I’m an avid reader, and I used to keep a journal where I’d record favorite quotes from books, sometimes stopping every couple paragraphs to record something! When art journaling became a big new thing almost a decade ago, I started turning some of these quotes into visual journal pages as demonstrations for my art classes. I hadn’t done something like this in a very long time, but while reading ‘Census’ by Jesse Ball earlier this year, there was a phrase that really stood out to me and I decided to turn it into a small piece of art to hang on my bulletin board in my home office. I started with a light pencil sketch, then used watercolor pencils. Once that dried, I chose areas to highlight with stenciling and metallic acrylic. Last, I added details and the quote itself with paint markers. Lately I’ve been very into layering patterns into my art with stencils, and love how they can take a sketch or watercolor painting that is quite simple and basic up a level and add new dimension and meaning.

I hope you enjoy the demo. In case your auditory processing is iffy as mine can sometimes be and you prefer to read, here is the transcript for my description of why this quote stood out to me as much as it did. (One of these days I’m going to have to figure out adding captions on youtube! Definite 2026 goal!)

‘The Census by Jesse Ball is a surreal take on a wacky census taking journey in an alternate version of the US, where a dad travels on said journey with his adult son with down syndrome. This choice was made in honor of the author’s brother with down syndrome who unfortunately passed young. It’s a great book anyway, but this thought the main character has while meeting someone wearing a bunch of rings and pins of the different groups they belong to stopped me in my tracks. 

“I have always despised people who join societies. In general, I feel that groups of any kind are for the weak. The need for consensus is the most disgusting and pathetic aspect of our human world. Is there none who can simply wander alone beneath a sort of cloth tent painted with dreams?”

Yes, it’s harsh, but I don’t think this paragraph is saying community in general is bad. As one who has never been a joiner and experienced some angst over that fact, that last line awakened a sort of bubbling-over joy in my spirit. I was never part of one core friend group, rather on the periphery of several groups growing up. I had many intense interests, but never wanted to join any clubs. Even as an adult, I have been part of a few art groups but at times get easily frustrated with the politics and drama and end up quitting (all the ones I’m thinking of have already disbanded, so none currently in action haha!). I thought about joining a local hiking group, but then realized what I love about hiking is being alone and quiet in nature. I attend church but have never become a member, and though I definitely lean a certain way and am known as being quite opinionated, I will never affiliate myself with a specific political party. I like a person or group or entity until they do something I don’t agree with, and then I don’t like them anymore – simple as that (though this doesn’t seem to be very simple for many others!) I have several fantasy authors whose books I’ve tossed in the garbage even though I still like the stories because of their repugnant behavior as human beings. I don’t separate the art from the artist. People tend to seek belonging in ways that I just don’t relate to. Our society tells us to band together in pride about all sorts of ridiculous things … Pride in the location where the great cosmic lottery dropped you at the time of your birth, pride in what high school you went to which again is just the random luck of your location, pride that we have x amount of money or status without acknowledging any starting advantages that got us there or acknowledging how quickly our situation could change, pride that x # of people agree with us whether what we said was accurate or not … People offer blind loyalty and abandon their principles to fit where they think they should be. They refuse to change their mind no matter how far off the rails something goes, not wanting to grow and change lest they lose their “group”. I think I’ll stay under my tent of dreams, and remember to be content with that place. I’ll try also to always remember to leave it wide open for other tired journeyers to join me, not because we are the same but  because I choose to love them for exactly who they are right now. It’s not an easy choice and I’m not always good at it, but I think it’s the best one.