“I can imagine in years to come that my papers and memorabilia, my journals and letters, will find themselves always in the company of people who care about many of the things I do.” — Alice Walker
A recent page from one of my art journals. As I sketched the osprey, I thought about all the times I had seen one, and good memories flooded my little gray cells. Illustration by Pat Bean
What I’m Reading
Ditto to what Alice Walker said. I can’t help but wonder where all my bins of journals will end up after I’m gone. Hopefully not in the trash, but that’s always a possibility.
An Illustrated Journey, the book I’m currently reading.
It would be nice if some of what I’ve lived through as a woman fighting for equal rights and equal pay found their way into a women’s center at some university. And it would be nice to think that some of my progeny, the greats, might want to know who know who I was.
Regardless, keeping my journals is simply something I have to do. It’s part of me and for me. It’s as if I must write it down for things to become real.
Meanwhile, I love reading other people’s journals. And since I’m beginning to add drawings to my own journals, I’m particularly enjoying “An Illustrated Journey: Inspiration from the Private Art Journals of Traveling Artists, Illustrators and Designers,” put together by Danny Gregory.
It’s a delightful book, with lots of tips on keeping an illustrated journal. And since each artist does it his or her way, I have lots of choices.
The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.
Bean’s Pat: About Elephants http://tinyurl.com/m2l2r4z Our Journeys are all the Same.
