I'd recently come to the end of my latest art journal, and found myself without the next. So hate not having one at the ready! I finally got busy and made a new one last night. Although finishing one is always bittersweet, having a brand new one is heavenly.
I sewed my own watercolor paper into an old music book I bought in Paris. The spine was sturdy and in great condition, so I left it in place and made four signatures to fit inside that existing width. I like to have as much paper in my journals as possible that allows it to still close flat.
I had to start playing in it right away, always need an "if found" note somewhere. Although I really have made more than 29 journals, some of them don't get counted when made. Not sure what my strange system is that qualifies one to be numbered and another not, I assume it has to do with size and purpose. Any books made for travel journal purposes aren't included, or small little sketchbooks either, for example. I guess I save my numbering system for the big, art play, visual journals, the ones for no purpose other than discovery and fun.
This morning I played in it some more:
It's hard to resist the call of the beautiful blank pages:
Sometimes I feel like I should slow down, that I don't want to fill it too quickly, but the truth is; that's silly, I can always make another! Why restrict creative impulses, right? Never know where they might lead...like the Martha Graham quote above says, "...keep the channel open." With a big book of white pages the channel seems wide open indeed!
