During my journaling journey, I have tried lots of ways of
connecting with God’s word and meditating through art, but sometimes we can get
“bogged down” or even lose our creativity.
In these times, as well as leaning on the lovely work of
other journalers (thank you, Bible Art Journaling UK!), many people turn to
“quick journaling” – short pieces, taking five minutes or so, and often with
limited space.
I’m also finding, though, that sometimes we need to focus on
a message over a long time. Many of us adopt a word or verse for a whole year,
or a “season” at least. This is not the place for quick journaling.
Instead, I have discovered “slow journaling” – that has
helped me through a season of my life. Working on a single piece of Bible Art
over several weeks, and having the unfinished piece on display to constantly
remind me of the verse, has helped me to focus on the words – cling to them,
apply them, pray about them.
I started with the “word” I needed to focus on and drafted
it, wrote it and flooded it with colour – the beauty of this technique is that
you can use very slow-drying media (such as Pebeo Prisme).
More words came later…..followed by the start of a
background.
Another day, the background was smudged and watered…..
And a week later some fruity colour was printed using bubble
wrap…..
The “season” is not yet over for this verse, as I adjust to
my life changing direction, and so the piece is not complete.
Some more words have been added, but still the unfinished
piece sits on display – an ongoing reminder that I am also a “work in
progress” but that God – the ultimate
artist has not finished with me yet either.
