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Author: Gwen Diehn

ISBN: 1-57990-651-6

On the surface, The Decorated Journal appears to be a beautifully photographed how-to book for making creatively expressive personal journals with a wide variety of materials and methods, possibly a companion book to Gwen Dien’s previous work, The Decorated Page.

Not only does The Decorated Journal stand on its own – quite independent of its predecessor – but upon closer inspection one can discover much more than a plethora of ideas for custom journals; it also contains a thorough yet completely accessible primer of art instruction.  For example, the book provides remarkably comprehensive direction regarding the following concepts: the color wheel (Dien’s explanation is the clearest I’ve yet to encounter), accurate drawing (a skill she vehemently claims is accessible to anyone) and the aesthetic of Wabi Sabi (Wabi what?  You’ll have to buy the book!).  And these are just a small fraction of the many artistic fundamentals found in the pages of The Decorated Journal.

Although Dien is not the first arts/crafts teacher to write a book, she is one of the chosen few whose completely accessible teaching style shines through every word.  Not only does she provide crystal clear initial instruction on every idea presented, but she also has a knack for anticipating exactly how and where her readers might veer off the pathway and so provides constant concomitant backup advice.

The book is divided into four main sections entitled, Materials & How to Use Them, How Does Your Journal See the World, Pages in Stages: Ways of Working and The Reluctant Bookbinder.  The two middle sections (which constitute the bulk of the book) provide such an enormous variety of ideas for stirring up latent creativity and spilling it onto the pages of a journal that it would almost necessitate the publication of an additional book to discuss each one sufficiently. 

The Reluctant Bookbinder is a smaller chapter and can thus be more easily utilized to elucidate Dien’s style within the limited framework of a book review.  This section takes the reader on a short but thorough journal-creating journey, starting from The Three Minute Pamphlet all the way to The Two-Hour Extremely Beautiful, Useful, and Sturdy Journal (four journals in all) with more clearly defined steps than are normally encountered in books dedicated solely to the craft.  And because a sewing frame is a necessary for making the last journal, of course she provides clear steps on how to make one.

Gwen Dien is convinced that there is creativity lurking about in each of us; utilizing her remarkably instructive book is certain to unleash it.

The above review was contributed by: Kathryn Atwood:  Kathryn Atwood's poetry, reviews and essays have appeared in numerous online and print journals, including "The Aurora Review,", "Afterimage," "Void Magazine," "Wild Violet," and "PopMatters."  When she's not writing or driving her three kids around somewhere, she's usually teaching at a local music studio or givng vocal performances with her husband on the  subject of American song.

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