circle books

When I was in high school my friend and I would buy spiral bound notebooks. In class we would write letters to one another and then switch them in the halls. I'd give my notebook to my friend to read what I had written and respond. We did this because we went to private school and were watched like hawks. Using the notebooks allowed us to fool the teachers into thinking we were actually taking notes.

I still have many of those notebooks and reading them is a riot. They are filled with comments about boys, our bodies, and catty comments about the other girls in class. I treasure them.

Lately, an artist version of this has sprung up and is sparking creativity around the world. They are called Circle Books or Shared Journals. Rather than just writing, two artists create a pages of collage, painting, illustrated poetry, etc.

Here are the rules:

You keep the book no longer than one week before sending it back to your partner.

There is no limit to how much space you can fill in that time, but each page must be created in sequence.

Date and sign each entry.

You can create the book on a theme if you wish, or keep the theme open to express what is happening in your life at that time.

No comments on the work in progress. The sole communication is in the book. The art is created for the other person in the circle.

The covers should be a joint collaboration between the artists and created as the book is created.

Because of the problem of who keeps the book, you may wish to create two books and send each of you work on the opposite book each week. Be sure to label the books in advance so there are no fights as to who keeps which book!

Each entry should be different.

No limit on the media or type of entry. You may wish to reserve pages in the back for descriptions of the media and products used as the book is created.

If you are going to mail the book back and forth, I suggest using a smaller book as the books get heavy as they are filled.

To find books created for this purpose, go to rubber baby.

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