Mad Hungry Mind

Visual Journal: Traci Bunkers

I love Traci Bunker's work.  She posts pages of her bold, nakedly honest multimedia journals here. Worth a good long look.

1001 Journals

One of my favorite books about creative journaling is 1000 Journals. For this project, an artist named Someguy mailed 1000 blank journals to friends and strangers and asked them to write/draw/create an entry, then mail the journal on to another friend or stranger. It was an elaborate chain-letter, I suppose, but without the bad-luck consequences. The book shows facsimile pages from some of the journals, some written, some elaborately drawn or collaged. It is an instant creative kick-in-the-pants for sluggards like me.

Now Tea With McNair has informed me that there will soon be 1001 blank journals circulating around the world. You can go to the 1001 journals site to sign up to participate in the new project.

The Shakespearean Moleskine

I keep written and visual journals of playgoing and other noteworthy events. My notebook of choice is the Moleskine, either plain, grid or sketchbook style. I like to include ephemera into collages, as I have done above, or sketches of interesting stage moments, such as the battle of Agincourt in Henry the Fifth:

I'm also keeping a Moleskine for each individual play, for notes, sketches and excerpts. Here's the front cover of the notebook for Henry IV, Part Two:

And here's the back:

Both covers are collaged from pages from the play, magazine photos, and rubber stamps. I like to develop a theme around a quote from the play. When the collage is finished, I apply a layer of matte Modpodge over the cover as a seal.

Anybody else obsessive about their notebook system?