Weeknotes '26 - January 23-29
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Seven days - seven notes
As I talked about last month, I’m working on an illustrated journaling practice that mashes the concepts others have developed: Weeknotes and Homework for Life. Each day I write a few sentences (only) about one thing the day before in Notion (*text copied end of this post for readability) and then later in the studio I make it visual in my sketchbook.
That’s the idea anyway. One set of sentences, one image each day added to my sketchbook. This last week I tried painting the images on cards rather than directly into my sketchbook, and then this week, as we see here, I pasted those images and words directly from my computer (edited) into my journal as a weekly composition.
So how did it go?
I like the images very much and I do like them on separate cards. I like painting with goauche very much!
I do not like after the fact putting them together into a composition. I considered keeping them on cards…but the idea of boxes of separate cards feels overwhelming. A two page spread is a good container for a week.
I do not like typed journaling on the spread. Looks clunky.
I found writing daily sentences is super easy first thing in the morning on my ipad. It’s a good practice to think about what happened the day before and select just one thing to capture visually.
I don’t always have time to create that image every day - I was away for a long weekend this week, for example - but since I can keep up with the sentences, it’s easy enough to catch up with the visuals.
What’s next?
This week I’ll try adding daily entries to a spread over time from left to right, writing the words instead of collaging in text.
*Text for above spread:
Friday - I hold my mug in both hands, breathe in the Bengel Spice tea, and feel the steady resolve spread through my whole body. I’m ready to step into the art and life practice I’ve been building. It’s ready for me.
Saturday - Woke up ruminating about how anyone who sides with the government right now is saying yes to brutality and violence, racism and misogyny, white supremacy, no to our Constitution and the Rule of Law. If this was the 1930s, they would be backing Hitler and Mussolini.
How, how, how could any American get behind this?
Sunday - Walking through the crowd at the farmers market today, after we left the protest, Sherry holding her NO ICE sign above her head, Chris and I clustered next to her, I looked around at all the people of so many races, which is what we look like in California, and it is beautiful. People. All different and the exact same.
Monday - The shopping trip to Sebastopol was a bust, but we both found the perfect pair of shoes—purple trekking shoes for Karen and black Ugg boots for me—and the sun broke through the chill to warm our faces as we ate lunch on a patio, together.
Tuesday - With a dry leaf, I scooted the centipede-like bug who tried to flee down the last stretch of the purple slide. At the foot of the slide, Archie watched our every move with the deep concentration of a two-year old as the bug made to it to the lip of the slide and fell a foot to the tan bark. Archie then crouched low to find him, but he disappeared. “We saved him, “ I said. “Now the bug can go home.” He thought for a moment and then nodded, “Bug go home.”
Wednesday - I spent a pleasant afternoon making eggplant soup (with white beans, tomatoes, onions, leeks and sausage).
Thursday – Back on cypress trail after too long, Bill I knew was close by. Old friends and some new ones clomped through the forest, all of us ghosts to the redwoods.