I’m so excited to begin this journey of keeping a perpetual journal. The practice has been around awhile, I’m just now taking it on. A lot of times this type of journaling is utilized by botanical artists.
Why a Perpetual Journal?
When I’m planning a plein air workshop, I dig through old journals to get a feel for what weather conditions were over the years for the time frame selected. That’s a lot of journals to look through, and information can be spotty.
I want my journal to focus on the flora & fauna in our yard, colors of the seasons and what the weather is doing. I purchased a fat, 10”x10” journal made by Seawhite of Brighton. The paper isn’t real thick, but takes my fountain pen ink well, and light watercolor washes are possible. I’m not interested in creating a work of art, I just want one space to to keep the above information.
Perpetual Journal Basics
- journal is formatted into weeks.
- decide if you want 1 or 2 pages to represent each week.
- each month has pages dated (month name) 1-7, 8-14, 15-21, 22-28, 29-30 or 31 (except Feb.) – no year added to these weekly headings.
- entries made each week have the entire date noted with year.
- ideally one entry made per week
- begin the journal whenever you wish: Jan, Spring Equinox, your birthday, on a full moon….
- year after year make journal entries until the book is filled.
Initial Inspiration
One of the first inspirations that came my way is by botanical artist Lara Gastinger. Linked here is a 1-hour video produced by UVA Club of Charlottesville (VA) and featured on Botanical Art & Artists website that features Lara as she demonstrates keeping a perpetual journal. Lara and I use a lot of the same supplies. We’ve never met, but I feel like we are art sisters.
