Art Journal Reduction

Whenever I hear the phrase 'art journal' my mind conjures up images of medium-laden pages covered in scrawling and collage-type confections. I feel inadequate, like I could never legitimately produce such a piece (and what is 'legitimate' art anyhow?). I'm the kind of person who thinks in a linear outline when I write or plan to create, not the kind of person who creates a mind map and then writes. I tend to think art journals probably better suit the mind mapping crowd. What do you think? Am I totally off base? I confess I haven't dug deeply into this topic.

In any case, I wanted to try a kind of art journal of my own. I've started journaling through my daily Bible reading in an attempt to read more meditatively as opposed to just flying through the text. So far, so good. But I also wanted to see if I could create a visual for some of the things that have been sticking in my heart and mind. Since I'm not using a tenth of the materials I typically associate with typical art journals (look at the Pinterest art journal search results, sheesh), I'm calling this a reduction of sorts.

In Germany, the Losungen is a daily Bible reading plan well known to those in the German state church (Landeskirche), free churches, etc. It's also available in nearly 50 languages and has been going strong for almost 300 years. Each year one verse is deemed the watchword of the year (Jahreslosung); this year it's Hebrews 13:14, "For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come."

As somebody who grew up moving a lot, this verse, and Hebrews 11:13-16, have always been near to me both practically and spiritually. This is especially true now as an expat abroad (Ausländerin) and I had to smile when I saw it was the Jahreslosung. So I decided to papercraft an expression of this verse. It's simplistic, but that's ok. It's how I'm processing it; my home is where my heart is and where my soul finds rest. I also felt a little brave writing the verse out in German, not English. It's tricky trying to own your abstract spiritual thoughts in a foreign language, but over time German is becoming a little less foreign, and that's a good thing.