A Door. A door to....
- Is the door opening or closing?
- Nicely aged and wise or neglected?
- Only the artist or writer will know.
What will you find through this gate?
Of course, for the more practical side of life, these notebooks are available with lines, a dot grid, and a task sheet. They're great for keeping phone messages near the phone.
Makes a nice gift!
A blank page is a wide open world. It can hold dreams, inventions, fears, projects, ideas, observations, - the possibilities are endless. One thing better than a blank page is a book of them. Call it a notebook, diary, sketchbook, or journal. The joy is the same. A whole book of your own to do with as you wish.
If you don't sketch or journal, if you don't plan your days and more, if you don't keep lists, I urge you to try it! I will start a list below of things to write about. See if it prompts you to pick up your favorite pen or pencil. I think it will make you happy (or at least better organized...).
a paper blog!
How's that for backward definition? I like blogs and I like to blog. But there is something mystically or spiritually different about paper and pencil or pen. The brain and sense of touch, smell, and sight interact to create a rich environment for planning from a quick todo list to longer term planning and strategizing, and for writing freely without format or fear of the viewer or editing. Paper is ready for sketches in the moment and cataloging of designs.
Paper allows one to turn the page any direction, use both sides, draw on a two page spread, rip it out, rip it up, burn it!
Pencil is more sensitve than the best mouse or pointer and records emotion, shading, nuance.
So, a blog or a drawing program, even a notebook computer, cannot replace the simple journal or sketchbook.
Those who use them have their personal requirements. Mine are spiral, blank, portable size, and not too thick. I love to start new journals and keep several going at once.
Being a photographer and miscellaneous artist, the cover image is important to me. In the box to the right are some of the journal covers I have created from my photographs. They are available through Cafepress.com.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses of the term 'diary', see Diary (disambiguation).
A diary is a record (originally in written book format) with discrete entries arranged by date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period. Diaries undertaken for institutional purposes play a role in many aspects of human civilization, including government records (e.g. Hansard), business ledgers, and military records. Schools or parents may teach or require diary-keeping.
Generally the term is today employed for personal diaries, in which the writer may detail more personal information and normally intended to remain private or to have a limited circulation amongst friends or relatives. The word "journal" may be sometimes used for "diary" and in this context the terms are in effect almost interchangeable.
A sketchbook is a "a book or pad with blank pages for sketching," and is frequently used by artists for drawing or painting as a part of their creative process.
