An Introduction to Surrealism - Surreal Art Journal

Hello and welcome to my Surreal Circle Art Journal.

I love the thought of Circle Journals travelling the globe, collecting art works from far and wide, absorbing a sprinkling of aura from every person they visit and a hint of atmosphere from each destination.

I am new to art journalling, an enthusiastic but not naturally talented artist, eager to learn, share and improve. With all this in mind I posted a question in the Swaps sub-forum on Milliande.ning.com
to ask if an Art Journal swap might be possible. The response was fabulous and two generous forum members volunteered to host swaps: one being a monthly journal page swap and this terrifically exciting Circle Journal.

I am so looking forward to taking part in this special collaboration. We are all strangers, who in all likelihood will never meet, but even now at the very beginning, we are forming a deep bond of friendship through sharing our art, our feelings, our thoughts, precious aspects of ourselves.

When asked to choose a theme it seemed to me that my muse of late was leading me to create images that do not look like I expect them to, that evolve from one thing into another- strange, curious, weird images that have a life of their own.
When I thought about it I realised that my doodles and drawings have often had this tendency: and onlookers will often see things within my abstract work that I don't even see there myself. I particularly admire the work of Dali and was inspired by the fantastic album sleeves created by Roger Dean in my youth. So for me it seems entirely appropriate to choose 'Surreal' as my theme.

Definitions:


Surreal
phantasmagoric: characterized by fantastic imagery and incongruous juxtapositions.
dreamlike: resembling a dream.


Surrealism


A 20th-century literary and artistic movement that attempts to express the workings of the subconscious and is characterized by fantastic imagery and incongruous juxtaposition of subject matter.

Literature or art produced in this style


To me Surrealist art challenges the way we see the world, the way we think.

Surrealist artists and their images are well known.

Artists that I enjoy include:
Roger Dean:
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I wasn't allowed to study art at O level as it was seen as non academic and I had to do Geography instead. I truanted from Geography, failed the exam and signed up for art O level retakes without permission. I just turned up and sat the two papers. For the painting paper I did a water colour of a tree by a river painted after Dean. I passed my art, no problem. My walls at uni were covered with posters and postcards of his album covers.

Dali:
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A genius, the king of juxtaposition and surprise. His clever use of use of colour, the clarity of his images: humourous, thought provoking and even disturbing. He didn't see himself as a Surrealist artist but described his body of work as Dalism, one of a kind, unique and not conforming to anyone else's definition of his art.

Picasso:
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Although generally regarded as a cubist, he used surreal elements in many of his works


Ernst:
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Characterised by his childlike images, expressive, bright and free.
Magritte: Famous for his immaculate men with no faces wearing bowler hats.

I hope visitors to this site will enjoy the images posted here and that collaborating artists will enjoy working in a 'Surreal' way. I really look forward to seeing the many interpretations, techniques and art forms that travel back to me in my journal.
There are not any rules for my book: just relax, enjoy and be free.