Within Sight of Water journal

This is an 8” x 10” photographic journal I made for various beaches and coastlines I have explored. Made from pre-painted canvas boards and blue Daler-Rowney Murano pastel papers found at a local Jerry’s Artarama store, leather strips, and beautiful new Irish linen thread in robin egg blue. Originally, I tore Fabriano Artistico watercolor papers for the inside pages but I changed it to white Canson Mi-Teintes pastel papers.

The California cover photo was printed on Claudine Hellmuth sandy-colored sticky-back canvas paper, treated with Golden digital medium first.

Inside, I varied the size, type, and finish of the photo papers and went for a minimalist, stark page layout with the photos the main feature with place and location in pencil.

For the center sections of each signature, I had pre-printed spreads that were incorporated in the book sewing.

As I looked of a variety of shots from many different places, I began to see similarities. Many page spreads reflect that affinity. So, I started pairing them and printing them with the same size papers or enhancements (although the majority of photographs are not computer altered). With my excellent new scanner, I was able to bring back old memories from 1980’s film negatives.

Inspired all my life by natural water in all its forms, this journal speaks to my longing to live near water. In fact, I was indecisive just what form and function such a book would take. Would it be a mixed media book using shells and 3D objects from trips as well as the photos taken? Would it involve painted pages and maybe sewn-on objects? I actually started printed another photo journal using childhood snapshots of me near bodies of water, printed on blue printmaking paper, using a computer altered blue tint, filling each page spread with full-size images to be matched chronologically and sewn together already finished. But I stopped after the first signature.

 

With this current book, I’m only half-done printing and attaching photographs. But that’s fine. I am enjoying the process of building it as I go. And turning toward it whenever I need a water fix.