All About Passion Projects

So this year I’ve really needed a lot of what I call ‘Passion Projects’. These are essentially the private projects I keep all to myself and they are essential for making my other projects, especially those where I’m delivering something to others so it has to be amazing, happen.

Passion Projects are the nearest thing I have found that draw me back to that feeling when I first started art journaling (and actually knowing what it was I was doing) on the floor of my flat in London in an attempt to escape the day to day pain and heartache I was going through. Those pages were the nearest thing I have found to that total sense of escapism through creative pursuit, which I now often miss in my every day journaling practice.

my old creative space (and the floor in front of it was where the main events happened) in my old bedroom in my London days

So once upon a time every project I had was a Passion Project, and you may be reading this thinking ‘yeah every one of my projects is a Passion Project’ and even ‘why would you create any project anyway Jennibellie if it’s not a Passion Project?’ Well it’s not that I don’t have passion for all my projects because I do (or obviously I wouldn’t be creating them) but there are a couple of reasons there is a level of passion difference to these I am calling ‘Passion Projects’. 

First as I said at the beginning when you begin creating things for other people the projects begin to feel different, basically because your objectives are different. I learnt this several years ago when I first started selling my handmade journals. Those journals that went up for sale could not be like those haphazard journals I was happy to create and journal in myself. They needed to be neatly made, with clean lines, made with the correct materials and techniques and they needed to last…that is not to say I people wouldn’t have brought or wanted my own haphazard journals, because I’ve seen many a person sell all kinds of things that have a, let’s say ‘creative looseness’ to them and good on them. There is just something in me that means before anything I’ve made can go out into the world it needs to have met my own personal standards, which I’m sure you can relate to if you’ve ever made a present for someone that you really wanted them to treasure. So this level of attention to a finished product can often remove the freedom I feel in a Passion Project, which again is not to say that I don’t enjoy doing it, it just means I can’t have the total abandon that a Passion Project requires. 

The second reason is to do with the escapism in the art, which I’m going to be going to be talking more about next week, as it is a whole blogpost in itself. 

So how does a Passion Project help you finish your other projects? Well if you are someone who is creating a lot of things that have a lot of elements to them, or are of a large nature, or are creations to share with other people, or are items for sale…basically if you are anyone besides those creatives who are creating 100% of the time entirely for themselves (and if you are lucky you), but even if you are just someone who is making that many christmas cards stamping one more santa will drive you crackers then a Passion Project will help you in two main ways: 1) by giving you a break from your current project and 2) at the same time instilling you with creative energy to take back to that project.

A Passion Project is a project that comes COMPLETELY from the heart and one that you are so inspired by you just HAVE to do it, you simply don’t even have the choice your inspiration is just that high. Passion Projects are actually the love child of the Creative Instinct I talked about a couple of weeks ago, and while yes every project we do must have some passion in it for us to want to do it ‘Passion Projects’ are actually rarer than you may think. I estimate you to be VERY lucky if you manage to have 30% of your entire creative pursuits at Passion Project level, even if you 100% of the time creating private things for no one but yourself (the only exception I believe is when you first ‘rediscover’ your creative side and it feels like you’ll never want to do anything else but create again  - and creative blocks, critics and burnout are things that happen to other people.) 

So my Passion Project this week? Making Orgonites:

I’m not going to go into what Orgonites are here, as they are not just a pretty thing to be made but put in the simplest way an energy balancing tool made of organic and inorganic substances, there’s a lot of science and intricacies behind it, which is very complicated to explain to anyone totally new to it so if you want to know more please feel free to look it up on your own – Dr. Wilhelm Reich is probably the best place to start. 

These are my first batch of Orgonites, which I have been researching for years before I attempted making them (as they really are that intricate and something you want to get right or you will have just wasted a lot of expensive materials). They are something that I have been excited about creating for a long time, dreaming up designs and staying awake all night with anticipation. Now I get excited about every project that comes across my path but to still be excited about creating something years after you first thought of doing it – that is a Passion Project. And every moment creating them was so absorbing hour by hour disappeared without me realising – another sign of a Passion Project.

And the project the Orgonites were helping me to create? My new Art Journal Playdate which incidentally goes live TODAY Woohoo!!

The Journal Playdate is a workshop consisting of ten video steps that are each five minutes in length or under so you can follow along then go execute, follow along then go execute. It is how I would teach you to create an art journal page WITH MEANING if I was with you.

You can check out the details of the Playdate here: http://journalworkshops.ning.com/page/journal-playdates

And if you join in the next couple of days you will get 25% off!! (I like to reward my Early Birders!)

The Playdate isn’t just about making art, it is quite a profound process where every element created has a reason and meaning behind it so it is only for you if:

You want to learn how to use symbolism more in your art to convey your thoughts and emotions.

You wish to use your art journal pages as a practical tool to remove blocks that hold you back.

You would like to spend time with me to absorb the art of creating an art journal page that has personal meaning to you.

If that’s you, click the image below to come on over:

Much love, I hope to see you in the Playdate if not have a great week xoxo