From Rough Journal to Art Journal

I'm a firm believer in having something to write on handy at all times. I generally have some sort of rough journal available to write notes or to sketch out an idea. I may, or may not, do something else with the rough idea but I need to know that I have a ready place to at least put down on paper the beginning of my ideas. In this case I had my "mission journal" with me during a service of worship at the end of day #1 of serving at a relief center for immigrants entering the country in south Texas. Since I am now a pastor vocationally, it is always fun to be a member of the congregation (and not the pastor leading worship), so I enjoy taking notes of what is being said and done. I took notes during the sermon (left) and later embellished with a cut shape (sunflower) which became the beginning of a concept for a more formal art journal entry.
I began in my art journal on a previously begun page...I look for something that I've started that resonates with what I'm thinking about now. In this case, I'd been doing art with immigrants so it made sense to add to a page where I'd already collaged memorabilia about being an artist (below left).

The theme of the sermon was the "Golden Rule" and "do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Essentially, the pastor said that "our life is the standard" and that whatever we want or desire for ourselves is what then we must be willing to help ensure that others are about to have. The pastor challenged the congregation to make a list of what "we" desired and that then became the standard for what others should also have available. I've been on a "sunflower theme" lately as that represents my childhood home (Kansas) so I used the petals on the sunflower as the "list" of what I want.

I used stamped lettering to write the name of song that had been sung. The brown scraps on the right are torn pieces of paper in the shape of tears, and the represent the tears of the immigrants we had visited with earlier in the day. Of course, the stamped image of the cross symbolizes...life and love and hope and commitment.