Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Stacks of Art Journals and Books


Seth at the Altered Page
invited his readers to post about their
"stacks."
Shown above are a couple of art journals
that I made myself.
The blue one is from watercolor paper, 
modeled on Teesha Moore's fabulous journals.
The journal on the right is the one
with the pink pages that I've been working in recently.
It is small enough to fit into my purse,
and I've been taking it everywhere to 
draw in when I have some time.



On the left, a fabric covered art journal 
with watercolor pages. It's pieced, painted,
collaged, sewn and heavily embellished.
I haven't started working
in this one yet. On the right, a fabric and
paper journal, in scrappy-sewn-painted-
collaged-abundance. The cover fabric 
was an upholstery remnant that was very
abstract and painterly.




Some older art journals and sketchbooks.
In college, a sketchbook was a place for 
preliminary drawings and plans for larger
projects. That concept has evolved somewhat!
The black ring binder on top holds pages made from
recycled cardboard that are 
gessoed, painted and collaged.



Another view of a stack of art journals.
The green cover is the Scrappy Green Journal
that Elizabeth made, and that I
have delighted in filling up with even more stuff.
The blue hardback was a purchased journal
with flimsy pages...not really intended for
mixed media. But I filled it up anyway
and it's really my favorite so far.



My journals tend to be scattered about,
so this is a selection of favorites,
rather than a
comprehensive documentation.



I added a self-tie closure to this journal cover.






These journals are often displayed in my living room
on the bookcase, along with the many books and 
magazines that I use for inspiration. You can see
the stack of index cards on top from the
Index Card a Day challenge, this summer.




"The Book of Knowledge" is an ongoing project. I have
two more spreads to do, but somehow they haven't 
happened yet. I removed the cover from the book, and
am making accordion style pages. The Book of Ornament
is a terrific source for decorative motifs. 
Several hand-made books, and 
collaborative books are also shown.




Another view of some collaborative books,
made from swap pages.
I didn't include any photos of my
altered books this time. I will
save that for another post.

Visit Seth's blog to see other
bloggers'  "stacks."



37 comments:

  1. Fantastic grouping of stacks here. My favorite are all the handmade journals and books. I would love to flip through them all.

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  2. Wow you did a great job with these stacks...so much variation..I love the fabric covers and the last pic of the swap scrap books..those are fantastic..!

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  3. Your journals are gorgeous. I love the mixture of textures, especially the fabric! I want to dive into each and every one. Thank you for sharing!

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  4. Wonderful stacked eye candy dear Dianne! Really makes me itch to sit and turn the pages...your fabric covered journals are especially wonderful and I am such a fan of arches too...it's all good as the kids say :)

    Happy Stack Day!
    oxo

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  5. Love the different stacks. And your fabric covers are a real inspiration. The Book of Ornament made me laugh--I have it, too! These connections are wonderful!

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  6. WOW, your journals are works of art in themselves! Very inspiring.

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  7. your books and journals are totally wonderful! i'm going to look further as soon as i get thru the seth list!

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  8. My goodness you've made a lot of lovely journals. It must be so much fun sitting in your living room and browsing through all of them!

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  9. Thanks for posting all of these wonderful photos of your journals and your handmade books. The materials you've used are just beautiful!

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  10. I LOVEEEEEEEEEEEE Your fabric journals!!!! I am primarily a fiber artist recently turned to drawing and painting. But your stitches sing to me!!!
    Love your stacks.
    Thanks for coming to see mine today too!!! ;-)

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  11. I wonder if the favorite journal is the favorite journal because of the disappointment in the paper. (There is a great freedom of expression that comes when we aren't worrying about ruining a perfect book.) It's probably the clearest expression of YOU!

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  12. Stacks a plenty! Love how colorful your piles are!

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  13. so much eye candy-now if only we could see all the books everyone has posted :)

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  14. Great stacks! Your journals are awesome, you do beautiful work.

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  15. wonderful books and your descriptions make me wish i could see inside.

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  16. Great stacks! Very, very wonderful!!!

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  17. I don't know which one I like the best! They are all just yummy. You've inspired me with all your wonderful creativity.

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  18. Wow what an extensive, varied and beautiful collection - I love the way you cherish and group different ones together as opposed to lumping them all up - sprinkling here and there...

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  19. Wonderful ,wonderful books!!
    Such a delight to see :]
    Thank you for sharing your "stacks"!!

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  20. Your stacks are most impressive, dear Dianne. I am really impressed with those journals, since I love both paper and fabric. All those swap books bring back memories, too.

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  21. I meant to tell you that I'm sorry I was late getting here. I picked a terrible day to have internet problems.

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  22. Such a beautiful collection of hand bound journals. Very inspiring.

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  23. Lovely stacks! Like you mine are scattered around the house. Gathering a large chunk of them together made me realize how much I've done over the years.
    Thanks for sharing!!

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  24. Love all your stacks and your fabric creations have me wanting to pick them up and have a closer look. Keep smiling and creating

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  25. your art journals are beautiful! love all your stacks.

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  26. Wow! There is a lot to see here. I really like your fabric journals. But I have to say, I'm still a sucker for a pile of spiral bound notebooks, too! Great stuff.

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  27. Your journals are beautiful! Love how they stack up!
    Olivia

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  28. your stacks are magnificent! love them all! looking at everyone else's stacks is so inspiring. :)

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  29. Wonderful variety of stacks. Your hand made journals are fantastic.

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  30. I am a "fibre" person, so I really enjoyed your fabric journals.

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  31. oh, okay, so i am NOT the only one with multiple stacks everywhere (and i do mean, everywhere). :) at least yours are yummy to look at, mine just look messy!!!

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  32. OHMY... your stacks are so colourful and beautiful! I would love to touch them and look at all the art that is inside... I should make me an art journal with fabric cover too next time, it looks fabulous!

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  33. WHAT a great post. I love the variety here. And the fabric!! You really are so productive!

    Pretty stacks. Thanks for sharing!

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  34. I LOVE the journals - my favorite art project! Now I need to incorporate the kraft paper:)
    Thanks for stopping by!!

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  35. I love your journal covers! I wish I could flip through them. That's a good idea, displaying them in the living room. I'd do that, but my family is quite nosy and would read every last detail!
    Thank you as well for stopping by my blog and leaving a comment!
    Peace,
    Karis

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  36. lovely journals and art books!

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