001 - New Beginings

Random Japanese Brush Pen on Sketchbook paper.

I want to speak a little bit about my process on this first day.  I wasn't sure about adding text to the post initially, but since this is a journey of self-discovery, I changed my mind. :)

I've been struggling artistically for the last year, going for days without even putting a line on paper.  Last fall, at the suggestion of a friend, I picked up a copy of The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron.  One of the most helpful tools I found in the book was the Morning Pages exercise. I did them religiously for about 2 months and found them very helpful, then I gave up on it after the school quarter ended. I decided to start doing them again in conjunction with 100 Days.

Last night I went out and bought a brand new notebook to write my morning pages in, and a brand new sketchbook with a Van Gogh cover to do my doodles in.  The blank pages in both symbolized a new beginnings.  Continuing in books that I had started before only reminded me of my past failures. I wanted to start fresh.

This morning when I woke up I immediately poured out 3 pages of stream of consciousness writing in my new notebook.  As soon as that was done, I opened up my new sketchbook and doodled the first things that came to mind, allowing no judgement as to quality.  They were the spirals at the bottom of the page.   From there I filled the whole page pretty much seamlessly from start to finish.

Finally, I pulled out my Signs and Symbols Sourcebook that I bought at Barnes and Noble almost a year ago.  I looked up a bunch of the imagery in the book to see what it all meant traditionally.  To my surprise, I learned that I unknowingly drew my spiral suns in the Tibetan tradition, radiating counter clockwise from the internal point, representing the suns movement from east to west.  It also represents growth and an accumulation of power.

Most of the animals I used in my doodle represent new beginnings and spiritual growth.  The open doorway represents movement into another world.  Interestingly, the last meaning listed for ocean, and the only one that made sense to me, is as a symbol for the subconscious.  By doing these morning pages followed by stream of consciousness doodles, I'm opening a doorway into the world of my subconscious, hopefully to bring about new beginnings and spiritual, as well as artistic, growth.