Here are the first eight pages done in this leather artist journal I bought in Luca, Italy. It has handmade rag paper, which is a thinner weight than the sumptuous thicker (unbound) book I got in England. This accounts for the lack of flatness of the paper in a couple of the photographs, but it does not interrupt the pleasure of it in person.

I’m currently enjoying painting in all my books very much, keeping up effortlessly with my (mostly) daily art New Year’s Goal. So much so that I keep adding journals to my fleet (with a couple more coming in the mail) and at some point I really need to produce some more “real” art to submit to shows and to frame for my one woman show in November!

Having said that, however, these journals are a trial zone and an incubator for what I want to incorporate in my larger work. So none of this is wasted time, if only relishing the process itself, and having a chance to try out new ideas in a smaller scale as they occur.

These are all 9″x12″.  What do you think?

Are you working in an artist journal yet? I strongly recommend it for everyone!