A Traveler's Digest

Whenever I travel, I like to create a visual journal that acts as a repository for all my memories;  a book that I can flip through at any time and be brought right back into the thick of the adventure. I try to journal at some point on each day of all my trips, while the experience is fresh in my mind.

A few of my travel journals, filled with memories...

Greece

Italy

New Mexico

And my newest journal, which itself went on a journey from here...

to here...

London and Prague

A glimpse of what is inside...

I have created a slideshow of each and every page from this journal which can be seen at

Create Mixed Media.

You can read more about my journal-making process on Bridgette Guerzon Mills' wonderful site amanobooks in this interview from 2009.

True Confessions

I am a journaler. Okay, I said it. Outloud. For everybody to hear.

I share most of the artwork I create and the art projects I am involved with on this blog. But one thing I have never shared before are my personal journals. I do not journal daily, weekly, or sometimes even monthly. But I do journal. And I find there are definitely times when I feel the need to journal. One of the things I like about journaling is the fact that there are no rules. I can do it my way, in my time, in my style. And because I journal with no expectation of my pages being seen, it is very freeing. My journaling style tends to be different from my art. But it reflects me nonetheless.

So why am I talking about this now? It is because Create Mixed Media has started The Open Page, a group on Flickr for journalers.

You can join the group, upload your journals and journal pages, and take a look at everybody elses. It is like an open door into the heart of the artist.

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My personal journals are always handmade. Once they are bound, I begin by painting the pages with a wash.

The next step for me is to add images. In my current journal I am taking my images from an ever-growing pile of torn pages from books, magazines, newspapers, and the like.

My last step is adding the journal writing itself.

All the pages in my journal are at different stages, so there is something to work on no matter what I am in the mood to do.



Head on over to The Open Page on Flickr. You can see more of my journal pages and add your own!

For Shannon...

If you are a mixed media artist, a blogger, or an art lover, you must know of Michelle Ward. To mark the one-year anniversary of the death of her sister Shannon and to honor her unending support of the art blogging community, a collaborative art journal has been made by 39 artists. This top secret project, which has been going on behind the scenes since January, was hosted by Julie, JeriAnn, and Lisa. Michelle has just received this gift in time to bring it home with her to share with her family in Shannon's memory and honor. You can read all about the project and Michelle's response on this post on Michelle's blog. You can see pictures of all the pages on Flickr here.

Michelle -- I am so glad that I had the opportunity to be part of this project. Thank you for your positive spirit, good humor, endless support, original and inspired art, and for all the work you put into HCIT! Hope this journal reminds you of all the people out there who appreciate you and I hope this heavy book lightens your load!

My contribution:

Telling the Storey

The Society of Illustrators in NYC is currently exhibiting the journals of Barron Storey. If you are within 1,000,000 miles of New York, make sure you do not miss this one. Walk, run, swim, train, boat, fly, or teleport there. The show has 100 of his journals on hand, all available to look through and touch!

If you are not familiar with his journals, at the very least spend some quality time looking through his blog. And if you cannot make it to the show, I will bring the show to you! And you will definitely want to click and enlarge the images to see the amazing details.

Barron Storey: Life After Black








The Covers:








The Pages:

Journal Journey With Me

Bridgette Guerzon Mills from Contemplating the Moon showcases her beautiful handmade journals and more on another site, amanobooks. In addition, every week she includes a post detailing some aspect of journaling. Past topics have included using transparencies, finding the words, and dream journaling. She is currently highlighting travel journals and I am happy to say that several of my journals and travel journaling techniques are showcased here. Please stop by and look through her beautiful, inspiring, and informative site.

Below you will find some images of and additional links to two of my travel journals that Bridgette highlighted.

Greece 2008 - click all pics to enlarge and click here and here to see all the journal pages on my original posts.








New Mexico 2008 - click all pics to enlarge and click here to see all the journal pages on my original post.