Category Archives: Art Journal

Red Journal

Yes.

3 years-ish from blank, white book to this:

I started 6 journals at one time almost 3 years ago & the Red one is finished first.

Inside, front cover:

First page:

“So go on and cry me a river
Don’t say this will haunt you forever
It never did, it never will”
– Alter Bridge

Page 2:

“I’ve got a hole in me now
Yeah, I got a scar I can talk about.”
– Matchbox Twenty

Page 3:

“The youth can walk faster, but it is the elder that knows the road.”

– African proverb

4th page: I will never forget the Hot & Juicy Sauce.

Page 5:

“Write hard and clear about what hurts.”

– Earnest Hemmingway

Page 6:

“It takes a long time to become young.”

– Picasso

Page 7:

When I upgraded my paints, I was in awe of the colors and my first attempt at using glazing fluid

Page 8:

“But everyone you know, is trying to smooth it over
Everyone needs a floor they can fall through”
– P!nk

Page 9:

Just words I saw somewhere…

Page 10:

“I think I want to paint you
And then I want to hang you
In my bedroom over my head”

– Rob Thomas

Page 11:

“If you want more love, why don’t you say so.”

– John Mayer

12th page:

I’ve shown this page here before, and it still cracks me up…

Page 13:

This is all I have to say about that.

Page 14:

Some days, Pinterest is about as deep as I can handle…

Page 15:

This is a repeat as well, but I show every page when I finish a journal.

Page 16:

Ya’ll might note that there are no words on this spread.

It doesn’t need any. I love this page…

Page 17:

“Words, they’ll try to shake you, don’t let them break you or stop your world from turning. When words keep you from feeling good, use them as firewood, and let ’em burn.”

– Train

Page 18:

“You wreck me, Baby”

– Tom Petty

Page 19:

“The center of your heart is where life begins; the most beautiful place on earth.”

– Rumi

Page 20: About my friends!

21st page:

About that loser that tried to leave me in the mountains…

Ok…about his dog…

Page 22:

“What we learned here is love tastes bitter when it’s gone.

– Matchbox Twenty

Page 23:

“Arrange whatever pieces come your way.”

– Virginia Woolf

Page 24: More Pinterest

“Some words. The way they look at you.”

Page 25:

“Love with every stranger; the stranger the better.”

– Hozier

Page 26:

“He’s yelling about my tattoos. We all live with the scars we choose. They may hurt like hell but they all make us stronger.”

– Sugarland

Page 27:

“Let go of the judge within and be surrounded by positive, supportive people. Be gentle on yourself and others. Give. Never hold back.

– Nancy Davis Bilbro

Page 28:

“I know you’ll never love me but maybe you’ll stay for a while.”

– Henry Rollins

Inside, back cover:

The book cover is sealed down as it is so old it was crumbly.

Back cover:

This was fun!

Now there’s more time to work on the other 5 Art Journals:

Yellow

Orange

Green

Teal

Blue

….

This fall’s postcard harvest

8, so far.

They are appropriately GLORIOUS of course.

1) This came from Massachusetts:

The sewing a frame on postcards thing doesn’t get old, and yummy colors…

2) From Virginia:

So simple, so effective.

3) From LA:

I hope all y’all know that the photos don’t do these pieces of art real justice…

4) Unknown / USA:

This is great. Love this style and sentiment. Coffee, tea & me…

5) From a fellow wordpress blogger, hollowjb.wordpress.com, in North Carolina:

I just love this…colors… juxtaposition…yes.

6) From Luxembourg!

This came in an envelope but it’s in 3D so it makes sense.

7) From Montreal:

8) This feels like canvas, it’s such nice paper.

From Alaska!

This is the only one wrapped in a postcard condom, but it says, “Raven steals the sun.”

“When you see a raven, ask it for ‘good’ luck.”

Maybe 2 more on their way here…maybe not…

Journal #5

It ain’t French parfum, but at 9×12, it IS the largest journal I have finished to date…

Started it in 2013, when I was in the desert, working for CDCR.

Carrying something around in a backpack for 5+ will beat a cover up…

Pockets for random things on inside cover…

And then it begins.

“There is no faith in a man, not even a brother, so girls if you must love, love one another.”

– ?

“The older I get, the more I see how women are described as having gone mad, when what they’ve actually become is knowledgeable and powerful and fucking furious.”

— Sophie Haewood

I used to work in a prison…

This certainly isn’t directed at myself…

You are MAGIC!

“I don’t need a diamond, I like wearing his smoke rings.”

– Miranda Lambert

Travel is broadening…

Paint, stencils, gel pens, paint pens, quotes from iHanna (I think), canvas stickers, washi tape…like most everything else in here.

This one makes me laugh.

Had my first (only) cigar with my ex-LOML, who loves cigars. He is now known as the “Fucking Idiot.”

Chronicles of my Amtrak trip halfway across the country in 2015…

Picasso quote.

This one came together with very little input from me…

Loved this when I started it, hated it for a long time, then redeemed it.

Some things fall apart and others come together.

Rob Thomas is one of my favorite singer/songwriters.

And he don’t lie.

Henry Rollins has a way with words, it seems…

Rob Thomas telling the truth again…

Souvenirs of my ill-fated trip to the gold country for the 4th…

“You know I’ll fight my corner and that tonight I’ll call ya…”

– Ed Sheeran is another favorite…

This a quote from Tommy Shelby of the Peaky Blinders. You should watch the Peaky Blinders. It’s excellent.

Dylan rules.

That is all.

I’ve yet to meet Andrew, but he works with Cornelius Vango at the Slab City Library, and I’ll quote him.

Clearly I’ve been practicing my cursive in here…

Don’t know who wrote this, but it brings to mind how well I heal…

“What we learned here is love tastes bitter when it’s gone.”

– Rob Thomas

From, “The Perks of Being a Wallflower.”

What?

This just came out after too many online dates…

So…apparently, I like everything about Patti except her music.

Also, the quote is from Dorothy Parker.

Joan of Arc, y’all…

Vera Jones distilled my whole “relationship” with Fucking Idiot down to a single sentence.

Random is what random does…

Oh, Ed…don’t lie to me…

Back cover:

I’m always so elated when I finish a journal. Accomplished.

That’s a lot of art in one place.

Also, the other night, at the laundromat, a girl of about 10-ish said, “I like your art.”

Later, as I was hauling my clean duds to my car, the same girl asked me, “Are you an artist?” And I don’t know why, but I told her that, “Yes. If you make art, that makes you an artist.”

I’m feeling pretty good about this right now…