Ingrid Murray, Author at Ingrid Murray

Commonplace Books

A teal book on a wooden table. There's a deep blue sticker that says "Take deep breaths often - MHN" and a black pen on top of the book. — My current notebook; sticker by Morgan Harper Nichols.

Somehow I’ve made it this many years before ever hearing about commonplace books. You, too?

Commonplace books seem to be, generally, a written collection of the things that attract your attention and pique your interest — a more right-brained version of an art journal, I suppose. The actual definition is broad.

Commonplace books are accessible

Wikipedia explains commonplace books as “a way to compile knowledge, usually by writing information into books.” Kevin Egan describes them as being “like a ‘thinker’s journal’ that serves as a focused act of self-reflection and way to learn;” Ryan Holiday similarly calls them a “central resource or depository for ideas, quotes, anecdotes, observations and information you come across during your life and didactic pursuits.”

MasterClass, by contract, emphasizes that a commonplace book (they call it a commonplace diary) is not just a place to write all these tidbits down, but also a system for keeping track of the information you gather. Some people use index cards or a table of contents, or color code their entries. This is where my eyes glaze over, but it’s well worth reading about if that’s something you’re interested in.

What surprised me is that commonplace books have been kept for centuries, by both ordinary folks and historical geniuses. Marcus Aurelius kept a commonplace book, as did Virginia Woolf. Austin Kleon is keeping one that’s just quotes. I imagine that many of the diaries shared by Papers of the Past could be considered commonplace books, too.

There are no rules

That commonplace books aren’t a single definitive thing makes me all the more interested in keeping one. The idea of a daily journal intimidates me: I get caught up in the idea of what a journal “should” be — namely that I “have” to write proper entries, dated in order, while recounting my life and my feelings about my life. (My logbook has been the best and most sustainable way for me to record my day-to-day life: I’ve kept it up for over two years now.)

But writing down a sentence here and an idea there as I discover new things, mixed in with occasional personal reflections, seems just right, and is a much more apt representation of how my brain works.

Capture what you’re already paying attention to

Since discovering the idea of commonplace books — it was on September 6, and I know because I wrote an entry about it — I’ve jotted down a bunch of random and interesting things, including thoughts on value and productivity, deep work and flow, procrastination, and writing.

While it might sound lofty, all the excerpts I’ve written have been from tweets, newsletters, Reddit, TV shows, and other sources I was already visiting, reading, or watching. The difference is that now I have a record of things that inspired me. Now, I can go back and find connections, go back to the sources, get reinspired, and actually remember what it is that I’m interested in and what I like thinking about.

I’ll leave you with a song lyric that I pulled today that made me laugh (here’s the song):

Black and white photo of a journal page. At the top is the date — Sep 26, 2022 — and underneath is written: "'You may call me selfish but you can go fuck yourself.' - Different - Glenn Gatsby Remix by Marina & the Kats, Glenn Gatsby"

Hey, Autumn

Somehow, suddenly, it’s autumn.

Every year, I say the same thing — and every year, the seasons pass by more quickly than the year before.

It’s still mostly summer-like here in Baltimore: the days are hot (though less humid and the sky a brilliant, cloudless blue) and evenings are still filled with the sound of crickets (but have cooled). The greatest indicator of the passage of time and seasons is the changing light: now, twilight comes at 6:30 pm, and the sun goes to bed noticeably earlier each week.

It’s a good reminder that nature doesn’t exist in black and whites, but on a spectrum and in gradual and constant change.

To welcome the fall, I sent out my first quarterly newsletter to subscribers today. If you’d like to catch up or would like to sign up for the next one, you can subscribe here (it’s free!).

Greens & Neons

Ingrid Murray mixed media art journal. A neutral background of vintage book and atlas papers, and abstract white green, purple, orange, dark blue, and yellow marks made with tempera paint, oil pastel, colored pencil, and acrylic ink.

Ingrid Murray mixed media art journal. A neutral background of vintage book, atlas, grid pattern, and cactus tissue papers, and abstract white, neon pink, light blue, yellow, and black marks made with acrylic paint, oil pastel, paint marker, and acrylic ink.

Recent mixed media art journal pages featuring a variety of papers, acrylic paints and inks, tempera paint, oil pastel, paint marker, graphite, and colored pencil.

Let Me Introduce Myself

Ingrid Murray digital collage. Ingrid, a smiling white woman with dark eyes and long hair, wears a black shirt and sits near an open art journal. Over the photo are elements of here art: splotches of blue, red, and yellow; collage papers; and black marks.

If you’ve followed me and my art online for a while, you’ll know that I’m a self-taught artist and writer. I was creative from an early age, writing stories, building imaginary worlds, performing onstage, and drawing.

In a high school art class I discovered the Altered Books Workshop, which introduced me to the idea of collaging and painting in books; a few years later, I stumbled across iHanna’s blog and dove head-first into the world of art journaling. I’ve been publishing my writing and sharing my art online since 2009 and have filled multiple journals with mixed media experiments. (Here’s my latest one.) I’ve also continued to explore other avenues of creativity, including analog and digital collage, photography, bookbinding, and mixed media art, all of which you can explore here.

