Creative Journals

I have been feeling, for a long time, how I would like to work on a visual journal – painting, sketching, colored pencils…something. I am an inveterate journal keeper. I have been keeping a journal since about 1980. Perhaps earlier. I have scads of them everywhere. I used to put snippets of things in them and they would get quite fat and I would have to keep it in a big ziploc bag in order to ensure that the bits and pieces wouldn’t fall out. An old boyfriend spent the day reading my journals once and that was the end of him. Jerk. My journals are for my mental health and NOT for sharing. They are not nice, not always pretty, but they are a fantastic exercise.

Anyway, enough boring background.

Lately I have been writing bits and notes in my journal about Thr3fold journal in order to remind myself what I want to write in the review. Putting the notes in my journal keeps all the parts together. Today, I was reading an article in Cloth Paper Scissors. Jane Lafazio, Keeping Creative Sketchbooks, pg.24-27, March/April 2007 issue, writes a little lesson on drawing and the whole article is illustrated with pages from her notebooks. The images are fresh, alive, colorful drawings. They make me want to get closer, to know more. She also writes “The journaling makes my sketchbook more than a series of paintings; it becomes my illustrated personal story.” What a lovely thought. I love the thought of something being my personal story.

Darling Boy made a deal with me to draw every day. This is his picture. Of course it is about war, but I love the little alien in the upper right hand corner. I am tempted to enlarge it and paint it. Something about it appeals to me, perhaps the googly eyes.

Tonya showed a picture of one of her visual sketchbooks, so I have been reinspired all day to figure out how to do this.

And finally, I finished another Cross Block (Flowering Snowball). Two in one week! I am thrilled!

How do you like the fabric with the faces?

Author: Jaye

Quiltmaker who enjoys writing and frozen chocolate covered bananas.

8 thoughts on “Creative Journals”

  1. Go for it with the visual journal. I bet it will make you really happy to do that. ANd it is somewhat portable too. I keep one in my car with some fine point colored pens. The boys use it sometimes when they are bored and it is fun to look back at. Your cross blocks are looking good, I really like the fabrics in this one!

  2. I like that fabric quite a bit – but I also like the dinosaur one! I am in love with the paisley – is the background brown or ? sometimes hard to tell online.

    Journaling sounds like it agree with you – have you a size or style that you prefer? Spiral, sewn, etc?

    I like the alien too – when I first looked at the picture I thought it was what was in the CPS to illustrate the story! LOL
    😀 eirdre

  3. Julie: it is a good idea to keep a journal in the car. I think I will have to keep several around, though, since I commute via train so much of the time. There are a couple of issues that I am grappling with. One is the type of pen or pencil to use. I need something that moves across the paper smoothly and I haven’t found the right thing that is portable yet. I tried colored pencils, but they weren’t soft enough. One color of pen isn’t enough color and seems to permanent. I think pastels would be too messy. Not sure how to resolve this.
    Second, I wonder if having multiple journals and drawing in all of them simultaneously will ruin the continuity or if it really matters?

    Thanks for the advice.

  4. Deirdre: for writing I like the Miquelrius journals that I used to get at Kate’s Paperie. They are spiralbound and can lay flat for writing. I don’t think they are good for drawing, though. For drawing I like the the big black drawing books that are sewn, because the paper is thinker and absorbent. Spiralbound sketchbooks that you buy at any art store are ok, too, they are just not that pretty unless I do something to the front cover.
    Thanks for reading.

  5. I love all the fabrics in this-the whole piece is really zingy and became an instant favourite of mine. Enjoyed your review of the Thr3fold journal too.

  6. The Flowering Snowball/Cross Blocks are really fun to make. I am able to use prints with larger motifs, which never seem to make it into my quilts, even though I love them. I am glad you enjoyed the Thr3fold journal reviews. I will finish them up pretty soon.

  7. i think it’s fantastic that the boy has agreed to do a drawing every day. irene draws every day too, but doesn’t like staying confined to a journal type notebook. she draws all over all sorts of paper.

    and i think it would be really cool to blow up his picture and paint it.

    a friend of mine and i have sort of joked about taking a piece of each child’s art and having it tattooed on us.

  8. He is having a hard time keeping up the schedule, but I am on his case all the time, because I hate that handheld device. I am sure there is a tube that goes into his ear and sucks out his brain when I am not looking. I think the book gives him some structure for drawing that he needs.

    Fortunately (for me), he has agreed to learn to play the clarinet for the school band. While I am not looking forward to haranguing him for yet another thing to do, it is the ARTS and I would much prefer to harangue him for that and listen to horribly off key notes (famous last words, right???) than that crazy making deedle – deedle – dee – boinga – boing music from the handheld.

    I love the idea of tattooing a piece of your child’s art on your body. I would never do it, but I love the idea.

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