This past week was the National Art Education Association's annual convention in Seattle Washington. Though I'm no longer a public school teacher, I stay active in the the association, which means traveling and presenting to art educators from across the country. Whenever and wherever I travel, the journal goes with my, whether I'm traveling for business or pleasure. On this trip I took four separate journals with me to share and to work in.
The NAEA Convention is a huge gathering of art educators, and it's always invigorating to be surrounded by my tribe. Of this tribe, I'm closest to a handful of artistic accomplices, especially David and our friends Sam Peck and Michael Dodson, and we often sit and work on journal in all manner of spaces during the convention. We can often be found working in our journals in our hotel rooms, hotel lobby, and bar, taking notes during sessions, and even passing around journals and sketchbooks before dinner.
For this conference, I was fortunate to spend an entire day working in my journals, as David and Sam presented a pre-conference, full-day workshop. It was great to spread out and journal. I was able to add to a lot in all of my journals. One thing that I used a lot was some punchanella - also know as sequin waste. These narrow ribbons of circles make great stencils for painting and drawing.
Of course, since the convention is a massive professional development, there are all kinds of presentations and workshops, and the journal is a prime space for taking notes, but these aren't the notes from your school days. These are visual and colorful, and often include imagery and collage elements. I'll go back in the future and embellish the notes and include more color and imagery.
I am always amazed at how much journaling gets done while traveling.