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Thursday, March 05, 2015

My First Visual Zibaldone

Today I am commonplacing in my first visual zibaldone....and trying to define exactly what that means as I go. Since a zibaldone is such an obscure type of book and by definition it means hodgepodge, I feel like it's okay to just make stuff up.


Therefore, my zibaldone will be similar to my Journaling By 5s journal but without the limitations. I will work on the book as a whole instead of going page by page as in traditional art journaling. I will limit myself to about 20 pages since working on any more than that can get overwhelming or tedious. I will loosely follow the JB5 sessions and media recommendations but in no particular order and with more substitutions and repeats.

Some of the JB5 principles that I will continue to follow are that I only use things I have on hand. I will not buy and kind of media or embellishment specifically for my visual zibaldone. That doesn't mean I'm on a spending freeze. I'm a very thrifty shopper anyway but I will occasionally pick up some fun new stuff and I will use that stuff in my zibaldone but it won't be purchased specifically for that purpose.

Another JB5 principle I will adhere to is leaving my brain out of the process. Of course I will have a rough idea of what I want to do and how I want my pages to look but I will not plan out every detail of the book and I will not end up with a book full of perfect pages. To help with that I will work quickly but without a timer.

My plan is to end up with a book full of experiments, trial and error, "I wonder what would happen if...", do-overs, "What was I thinking??", etc... If I end up with a book full of awesome art pages, that would be a disappointment to me. That would mean that I played it safe and stuck to what I know and I don't want to do that. I want to push the envelope, make mistakes, learn from them and keep going.

As I continue to play in my first visual zibaldone I will come up with a more specific definition for it. Join me in the JB5 Facebook group to keep tabs on the process and see where it ends up:



16 comments:

Vicki said...

your artistic side just never stops. you are awesome sauce

OracleGaia said...

Sounds fun! I just wish I had time to do all these things. Haven't even managed a Jby5 yet. I will, I will - in the not too far off future - when I have either caught up with all my lessons, or abandoned all hope of EVER catching up... LOVE the zibaldone word too. It's a good name for a quick journal.

Helen said...

Your ideas are great, and I pledge to do a Zibaldone as soon as I finish my JBy5. I am getting collage images cut out right now! Thank you for all your inspiration!

Annette McCarty said...

Shannon, I looked up the pronunciation of zibaldone and am trying to use it in everyday conversation. A challenge in central Texas,But when if I go to Italy (or somewhere) I will be all set~ Looking forward to seeing this production.Thank you for sharing,

Deb said...

I think doing a Zibaldone is in my future! You definitely inspire me!

Shannon Green said...

Annette, try it out the next time you go to an Italian restaurant. Or Pizza Hut.

I'm so glad y'all will be zibaldoning with me! Will that make us zibaldoners? Don't see why not.

Anonymous said...

My first JB5 is done..... I'm most definitely going to be Zibaldoning very soon. And I'm totally going to be calling myself a Zibaldoner. (Of course with my Italian accent and hand gestures).
Yvonne

Unknown said...

Another fantastic concept! Cannot wait to see your progress. Rock on sister! Terrie

CarolAnnTX said...

I was fascinated by the free flow of ideas concept.(Not to focus on writing aspect) I've participated in "free writing" courses where the writer is encouraged to write spontaneously without much contemplation or anxiety. The results are often amazing. You are a master at the free flow concept, both artistically and verbally. We enjoy the results.
Thank you for sharing and empowering us to let it flow.
Carol Ann

Unknown said...

Can we hope for a zibaldone video?

Ladytruenorth said...

Hi Shannon: I have decided to call my zibaldone: zippiteedoodah .
Back to zibald-zoning. love your ideas, keep on rolling rolling rolling...rawhide!
Blessings.

borchisko said...

OMG, Shannon. You truly ARE "AWESOME SAUCE"!! And to think...all this time I've been zibaldoning! Oops, there go the dots. LOL NOW we have a word for what many of us have probably been doing all along!

I just put in request to join the JB5 FB group, if you please.

Keep feeding us, Shannon - YOU ROCK!!

Spickens said...
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Spickens said...
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Jen X said...

It would make us all "zibbalDOERS"!

Jen X said...

I'm so thrilled to learn about this! I enjoyed your videos about big bertha. Love being able to incorporate my last name right into the word! I'm calling mine #JenzibalDaidone. I'll update when I have something to share! Jen Daidone