Visual Journal 1

I love books – reading them, making them or just appreciating them.

About ten years ago, I received a wordless book as a gift. It’s black cover shows the marks of fading in the sun from the various perches it has occupied with other “art books.”

In the process of rediscovering my studio inventory after our move, I thumbed through this stunning folio of empty pages. Beautiful in and of itself.

Its hand-pressed, boldly-colored papers that had previously been “sanctified” as untouchable, cried out with inspiration. I mused the notion of pushing against that fear-of-the-first-stroke creative wall (times 30) by starting to use this tactile codex as my canvas. Daunting thought. I tend not to doodle well on demand, so I set the book on the shelf again.

This week in my “research,” among other amazing things, I came upon a quote by Rumi that accelerated my journey into this personal journal project.

“A new moon teaches gradualness
and deliberation, and how one gives birth
to oneself slowly. Patience with small details
makes perfect a large work, like the universe.
What nine months of attention does for an embryo
forty early mornings alone will do
for your gradually growing wholeness.”

With a few simple rules,

First thing I do