Going forward

I came across this wonderful book on art journaling and read every word. TRUE VISION: AUTHENTIC ART JOURNALING, by L. K. Ludwig is appealing because it offers specific directions on technique with photo examples and then offers innumerable prompts to keep you going when you run short on ideas. None of the methods is difficult but each is a specific skill that you might not stumble upon on your own. What I mean is, you can art journal for decades and learn a lot along the way -- but here are some ways to work that you might not have thought of on your own. This book is a necessary addition to a beginner's library but I also think those further along will appreciate it too.

I turned in four collage pieces of my own last Wednesday evening but my mixed media instructor wanted to keep them for a few days. I posted two here already (the Juvie girls and the turtle) but the others will have to wait until I get them back.

On a completely different note, I read this newest chronicle of the Donner Party. DESPERATE PASSAGE: THE DONNER PARTY'S PERILOUS JOURNEY WEST, by Ethan Rarick, details the story of several families and others who began their travels in Illinois with the goal of reaching California before the cold weather of 1846 set in.

Our own family made the same journey in 1977 but we had a car, not horse and wagon; we stopped all along the way for fresh food with no necessity to stop to shoot buffalo or eat dried meat brought from home; we had clothing for the summer traveling, we didn't need to keep our dogs and kids together for warmth against the snows -- and no one died along the way from illness or starvation (thank God!). So the only piece we have in common with the true history of the Donner Party is one of geography and for that I am truly grateful too. This was a riveting read, a real I-can't-put-it-down sort of book.