Since life is in fact a journey, the road journal is pertinent to all living and adventure, but on the road it becomes that quintessential document of art and idea.
Artist journals reveal the processes of inspiration and creation while acting as art in themselves. They are a time-track memory of the artist’s life and can be a very fun way of sharing your art. On our recent road trip we utilized the instant camera as a tool to document and create colorful journal entries. As polaroids are available only secondhand and its film can be quite costly I chose the Fujifilm instax 210. As I often make mistakes and waste lots of this film, this was the right choice. Now, in addition to the wise words entered within our pages, we fill it with pictures of the moment, taped in at the instant of capture, and commented upon. Instant gratification of the more personal kind. Not facebook but something more nostalgic and close.
Our road journal was a joint venture, shared by us both. Here are some excerpts:
“History is to those who write it. Evelyn Cameron was an English woman who came to Montana to honeymoon with her husband. They had romantic ideas to “stay” and raise polo ponies (much like the novel My Friend Flicka). Well, the ponies died, but Evelyn persuaded her husband to stay. She took photos, was an accomplished professional photographer, and from the pictures we’ve seen, she was quite the hoot. She and her friend Janet had baby coyotes, hawks and just seemed so full of “it”.
“Her diaries which record meticulous slow change, day after day, show culture change. Here’s the point: now there’s a museum, a PBS Special and rooms full of her pictures and binders full of diaries transcribed meticulously by a 90 year old woman. Hundreds of people come to Montana, live and die, who’s famous? The one who writes it down.” (Ksenia journal entry)
Our road trip lasted a little over two weeks and traveled 5,500 miles. Having previously been to all the states we took the zen-approach and made decisions on the fly and sought to experience the moment. For fun we nick-named it the road to no where.
Terry, Montana – just outside Evelyn Cameron Gallery
“Some people like to arrive at a perfect time, to a perfect place to get the perfect picture. I like to be where I am and see…” (Robert Journal Entry)
