24
May

Scrap Book or Art Journal — It’s a Personal Journey

   Posted by: Barb Hartsook   in Art Works, Mixed Media

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Dani fills a blank journal with scraps and snippets. Pages of print fonts. Paragraphs she’s cut out or creative pieces she’s written herself, and pictures cut from specialty papers or photos she’s taken. Both sides of every page are filled with whatever pleases her visually. I see no particular continuity to it, yet I love paging through it. Or even better, watching her page through it, sharing it with me. I watch her face, her demeanor, and feel her pleasure as she gives me the gift of some of who she is. Dani is one of my granddaughters.

Several years ago I found a bunch of small blank spiral bound sketch books stacked on an end cap at a discount store, priced very low. I bought all they had. A dozen or so. And for the next several days I covered the kitchen island and all peripheral counter-top space available to me with acrylic liquid paints, embossing powders and inks, waxes, buttons, tassles, metal thingie-bobs from the craft store… and I lost myself in the wonderful mess of creating journal covers.

Here are eight of them… all given that year as gifts. (Mistake, and lesson learned: don’t give art books to people who don’t write or sketch… just have the covers printed and give those — framed.) :)

Wendy’s blog at journalcovers-1journalcovers-2QuirkyArtist inspired me to remember my love of journals and dig out these old photos. I have shelves and boxes full of journals — not hand made, but pretty — mostly writings, some drawings. No plain school-type spiral notebooks for me — they just aren’t fun to doodle in! Art journals are though. A fun place to put things — our thoughts, pictures, dreams and wishes, our questions and discoveries, our stream-of-consciousness writing or drawing. Personal stuff.

Famous artists’ journals are sometimes published. I once borrowed Frida Kahlo’s from the library and didn’t want to return it! I kept it for a month, feeling I had an intimate portrait of her personality, just by looking at her drawings — mostly of herself.

The coffee’s on… come in and share your art journals, or art books, or just a thought about how you use (or love) them.

If you’d like to, leave a link where we can see your stuff. And enjoy your day.

Barb Hartsook

Some of my paintings can be seen here…

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This entry was posted on Saturday, May 24th, 2008 at 2:29 pm and is filed under Art Works, Mixed Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

17 comments so far

Carol
 1 

Too hot for coffee here today, water instead.
Love your journal covers. Great fun idea!
I haven’t figured out how to get an image in yet. Still reading the lesson.
Carol

May 24th, 2008 at 2:24 pm
Viki N
 2 

Barb,

Your journal covers are magical! You did a beautiful job with them. Thanks for sharing them with us.

Viki N.

May 24th, 2008 at 6:04 pm
quirkyartist
 3 

Thank you for linking back to me. My old blog is quirkyartist.blogspot.com
I keep a sketchbook rather than a journal. I am trying to make it more ‘integrated’ rather than just a drawing on a page. Not successful yet. I am finding the Danny Gregory podcasts interesting for that, Roz Stendahl taught me something from her podcasts last week. Stick to one book at a time. It worked for me before - can work for me again.

May 24th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
David
 4 

Barb, I love your writing style. It is engaging and interesting, pulling in the reader.

I am also very impressed by your art work. I am amazed you can do this kind of work with a digital tablet. You are very talented. Keep up the good work!

May 24th, 2008 at 7:51 pm
Anita
 5 

Wonderful journal covers! Both of my daughters write and journal. My older one less now than she used to. My youngest and I have this love of paper. Do you know what I mean? To go to a store and see journals and notebooks and heck, even plain lined paper and just wish you could buy them all? ;)

May 24th, 2008 at 11:37 pm
Barbara
 6 

Thank you Carol. In my virtual Art Barn Studio there is a small fridge with plenty of those little water bottles — feel free to have one. :)

You’re welcome, Viki. Journals [i]are[/i] magical, and creating abstract covers lends to the magic.

Anita, you are blessed to have your girls share your love of writing and playing with papers — whether in the scrapbook aisle of a craft store or the journal shelves at a large book store. Have you ever made paper? Or assembled your hand-made papers into a book? Your beautiful abstracts at http://sliloh.wordpress.com/ would be at home on heavily textured papers.

