COLLAGED JOURNAL COVER

Each year, when I start a new handwritten journal, I decorate it, inside and out, with pictures and sayings that represent my state of mind at the time.

This is the front journal cover for June 2001 through July 2002. I loved the brown notebook the minute I saw it at an estate sale, bought it, brought it home, and filled it with my favorite writing paper: yellow graph paper, five squares to the inch.

As I recall, this journal, in its undecorated state, traveled down the Deschutes River with me. I'd packed all the stickers, glue, and calendar pages I needed, and worked on it evenings in camp. When the cover was done, I covered the entire thing with clear packing tape. It ain't elegant, but it's water proof, and more clear than any Contac-style paper I've found.