I grew up in Pennsylvania, and my childhood was turbulent and my home abusive. Art was and continues to be my refuge and one of the only places where I feel truly peaceful and free to explore my inner world. Though I wish that things had been different, my experience with the darkness and loneliness of depression has taught me greater compassion and empathy for those who also feel alone and unheard. Additionally, it’s informed my creative process: my work is a continual search for the lightness, unfettered joy, and unencumbered imagination that children naturally possess, and for the safety and innocence of time before trauma.

Aside from art and creativity, I am passionate about education, social justice, psychology, and finding the beauty and joy in the small things — I am awed by the natural world and am continually blown away we are here to appreciate it at all. My friends would likely call me kind, contemplative, and quick to laughter, and say that I delight in wordplay, deep conversations, and dogs. While I continue to live and work in Baltimore, my husband and I (and our cats) hope to be making Europe our home soon. (Update 2023: We did it!)

The older I get, the more I realize that we are all on a long road to find connection and belonging, peace, healing, and meaning. As I continue to develop as a human, I hope to be more kind, grateful, and a living example of what love — for oneself and for others — can do.

Have other questions about my life or my work? Drop me a line here.

Art Journaling 101

Art journaling is, at its simplest, creating visual art in a book. Also called an artist sketchbook, visual diary, or art diary, art journals have been used by artists for centuries for a variety of purposes. Leonardo da Vinci, Joan Mitchell, and Frida Kahlo all kept visual diaries over the course of their lives.

I’ve been working as an art journaler since 2009 after finding iHanna’s beautiful and inspirational blog. Over the course of the years, I’ve experimented with a range of book sizes, mediums, and processes.

But art journaling is accessible, easy — there are, really, no rules — and anyone can do it. All you need to do is choose a book, get inspired, and make some art.

Choose a book

There are so many options when choosing what to use as your art journal: teeny books, big books, different page thicknesses, colored pages, books with different bindings, etc. You may go through several types of book before finding the one that works best for you.

I use (currently, anyway) books that I’ve handbound with watercolor paper. My last few art journals have been about 5×7 inches (about 13×18 cm), which I’ve really loved. I also really enjoy working in thrifted books: you aren’t starting with a blank page, and any pages that you tear out can then be used as collage material.

Anything that sparks your interest will do: spiral-bound journals, notebooks made for multi-media, composition notebooks, thrifted books, and so on. You could also use loose-leaf pages and sew or staple them together later. Depending on quality of the paper, you may want to glue several pages together (say, three pages at a time throughout the book) to create a sturdier surface for your media.

Whatever you choose, I’d suggest starting out with books with fewer pages at first: you’ll be able to test out how the paper takes your medium without a lot of pressure. You may get discouraged if you have another 300 pages to fill of a book that isn’t working for you.

Get Inspired

Find and follow artists whose work you like — the #artjournal and #artjournaling hashtags on Instagram are a great way to look through lots of different kinds of books and discover new artists that you otherwise might not come across.

Check out books about art journaling. The 1000 Artist Journal Pages (please find it at your library or buy from your local indie book store if you can!) in particular is a huge compilation of artist pages with a variety of styles. Stampington’s Art Journal Magazine is also a great resource.

Go to your local art store, dollar store, or craft store and see what supplies pique your interest. I’ve used a range of cheap and unusual supplies in my art journals, including sticky notes, highlighters, staples, ballpoint pens, and crayons. Thrift stores also have a ton of used books and magazines that are great for collage. Art journaling doesn’t have to be expensive!

Make some art

There are no rules about what you add to your book: there is no one way to art journal. But it can be intimidating to start, so here’s a list of materials you could experiment with:

Collage materials: lined or graph paper, thrifted book pages, maps or pages from an atlas, tissue paper, security envelopes, images cut out of magazines, photographs, found lists, ticket stubs, cards, wrapping paper, newspaper, etc.
Paint: acrylic paint, tempera paint sticks, watercolor, gouache, India ink. You can use water to thin or mix colors, or lay it on thick, or let it drip or splash on the pages.
Glue: matte medium, gel medium, a glue stick, hot glue, rubber cement, tape, glue dots — experiment and see what you like working with best! Keep in mind that some adhesives will hold up better than others in the long term, and only some are archival (ie., will not yellow over time). Be sure to read the label to see what each product offers.
Other mark-making tools: oil or chalk pastels, water-based markers, paint markers, charcoal, ballpoint pen, colored pencil, graphite, stamps, crayon, etc.

My favorite mixed media tools right now are book pages, acrylic ink, oil pastel, and pencils.

The biggest takeaway

But above all, the most important piece about art journaling is have fun. Create for yourself — there’s no need to share with others (in person or online) if you don’t want to. Your art is for YOU. Make mistakes. Be messy. Make ugly art. Enjoy the process!

And if you have any questions about art journaling, need some encouragement, or want to share what you’re working on, I’d love to hear from you.