Door from HERE to THERE
I thought it might be fun to offer a weekly art journal prompt (in case you're missing Art Group). Use this however you wish - think about it, write about it, make art inspired by it. There are no right answers and there's no way to get this wrong. This week, you're going through a door...
If you're doing this as an art journal prompt, you'll need something to draw on (two pieces of paper or two pages in your journal would be good) and something to draw with. You might also like to have some scissors, though they're not totally necessary. Gather your supplies.
When you're ready, start as usual by taking a moment to get comfortable and settle in. Perhaps take a breath or two, or let your body move or stretch if you've been sitting a while.
Start with HERE. Where are you? Let your mind wander, notice what it notices. Perhaps you take this literally and notice your physical environment right now. The room you're in, the furniture, the view out the window, the light.
Or perhaps you take it in a more metaphorical or abstract way. Where's HERE when it comes to your broader life's journey? Where's HERE in relation to your most secret, deep held longings? Where's HERE compared to where you think you should be, or where you might prefer to be?
No wrong answers - take your time to make some marks on the page to represent HERE. You could draw the space you're in, or make it abstract, use shapes and colours to represent feelings, write words over the page - totally up to you. See if you can invite any judgy voices that may show up to take a seat, this isn't about creating something beautiful (although it might be), it's about exploring something in a visual way.
When that's feeling complete, take a breath, stretch, let that go. And then turn to your second piece of paper or page, and start to pay attention to THERE.
Again, let your mind wander, notice what it notices. Where's THERE? No wrong answers - THERE might be so abstract all you can see is fog. Or perhaps it's a goal you've been working towards, perhaps it's tomorrow, perhaps it's back in time to a pivotal moment that defined who you are in some way. When you have some sense of THERE, make some marks on your page to represent that in some way. Again, it might be literal or it might be abstract - whatever you do is the right thing to do.
When that's feeling done, take another moment, take a breath, drink some water, turn back to your first page. If you're using loose pages, rest HERE over the top of THERE, hiding it from view.
And now, cut or tear a doorway from HERE to THERE. Where should the door go? Up to you. Wherever you like. Perhaps you'd like to cut one big door. Or several smaller ones. A round porthole. An arch. No wrong answers. Open the door, and see what you see.
What's through the door? What is visible, and what remains unseen? Does this mean anything to you? (It may not mean anything - no is as good an answer as yes). Would you walk through this door from here to there? Why, or why not?
Take a moment to step back and reflect. Did you learn anything new? How does it feel to look at? If it had a message for you, what might that message be? Is there anything else you'd like to do to your images? Perhaps you could draw a door frame around the door, or add or change what's visible. If you're using loose pages, move the page with the door around, to see how it feels to have it leading to other parts of THERE.