I have just downloaded, and read through this new Sharon B course (via Joggles) and what a lot of content to read!! It has really made me re-assess my sketchbooks, journals, notebooks whatever you want to call them. Over the years I have 'had' to keep notes for all the course work I have done, and then there are the 'ideas' books I have started - great plans each time I start a new project I have thought I need a new book. I also used to keep a diary which I did try one year to make into a bit more of a creative journal but it was still essentially a diary.
Then there was the great intention of a travel journal when I went to Egypt - the plans had been to sketch and write but this turned into more of a diary again and only had one tiny sketch in its 36 A5 pages. The trip was exciting and full and I took loads of photos but it was not really good for stopping to sketch and the other 'singles' in the party did not understand or appreciate my intentions so I gave up the idea of sketching then. There were photos added after the trip at the end of the book. If I go on another similar trip I will try sketching again (as I feel I can't draw) but need to release the 'me' - ie my desire to do this exercise without embarrassment!!
The other day when sorting out my books for the HH exhibition (next weekend!!) a friend helped me with my books and 'kindly' took them all apart - that is took all the spiral bindings out with the idea that we could move pages from one to another, add pages and remove un-used pages to make them tidy!! - Sadly we were unable to put the wires back in so I have had to put in nice cord bindings (thanks for the advise Janet!! :-)). This now great idea made me go back to all my other half started books and combine them all!!.
What I am left with is a heap of clean papers which I will (for the moment) hold together with rings as the work builds in the course and as my new 'Studio' Journal becomes the latest combination volume!! This way the pages can be moved around, added to and generally be a little more organised. I know we should not necessarily be 'organised' - the whole point of a 'studio' journal is to let the ideas etc flow - so if your ideas move from one item to another we should let that happen. I will - as soon as I have used up all these loose pages - then I will return to the nice spiral bound volumes without EVER letting anyone persuade me they are easy to take apart!!
2 comments:
I too have a surfiet of journals/idea books/etc... besides the obvious nightmare of re-organizing the pages and re-binding, was taking them apart a good idea do you think? Can you find anything? will you go back to the pages more now that they're together?
The lesson I learned many years ago, from a very wise and talented lady called Sandra Kedzlie, was to immediately remove the wire spirals before embarking on any design work.I now practice this routine religiously and feel free to use any size paper in the knowledge that pages are so easily removed or re-assembled.It really personalises your journaling.
love J x
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