Drawing from Life: The Journal as Art

Abstract

The latter two journals have taught me to look at my kids with different eyes. When I try to capture what these early days of childhood look like, I stand apart from them, outside my role as mother, becoming sociologist, artist, therapist, and documentarian. This idea of inspecting life’s smallest details is the most vital role of the journal. Too often, we go blindly, numbly through our days, unable to recall the shape of a peach eaten at breakfast or the color of a co-worker’s sweater. The people featured in this book spend considerable time observing and recording what so many of us never notice. They hone their sensitivity, allowing them to dig deeper into their craft. Great wisdom comes from looking closely at our world, and yet those engaged in it go largely unheralded. Perhaps because they are our Cassandras.