Art Journals & Sketchbooks

Where the seeds of ideas germinate.

There are always journals, sketchbooks and bundles of paper covering my desk, there to mop up ideas, to catch overheard words, splashes of color, snippets and bits.

These books become home to scribbled thoughts and the off-cuts & trimmings from my ongoing projects.

Together, these collections of desk-scraps morph into idea seeds, which if not caught between the pages of a book, could vanish forever.

Since 2020 I’ve made a meditation practice to include sketchbook time in an ongoing personal project: My Book of Days

This is my favourite place begin & end my day.

‘Sketchbooks’ & ‘Art Journals’ are almost interchangeable terms to me.

I’ve got books dedicated to swatching, experiments in combinations of colours, textures, media and patterns. Some books are filled with collaged cuttings and salvaged scraps.

These are the ones that sit on my shelf and I add to periodically.

Others are from a class or course I took, I revisit these like old friends.

At any one time there is at least one current art journal, my place to explore ideas, where I take refuge when my head gets too busy.