Ah, Wendy — sticking to one book at a time. Hmm… do you then carry that sketch book with you all the time? I seem to have several going — and when I leave the house I just grab one. Maybe two. And I’ll sketch on lined paper if that’s the journal I grabbed. I switch between calling them journals and sketch books. All of it — writing and drawing — are just stories waiting to be told. :)

Thanks so much for your kind comments, David. The journal covers weren’t done digitally, though. But abstracts on Painter are just plain fun to do, with all the brush categories, and their hundreds of editing-possibilities. I have created some of my own brushes there, from palette knives to draw tree foliage, to watercolors using charcoal and water for portraits. Limitless potential…

Thanks all for stopping by… :)

Barb

May 25th, 2008 at 8:27 am
Anita
 7 

We have made paper before and despite our lack of skill at it it looked pretty cool ;) Someday I’ll figure out something to do with all my abstracts besides not selling them at Zazzle! (as in, they are in the marketplace but not one has sold) ;)

May 25th, 2008 at 8:19 pm
Wendy
 8 

Barb I love your journals and love your writing, I think your blogging is off to a good start.

May 29th, 2008 at 6:32 pm
bev langby
 9 

Hi Barb well you are up and running at last i hope u found my contribution of a blog reference inspiring
http://thecolourguru.typepad.com/the_colourguru/a_gypsys_journey_journal/index.html

You made me smile as i did the same things u did bought several little black books and decorated them for family but they really didnt understand the meaning “oh whats this ” lol and i gave my niece Tyler May watercolour set and brushes(sable) and they are in a drawer lol so ive come to the conclusion that we all find art in any form in our own time, i mean i was in my forties although loved it when i was in school but found my flair quashed by rules, so your grandchildren are lucky as mine are that we are nuturing their artistic spirit,ive had Kylie painting at times she loves it but time is a factor in her busy life, she did one piece that she has hanging in her bedroom and its lovely so maybe she will return when the time is right for her ………well ive finished my peppermint tea(a little intergestion) (spel) and must move on with my day so see u at one of our many meeting places my friend and i know this is where u are meant to be so have fun and enjoy your new found path………..
hugsbev

May 29th, 2008 at 8:42 pm
Barb Hartsook
 10 

Thanks so much Bev. Maybe when I come over I could borrow those wonderful sable brushes hidden away in your niece’s drawer. :DD We’ll have peppermint tea and I’ll bring the watercolors.

I think it’s so sad that your creativity was “quashed in school” — seems to happen all too often here too.

Thanks also for the link to the Colour Guru’s blog. I love that blog, and as you scroll all the way down the right side, she has some other places to go for inspiration.

I appreciate your stopping by, Bev… see you at PT and DPT and other fun places to hang out with our art. :)

Barb

May 29th, 2008 at 9:15 pm
Barb Hartsook
 11 

Thank you, Wendy… you had good advice for me at Painter Talk, and I appreciate it so much. :)

Alice, I love to make paper! I don’t do it because of the mess, but the outcome is just fun to hold and touch. I’m a sap for texture anyway. :) I think there have to be many uses for it.

Barb

May 29th, 2008 at 9:24 pm
Patty Nice
 12 

Barb, you have a great talent for writing and I’m sure your blog will soon have a long list of faithful readers! :-)

May 30th, 2008 at 9:51 am
Barb Hartsook
 13 

Thank you Patty — you are a constant inspiration to me with your paintings — especially your gift of abstracts. :) See you back at Painter Talk.

May 30th, 2008 at 10:36 am
Yvonne Hopgood
 14 

Barb,I have sat here for almost an hour going through your Blog and the links.
I love the writing style and your Art is an inspiration.
I shall certainly be popping in for more.

June 6th, 2008 at 8:50 am
Barb Hartsook
 15 

Thank you Yvonne! It’s good to see you here, and I appreciate your stopping in and roaming around a bit. (Always good to meet up with former classmates for a cuppa something and conversation.) :)

June 6th, 2008 at 11:00 am
bev langby
 16 

Hi Barb just popped in for a quick cuppa, ive been surfing again lol and came across this site that i thought would interest u
http://www.jacketflap.com/
its saturday here in OZ so im painting away trying to do something with some pics of the grands that Kylie took on her blackberry as they are somewhat blown out, well have a good weekend and speak soon

hugBev

June 7th, 2008 at 12:56 am
Barb Hartsook
 17 

Thank you so much, Bev… I love having you come by. I hope you’ll paint some of those grandkids off Kylie’s Blackberry and post them for us to see at Painter Talk and also on your PBase gallery: http://www.pbase.com/bevlangby

Barb :)

June 21st, 2008 at 3:03 pm

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