In my collection of images related books in art, there are many different takes on the relationship between people and reading, but my favorite one is the mood of absorption.
That’s what I remember most about reading as a child. My utter absorption in the book–beyond sound, time, oblivious to the movement of the sun across the sky or my mother’s voice calling to dinner. It’s a much harder state for me to get into as an adult. But looking at these images, the feeling of that deep entrancement comes back to me.
Illustration by Gotay de Anderson
Illustration by Leonid Balaklav
It’s there in all kinds of setting:
Illustration by Frederick Frieseke
Illustration by Lorenzo Mattotti
Suggesting its own stories.
Illustration by Christina Tsevis
Illustration by Luisa Kelle
In all kinds of weather. (How I love that every reader in the airport is reading an actual book. Talk about…
I finally got around to making my art journal for December. I’ve worked in the same journal for a few months now, sketching out ideas, not really doing work I show, so it hasn’t been a daily habit and one journal lasted through the fall.
I’ve been writing almost daily, processing the changes in my life — again nothing much to show. I’m more using the arts to reframe changes in my life, changing language, changing images, dealing with change in the ways that have always seemed to elevate me. Art can take the weight out of a lot of what seems too heavy to bear.
Not everything you create has to be for others, and a journal is a safe, secret place to grow and center yourself. I think a lot of what artists and writers create remains un-shown. A lot of creation is a psychological safety net, there to catch you when you fall.
But I have an opportunity to teach Visual Journaling to a group of kids through The Carpenter Art Garden in January, so I’ve gotten quite elevated by that. I am going to use a smaller size journal than I usually use, teach more collage and share everything I love about having my own book in which I can create whatever I’d like.
I don’t always get this elaborate for my title page, but I’ve seen some glorious sunsets lately (my apartment faces west and the sun sets behind two old oaks, now leafless.
I’ve been saving ticket stubs, bus passes and other collage material, but I haven’t had time until this week to “finish” journal entries. I’ve made a few sketches, some truly wretched, but I did this one of a friend listening to a lecture on genetics, biology and the way we are all interconnected. I took some time today to finish it. I’ve been experimenting using pencil sketches collaged into more colorful backgrounds, so that was what I tried working out with this sketch:
If you recall, I used this technique in a finished painting earlier in the year and have since started, but not finished others:
St. Foster, Keeper of Stolen Wisdom, Mixed media, Joy Murray
You can read about the evolution of St. Foster here.
Anyway, it feels good to be playing around in my visual journal, making one with a mind to teaching children how to elevate their own lives, and realize that they have unique and important stories to tell, and their are many ways of telling them.
Also, after two months off (and a new psychiatrist), I’m back on facebook. I was missing friends and sharing events and art. So you can find me there, if you’re a facebooker.
Thanks for reading my blog.
Thanks for reading my post. If you like it share it. If you find a typo, please let me know and I’ll send you a thank-you postcard.
You can get prints and cards of some of my work on Redbubble. They also print my work on lots of other items, including phone skins, tote bags, shirts and journals:
If you’d like to support my art and writing, please consider becoming a donor on Patreon. If I get enough supporters, I can make this blog ad-free! Here’s a link to my Patreon page:
I started this piece when the first freeze came and I knew I wouldn’t get any more blooms. It was supposed to be about me holding too hard onto summer, but then it kept asking for revisions (artwork does talk to you) and it became about something else — acceptance, deterioration, rebirth — so many metaphors swirled around and defied explanation. After a month of working on it off and on, it’s finally finished.
I finally figured it all out I just can’t explain it, 8×10″ mixed media on canvas
What do you think?
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Thanks for reading my post. If you like it share it. If you find a typo, please let me know and I’ll send you a thank-you postcard.
You can get prints and cards of some of my work on Redbubble. They also print my work on lots of other items, including phone skins, tote bags, shirts and journals:
If you’d like to support my art and writing, please consider becoming a donor on Patreon. If I get enough supporters, I can make this blog ad-free! Here’s a link to my Patreon page:
A book is an idea. It is also an object. You can feel its weight, smell the ink and paper. The pages rustle as you turn them.
When I think of books that have delighted, scared, comforted or bored me I can see and feel the physical books in my memory. I now read many e-books because it is easy to get and store them. But I wonder if the ideas will linger as long without being anchored to physical objects.
Isabelle Arsenault from Velocity of Being
Right now I am reading The Library Book by Susan Orlean. It tells the story of the LA Library fire. It is the story of millions of pounds of books, of one specific library and of libraries in general. Her prose is exhilarating and surprising, enriched with odd morsels of information.
Illustration by Gotay de Anderson 
Illustration by Leonid Balaklav 
Illustration by Frederick Frieseke 
Illustration by Lorenzo Mattotti 
Illustration by Christina Tsevis 
Illustration by Luisa Kelle 
Isabelle Arsenault from Velocity of Being 
Violeta Lopiz – Velocity of Being 
joy murray art~stories~life 