What do you do with your books when they are finished?
This question comes up a lot.
I let people look through them whenever possible. I take them to shows on opening night and have them on a table for people to flip through. When I talk at schools I take them for the kids to look at and hopefully be inspired by. I carry one or two when I travel not only to work in but also to share with people I meet.
But a few months ago I decided to hang some of my art journals as wall art in my workspace for inspiration.
February Journal Wall
This was my first go at the journal wall. I started with the big yellow page in the middle and picked other spreads that went with the color theme of pink and yellow. Pink and yellow are a big favorite so it was pretty easy to do. I ended up with a very floral, girly wall. I enjoyed it, took some new headshots with it, and had many positive comments on it.
And then as if a clock chimed inside my brain at the two month mark, I decided to redo the wall this weekend.
April Journal Wall
So today as I was thinking about how to build it, I started with the second from the top left spread. It’s got a lot of copper foil and black so I build off of that. I ended up with an orange and black and blue theme with some greens in there too. I love those colors so they show up a lot for me in my work. My youngest child was very into helping me get them all in place on the wall so Oz gets an art direction credit here.
Good Things
One of the things I like best about using my art journals as wall art is that I can combine my new work and my older work. The bottom cityscape is dated October 2016. While the book in the top row on the right is a book I’m currently working in. The book on the top left I finished in December 2020. Having them all together lets me assess progress and think about what I want to do more of.
When the books are on the shelf they kinda disappear. So having them out and visible is an exciting thing. It gives them life in a different way. Being able to combine them by theme gives them a whole new identity as a group. It seems like there are so many combinations I can explore with that. I really love that prospect.
Hanging them on the wall is a way to celebrate my accomplishments! It’s a fun reminder that I’ve been working for years now. Sometimes in the day to day work, I forget to stop and celebrate. And don’t we all need as many ways to celebrate as possible?
