Journal52 is an art journal workshop whose aim is to get you doing art all year long. You get a new prompt every week and you get a creative license to to do with it as you will.
I interpreted this to mean the path I was on. Since I gave up on life in September, I’ve been re-evaluating the path I am currently on. I’m feeling really trapped by my Ph.D. I’m not making progress and if this is the way things are going to keep going, then I need to get out. I don’t want to give up on it, but you don’t stay on a sinking ship. I’m not really sure what to do. If I did decide to leave, then what would I do? There are so many options and so few, all at the same time. That probably doesn’t make any sense to you, but that’s how it feels right now. I wanted this page to reflect the chaos my life is in right now and how I feel like I’m being pulled in all different directions. I think the variety of colours and the busy-ness of it do that.
Background in watercolour, doodles in watercolour pencil crayon and Sharpie, writing in gel pen.
“Just Be” makes me think of all the things you can be. The possibilities are endless, it just depends on you and what you want for yourself. That’s why I chose to paint a shooting star with the words “Reach for the stars”. Just being what you want is never that simple though, is it? You start thinking about what other people want you to be, what you think you should be and what society says “perfect” should be. At least, that’s my line of thinking….I end up forgetting what I want to be. So maybe, “Just Be” should also be something simpler, like just existing. Forget what everyone else wants, forget the “shoulds”, forget society. “Just Be” means you can be anything, but you don’t have to be everything. Sometimes it’s ok to just exist.
This page was done with acrylics. Some of the background stars are drawn with a Sharpie paint pen. I smudged gesso over the starry background to write on top of it with a pilot black pen (which smudges!!).
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