious. It's how I felt toward someone that day.

A woman reading a book surrounded by pillows and blankets. My word: relaxed. That was my Saturday, when I read, watched DVDs, puttered around the house, napped, played on the computer.

A woman painting on the seashore. My word: creative. That's how I felt Sunday when I was blogging and gathering photos and words for my assignment.

An ad showing a tent in the woods, with an owl perched in a tree. The ad said, "I want my Serta!" My words: tired and owly.

A woman with a hilarious expression which I can only describe as frustrated, which was my word for yesterday. Last night, I could NOT get my printer to work after I changed ink cartridges. I was so frustrated I wanted to SCREAM!!!

As I look over this list of images, I see that my only good days this past week were Saturday and Sunday. Hmm, that says something, doesn't it? The best part of this visual journaling class may just be the emotional catharsis I find through it.