Raw Art Journaling: Interview with Quinn McDonald

BB  How does your book support individual inquiry into one’s deepest Self?
QMc Raw art journaling is the deep-rooted, authentic heart work you bring to your journal. Raw art is what heals and restores, and requires only an open mind and heart, not a pile of equipment or years of talent. Raw art is the GPS system for your journey, and like the GPS you use in your car, it is intensely personal to your journey. How you create art is up to you–from drawing to painting, singing, dancing, writing or performing music or parenting, comforting people or leading a team–and putting your talent to practice is always deeply, richly, personal.

BB Tell me more about making through making art.
QMc My life changed entirely when I realized that we don’t find meaning in life, we make meaning from life. We don’t pursue meaning, we develop it over time, each of us in our own journey. Creativity is what makes meaning in our complex lives. The act of discovery followed by the act of creation is like flint on steel–it throws sparks that light our hearts. Creativity helps us understand the world we are in, and the world that is in us.

BB How does art and one’s Soul interact with each other?
QMc Above I said that creation is like flint on steel–I believe those sparks that fly are divine sparks–they are what lights and warms our soul. Art is the vocabulary and the story of the soul. When we create, we become creators. I believe that no matter how you practice religion (or even if you don’t), that creation is a divine spark that connects souls and hearts. In the instant of creation, we recognize the Spirit within us and the power of connection. No one creates alone, there is a soul-deep connection to the past, the future, and the Spirit in all of us when we create.

BB Is this a how-to book?
QMc Raw Art Journaling has many projects in it, but they are just the beginning. The projects are there as a start. There are journal prompts to help people connect to themselves through art and writing. It’s a how-to book, but even more, it’s a how-to-BE book.

This Wednesday night I can be found with hoards of artistic folk at independently owned bookstore Changing Hands in Tempe, Arizona at 7 pm listening captivatingly to author Quinn McDonald speak on making meaning through  making art.  Join me.  If you aren’t able, click here to purchase her new book Raw Art Journaling.

Signing off to journal,

Bonnie