Thinking, Thinking Always Thinking - Too Much!

I anticipated a quiet creative morning finishing up a book I started making yesterday only to find myself saying, "so what!" I had wanted to finish it today but motivation seemed to be missing in action, again. So, rather than get into a complete funk I decided to "blog wander" and some wonderful blogs I did find! The crucial one however came from one of my friend's blogs, http://www.freebirddrawing.blogspot.com/. I should warn you this is going to be one of those weaving in and out posts so you might want to go grab a cup of your fav beverage and come back and then read... Anyway, my friend's most recent post was on an artist journal page she had just finished, which by the way is awesome. Moreover, it got me to thinking, in circles mostly because that seems to be how my brain works, about why artists make artist journals - you see I am big on purpose, I know, I know but that is a therapy session for another time. So anyway, looking at her journal page, on the letter "C" in case you are wondering, all of a sudden a light went on - "there are literally millions of subjects to journal about...and that is that journal's purpose, an artistic representation of the chosen subject"! OH MY GOSH, how utterly simple, yet complex! OK, OK, you ask what in the heck does this have to do with Beth's working on her handmade book? Well it does, honest, just not as direct as one would like (even me), I warned you about the weaving in and out as well as my circular thinking! A quote, also found on my friends blog led me to the site where I found the following:
"I regard it as a waste of time to think only of selling: one forgets one's art and exaggerates one's value."
Camille Pissarro
This you see, had been my problem, thinking too much about the saleability, (and purpose with respect to the artist journal), and loosing sight of the "ART" of creating the piece. Sometimes (probably more often than not), I realized, focusing on "purpose" gets in the way of art, which is a spiritual, personal, creative statement - that is its purpose. So, with my new found epiphany I am going to actually begin my first artist journal as well as go back and make a heap of changes to that book in progress.
A peaceful, worry free weekend of creating art my friends...
Ciao for now,
Beth