A Beautiful Junk Journal

Embarassingly long ago, back in April, a friend I’ve never met or spoken to before, Gloria Gates, sent me the most incredible surprise in the mail. With awe and joy I perused the pages, and I meant to share it sooner, but first the personal catastrophe happened, and then I lost track of her name and information. Thankfully she contacted me again, and I can properly credit this beautiful creation.

The term for this sort of creative endeavor is “junk journaling,” something I admit I knew very little about. According to Art Journalist, this is “A book which is often made through found and recycled materials to be used as a way to collect and record memories, thoughts, ideas, and inspiration.” The term comes from the fact that the art form uses pieces and scraps from our lives that are often though of as detritus, or junk, but reformed into something beautiful. Which is definitely the case with Gloria’s creation.

Flipping slowly through page after page, I was awed by the creativity and All.The.Details. I would try to explain what I mean better, but I think you can get an idea of it looking through the pictures I shared below.

All I can say is…it’s an artwork I am proud to now own, and I am so grateful to Gloria for her gift.