Art Log

Art is many things - not the least of which is a way of encountering the world around us with an openness to seeing, exploring, and understanding the relationships between things in familiar, new, and unexpected ways.


One of the ways I have decided to live out Art is to document my explorations and encounters in the world through the keeping of an Art Log. At it's most basic level, an art log is simply a list - an ongoing list - of ideas, inspirations, themes, shapes, colors, mediums, observations, hopes, desires, and touchstones. It is a list that, once active, serves as a resource for inspiration in moments of creative production and it is a list that archives and houses ideas that may be the root of a future project.

The physical being of my art log is a page a day moleskine calendar which provides me with ample space each day for recording one art idea and jotting down any other events of the day - from special events, to locations and daily activities while traveling, to gatherings with friends and family, to recording the name of any books I've finished reading on that day. I find that having the daily calendar is a nice way of tracking the year as it passes, is a good resource for looking back on past years' activities, and it provides a bit of accountability to stick with the list and not let it slip away from active additions. Each numbered page holds the expectation of being filled on the date that matches that number - and if I fall behind - there is always a specific number to catch up to.

I have been living with the daily creation of an Art Log for three full years now - and I am now two months into my fourth. It has become a small outlet for me on a daily basis while at the same time offering up insights in the moments I am needing something to work on. I enjoy the way my art log makes me keep my 'eyes open' to the things that are going on in the world around me and keeps me thinking about those things in creative ways. Challenging me to explore the potential for visual representations of things that I see - or stories that I hear - or simply recording the fact that a bright yellow line I saw that day looked visually energized and pleasing against its brilliant blue background. This constant openness to inspiration lets inspiration constantly come my way - no - I am not claiming to be a brilliantly inspired person - but I do seize the bits of insight and inspiration that head my way and I find that (as with most things) the more I open myself up the more I am offered.

I sometimes sit back and look at the Art Logs I've completed this far and wonder if the well of insights isn't in danger of running a little dry - not to mention that after three years and over a thousand ideas already recorded I have plenty of projects to keep myself busy with probably for the rest of my life - yet each day I find myself eagerly being on the lookout for what I might find to scribble down on that day's page. I realize now that while my Art Logs are available for use as a tool and a resource for myself as an artist - they are also a reality check for myself as a person - a reminder to keep being engaged in each moment of every day - to take note of the things around me, to keep learning about themes that show up in my life - and to remind myself that even the most mundane moments and objects can sometimes be the best source of inspiration.