A Peek Inside My MFA Notebooks | Research Journals, Studio Journals & Sketchbooks│Flip through
If you’ve ever wondered how I keep track of all the reading, thinking and making that goes into a research degree — this is the video for you.
In this week’s vlog I sit down with all of my notebooks and walk you through the two different journal systems I use for my Master of Visual Art: my research notes journals and my studio journals. They look similar from the outside, but they do very different things.
My research notes journals follow a bullet journal-inspired system — numbered pages, an index at the front, and careful referencing of every note I take so I can always trace it back to the original source when I need it for my exegesis. I use Moleskine Cahier notebooks in the large dotted format, kept inside leather covers I’ve made myself (link to that class below — it’s around $10 AUD).
My studio journals are something else entirely. These are where I reflect on the making: what I’m thinking, what I’m noticing, what connections I’m finding between the research and the work. They’re full of photographs, pasted-in materials, supervision notes, quick sketches, and the kinds of thoughts that only come out in the moment of writing. If the research journals hold the facts, the studio journals hold the chrysalis of ideas.
I also show you the handmade sketchbooks I use in my day-to-day practice — accordion-style books I make myself in a smaller, portable format — and the tiny Moleskine notebooks I keep in my handbag for ideas on the go. Lots of links below for both of my hand-made sketcbooks and leather book cover classes if you’d like to try any of this yourself. 📚
Classes Leather journal cover class (≈$10 AUD): https://www.susannethercote.com/how-to-make-a-leather-journal-cover-1
Handmade sketchbooks class: http://susannethercote.com/how-to-make-2-accordion-sketchbooks
You can follow the full Masters of Visual Art journey here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9EzOmZxbcM&list=PLwyl1qSeWSqfkhg1j1cNq3-hCnHP_sz2c
Thanks so much to everyone who supports me and these videos by buying art, a print, or an e-course her on my website. This is how I make my living and it genuinely means the world. 🙏
📚 Check out my ‘à la carte’ art skills classes online classes where I teach bite-sized classes on how to do the things you see in my vlogs https://www.susannethercote.com/a-la-carte-art-classes
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