Art Journal Peek: In the name of Self-Love

Art journaling in an altered book. And my theme is me, me, and I, Hanna.

If I had a daughter I might have dedicated it to her, but probably not. Even with kids my life would probably be ego-inducing and self-centered. It’s a known fact that we are all the center of our own lives, and I think that is as it should. We are the subject-matter of ourselves and it will always be the one thing we know best. I do think that that’s okay. It’s fine. And I think it also might be my mission as an artist to explore me, myself and I in all shapes and forms there is.

Who are you exploring in your own art?

Det här är jag is Swedish and means “This is me”. The woman on the magazine clipping is of course not me IRL, but she is the representation of me here, entering into the world of Art Journaling – again. I am literally walking into the pages of this book, and building a home for myself here. Boyfriend, cat, mom, viruses, friends – not welcome. It’s just me, alone. It’s my laughter, my sadness, my tears, my colors.

Creating art is selfish anyway, because why on earth would anyone do it if not for themselves? Not to say it can’t benefit others too, but that comes later.

Then again, that is why some things that are selfish are SO very important, right? Because otherwise we wouldn’t have art at all. So please, take time for yourself, for your passion, for your art journal, for your blog. Express what’s inside of you. You never know who it might affect (beyond the benefits you reap yourself) or in whose heart it might land. A book about me might be an encouragement for YOU… A call to action even. A calling of the sirens that shall not be silenced.

“Selfish” is just an ugly word anyways, let’s just call this thing we’re doing self-love instead. Or self-expression if not our own kind of therapy. I guess the selfish act would be to just do that one thing you love, and nothing else… To paint when your kids need to be fed. To forget to walk your dog. To not encourage others to do the same? I guess I shouldn’t even call it selfish at all, to begin with. It’s more… self-indulgent? Self-inducing. Self-absorbent. Or simply: self-care.

It is not selfish to do what is best for you.Mark Sutton

A self ready to be shared to whoever, in this big wide world we live in, that wants to come and look, read, see, understand or by all means, miss-understand it. I doubt everyone will understand the why of blogging for 17 years or the meaning of filling notebooks with paint and collage, but that is really their problem, not mine.

I’ve tried to explain it (to myself) for the past almost 20 years, and I’ll just keep on trying to understand “it”. Maybe it (art/life) will always remain too ginormous for us humans to grasp? Maybe “it” is meant to be a little (or a lot) mysterious / alluring / un-comprehensible?

My altered book / Art Journal, Boken till dig (A Book for You) originally written by Kerstin Thorvall, slowly transformed into a piece of art by me, Hanna Andersson, a.k.a. iHanna. It is now full, but while still in progress I wrote the text above. I’ve also shared a process video from this journal, and eventually I will do a flip-through video because so many have requested it now. Thank you.

More peeks into my art journal here.