Summer 2011 Travel Journals

I have been on two great trips this summer and I am happy with the journals I did for each.  I thought I'd share a few pages from each of the journals.  They are not precisely visual journals but they are not "diaries," just my sort of conglomeration style of journaling.



This is the journal I did for the Nature Printing Society workshop in Fort Collins, Colorado.  Besides the usual inclusions (for me!) I have also written down the instructions I received for each of my classes at the workshop.  In the future, if I misplace the print-outs of the instructions I will always be able to go back to my journal to find my notes and the instructor's tips.

The red fish print, to the left, is my first attempt at a direct gyotaku print.  Not great, but it is nice to have my first ever attempt.  I do like the eye I did on the top fish.

Here, too, is one of my first attempts at printing an octopus.

The fabric for the covers of the journal were solar printed.

Here you have the front and back covers of my Nantucket journal for this summer.  The front image of the weather vane is from the Nantucket Historical Association.  I love the whale!  The image on the back cover is from a painting I did of the red boat in the harbor in Nantucket harbor.

The pottery featured on the above page is R. Geering Pottery, from Cape Cod.  I love Ron's work and think his redware is fun and unique.

The fish image is from a gyotaku used on the 2011 NPS calendar and is taken from Chris Dewees' beautiful print of a rock fish.  I used Chris' image as the basis for a weather vane I made in a class at the 1800 House in July.  Thanks for the use of your beautiful gyotaku, Chris.  It made a wonderful weather vane.

The photo of the woman holding the cake is of Madaket Millie Jewett.  Millie was an extremely interesting woman who lived a life of service.  The more I learn of her, the more I admire her giving heart and generous spirit, hidden beneath her gruff exterior.  She was not what most of us think of when we think of someone with great community service volunteering, but she did so much for her neighbors and mariners of Nantucket.

Each day I was on Nantucket I did a tiny little painting.  These were very quick little watercolors to capture for my memory some aspect of Nantucket.  It was something I tried in this journal for the first time and I think I will use it in the future.  Each little painting reminds me of a moment of my trip and brings back a whole flood of memories.  Easy to do, quick to execute and something that has lasting meaning for me.  I'm glad I stumbled on the idea!