A Visual Journal

The Creative Photographer book I've been using as a workbook/inspiration/sumptuous feast book has yielded up another tip that I decided to follow. Keeping a visual journal.

I know, I know, I've blogged several times about how I'm a failure at persisting with any sort of journaling at all. It is true, I don't write down my feelings and dreams and all that crap stuff. I also don't re-read anything I've written. For a while I even had a photography blog as an online visual journal, but along with my other two blogs I soon gave it up as too much work. Now there's Pinterest...

But a visual journal instead is just that- visual without words. One pastes into a blank journal either one's own photos or pictures from magazines etc that we like or want to try or in some way connect with. Over time one begins to see what a person likes, what subjects are gravitated to, colors, composition, subject etc.

On Facebook, which is one big photo album, let's be honest, I see over time one wife who posts herself and her kids but never her husband. Over time, looking at lots of photos I see another person likes to take photos of landscapes and rarely photographs people. In another example where a DVD slide show was made as a gift, someone remarked, "Gee, there are a lot of photos of her and me together". I noticed that too.

If I can see patterns and trends in other people's pics, then what would I be able to learn about myself if I consistently placed photos of interest into my journal over time and then looked at them all at once?

My next task was to obtain a journal. I browsed Amazon but the artist's sketch journals were too expensive. Then I though, hey, check my OWN shelves to see what would suit. I spent years making blank journals and I have certainly not used them or or given them all away yet. So, I found this:

Believe it or not, this was originally a placemat. Now it is the cover of a large-sized soft cover journal I'd made out of it. I found it at the Lubec Maine Annual Fourth of July Historical Society Yard Sale 12 years ago! Here it is unfolded-

Here's the inside:

The fact that the cover is cloth will allow me to be able to close the journal after I've glued lots of pics inside. Spine size won't be that much of a problem. The page size allows for gluing several photos on one page. And the fact that I made it and already owned it meant I didn't have to spend money on getting a new one!

Now all I have to do is remember to print out pics I like, and buy more ink for the printer.

Another idea I implemented from the Photography Book that turned out to be a success was a combination of two ideas. I learned about the 2 inch insta-printers one can plug into your camera or phone and the zero-ink technology allows for cute little pics to be printed on the spot. The other idea was to make a display of photos, printing and laminating them and then hanging.

The author reminded us old folks how fun the Polarioid pictures were. We had an instant reminder of the fun and a permanent souvenir. The author said a zero-ink ("ZINK") insta-printer is especially fun for kids' birthday parties, the children love to see their pics right away. No one prints out pictures anymore. They stay in the camera or on the laptop or in the phone. So I decided as a gift to print out all the pics I could find on her Facebook page in 2" format, laminate them, and put them in a little box with a quote about memories on the top. It was pleasantly received. It didn't take too long to do and I think I will do it again sometime.

So far the book The Creative Photographer by Catherine Anderson has proved to be very useful and informative!

I'm welcoming a new art piece into the house

Art tells your home's visitors something about you. It reveals your aesthetic, your preferences, and your style. I love art. I have a lot of it. This is because I grew up with a lot of it, and for that I've always been grateful.

Some of the art I have hung in my apartment is mine that I created or photographed and then hung. One photo is of a favorite vacation spot I used to frequent.

Other art I have is first edition art given to me by the artist. I also have a small watercolor from a local artist. Others were not gifts but I acquired myself.

I acquired my first art piece at approximately age 8. I spotted a bucolic, unframed but matted photo that looked unlike any other photo I'd yet seen. It turned out to be a hand-tinted photo from the early part of the 20th century by well-known colorist Fred Thompson. It was among other items lying on the floor of a white elephant church jumble sale, and I bought it right away. Hand tinting photographs was a fad at the turn of the last century. When I look at it I feel relaxed.

A few weeks ago I saw a new painting at an antique/vintage store in town. It is a large sized painting, 43" wide by 33" high. It depicted a rural scene on a Sunday of a well-dressed group, likely a family, walking up the lane to church. I was charmed by the content and I liked the quality of the frame and matting. It is called Sunday Morning in Sleepy Hollow, and it's by Jennie Brownscombe. The piece is a hand colored engraving on paper by Brownscombe, a Pennsylvania Artist  who lived from 1850-1930. The painting is done on an Engraving by James King, and it's published by Washington Irving.

Jennie Augusta Brownscombe (December 10, 1850 – August 5, 1936) was an American painter, designer, etcher, commercial artist and illustrator. Brownscombe studied art for years in the United States and in Paris. She was a founding member, student and teacher at the Art Students League of New York. She made genre paintings, including revolutionary and colonial American history, most notably The First Thanksgiving held at Pilgrim Hall in Plymouth, Massachusetts. She sold the reproduction rights to more than 100 paintings, and images of her work have appeared on prints, calendars and greeting cards. Her works are in many public collections and museums. In 1899 she was described by New York World as "one of America's best artists." (Source)

Brownscombe's works hang in the Smithsonian, among other places throughout America.

It was a good sized piece, and I'd been wanting a larger one. There are several paintings in my living room I adore. I've had a poster copy of Childe Hassam's impressionist painting, Boston Common at Sunset, for a looooong time, and I've enjoyed looking at it for just as long.  Here it is from the Museum of Fine Arts Boston:

This is the art from Brownscombe that I'd found in a vintage store. It fits very well into the corner and I love it:

I'm surrounded by pretty art, at least, it's art I love. What could be better?