“Artful Blogging”—Creating A Daily Dream-Related Visual Arts Piece
by Rev. Amy Brucker, M.A.
March 2008
Rev. Amy Brucker
For the past few weeks I’ve made a shift in my approach to dream journaling, incorporating daily dream art. This has been exhilarating, illuminating and inspiring.
A new phase in my blogging was launched the other day when I picked up Artful Blogging, a Somerset Studio® magazine about blogs that specifically focus on arts, crafts and creativity. The content is colorful, with each page overflowing with images by people who simply want to publish their creative endeavors. I love it!
Art exhibits are no longer for the elite artists. Anyone with a will or desire to create can be seen online. What’s even more amazing is how many talented people there are in this world.
After reading Artful Blogging, I made a shift in the focus of my own blog. I started making and posting one dream-related creative piece a day. So far, each piece has been a graphic collage or a photograph, but I intend to be open about the medium used – including poems, songs, videos, arts, crafts, and graphics.
Artwork by Rev. Amy Brucker
The shift in my process has been liberating. Creating daily dream art is more enjoyable than recording all of the details of an epic long dream. Drawing representational images of a dream has deepened my connection to my own dream life.
The miracle of it all is that after three full weeks, I am not bored with the process of representing my dreams visually. Since I have been using graphic collage, the collaging process involves less mess and effort than glued collages. This allows me to create a piece in as little as 15 minutes.
Also, I am posting these images on my blog, which gives me the added pleasure of seeing them illuminated in more ways than one. Often further meanings are revealed in the dream, daring me or the viewer to see with new eyes and draw connections that are not obvious at first glance.
In addition to creating one dream piece a day, I also love to create a series of collages based on one dream. The first collage is inspired by the dream. The second collage is inspired by the dream and the first collage. The third collage is inspired by the dream and the first two collages, and so on. I usually do six or seven of these in one sitting.
[To view the images, scroll your web browser horizontally, not in the typical vertical manner. Use the scroll bar at the bottom of your screen, just like the up-and-down scroll bar to the right.]
Consider creating your own dream collages. Magazines, glue, scissors and card stock are all you need to get started. Open your imagination and let the process unfold naturally. And have fun!