Illustrated Journals
Over the years I've kept illustrated journals, recording faraway travels and my home world.
Joining word and image, on the spot, on the page, helps me slow down and find myself again and again. I offer it out to this rushing world, as a way to pause and connect.
click on images to enlarge pieces
True Nature is an illustrated journal that traces the experience of stepping away from one’s familiar world and choosing to be alone. Over the course of a year I spent four week-long retreats in a cabin nestled deep in the Catskill Mountains of New York State. Mixing meditation with nature journaling, I traced the the delight and boredom, the breakdowns and breakthroughs of time spent by oneself.
The grounding yet vulnerable quality of sitting meditation combined with the inquisitiveness of walking and drawing outdoors, brought forth honesty, curiosity and moments of simple magic. Weaving through it all are watercolor sketches and handwritten text that reflect and illuminate.
True Nature explores my journey as a woman, individual and universal, looking into the intimacy of loneliness and fear and discovering a larger acceptance and appreciation of the world.
New and Expanded Edition!
True Nature : An Illustrated Journal of Four Seasons in Solitude by Barbara Bash
In this new and expanded edition I added sixteen pages of drawing exercises at the end and called it A Way to Begin. Here I offer some simple ways to get on the page, get the pencil moving, and allow one’s natural wisdom to express.
Sixteen pages of drawing exercises have been added to this paperback edition.
True Nature: An Illustrated Journal of Four Seasons in Solitude, Barbara Bash, KTD Publications, Paperback, 160 pp, $19.95
“When I read True Nature it’s as if I am deep in the natural world, on retreat myself, even when I am sitting in my living room in my favorite chair. “
— Didi Klein
