Favorite Tools for Journaling—We All Have Them

At the May 20, 2013 meeting of the MCBA Visual Journal Collective we had our yearly "tools" meeting. During that meeting each member is encouraged to bring 3 tools that he/she loves to use for visual journaling and share them with the group—say a couple sentences about them and show work that was made with the tool.

This year, necessity made me smart and I taped the members who brought items to share. I split the presentations into two parts because it was getting to be a long video. You can see

Favorite Art Tools from the Members of the MCBA Visual Journal Collective—Part One here

and

Favorite Art Tools from the Members of the MCBA Visual Journal Collective—Part Two here

After I posted the videos on my blog earlier today one correspondent wrote in saying that she was surprised no one talked about his/her favorite journals as paper is an important part of journaling.

The members of the group couldn't agree more (and at least two members did talk about paper on May 20). But we've been having this meeting topic every year for at least the last 4 years and so most of us, who make our own books, have already talked about our favorite papers. Those who use commercially bound books have talked about their favorites in those categories. We are all as paper crazed as the next bunch of visual journal artists, but we are also always trying to bring something that no one has talked about before. We may just have to do a favorite papers video.

If you are in the Twin Cities area on the Third Monday of any month please stop by MCBA at 7 to 9 p.m. and join us. Most meetings are free (sometimes we are doing a project and there is a slight supply fee that is typically $5 or less) and open to all adult journal keepers of ANY skill level. We have people who are just starting out all the way through to professional artists. It's a great group: supportive, and always ready to have fun and share a laugh and share great ideas. (And our January meeting is a wild portrait party at which we all sketch each other and make an editioned book of all the sketches in 2 hours and 30 minutes!)

You can find out more about this group at the MCBA Visual Journal Collective Page on my blog Roz Wound Up. (Also on that page you'll find out if there are any time changes because for the Portrait Party and some other meetings we sometimes have to start earlier or go until 9:30.)

Since it isn't always possible to visit the places we would all like to go I thought that these videos (part 1 and 2) would give you a taste of the group, and some great ideas for tools you may not have used yet. I hope you'll visit with us "virtually."

The MCBA Visual Journal Collective—Third Annual Portrait Party

Left: A montage of participants at the Portrait Party. Image ©2011 Ken Avidor, used with permission. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

On Monday, January 17,  twenty eight people drew portraits of each other, created printing masters, printed using a photocopier, and then bound 35 books commemorating the event. You can read about The MCBA Visual Journal Collective Third Annual Portrait Party on my blog (with photos of some of the action).

I'm posting a notice here to draw attention to the fact that if you are a journal keeper and you know other journal keepers you can get up to a whole lot of fun in an evening!

The idea to hold our first portrait party in 2009 came to me when Danny Gregory introduced me to Rama Hughes' blog The Portrait Party. I thought it was a great idea—a fun way to get all sorts of people to practice sketching. Since I'm also a bookbinder I thought it would be even more fun if we also made an editioned book of the event. (I pretty much look for any excuse to make a book!)

When you are a journal keeper and you know other journal keepers, and you are a bookbinder you can get up to a whole lot of seriously dangerous fun in an evening! (What do you think the Founding Fathers were doing with all those broadsides!)

I hope you and your art group will consider doing something like this in the future. (I'll be posting a short video on binding the style book we made, and also writing a more detailed explanation of the pre-event prep, over the next month or so. I hope that this post and that information will help encourage people to try this.)

If you do host a portrait party and bind a book consider making an extra copy of the book in your edition. Donate that copy to MCBA for their library. It would be great to have a series of portrait party books residing somewhere, inspiring people. (We did a pamphlet book for our 2009 book, same size paper; just drew in each other's journals in 2010; MCBA has a copy of the 2009 and 2011 books.)

Still not convinced a portrait party would be doable—let me just say this, it sure brings the page alive and makes sketching a shared reality when you crank out a book in an evening. So you ruin someone's mouth; who cares that you can't get his nose quite right—you observed your model steadily for a space, and captured that moment. It won't ever repeat, but you've got the evidence. And of course there is conversation, journal sharing—and cookies are good too.

Here's my final pitch: making content (in this case a portrait party) and creating an editioned book in an evening is a great way to encourage and nurture a whole new generation of journal keepers, sketchers, and book artists. And it nurtures creativity in general. Go for it.

As for us, well we're doing it again January 16, 2012. Hope to see you there. Roz Stendahl (Journalrat)