Exercise 1

I thought a journal framed around the idea of spellbook was an evocative approach to an object intended for keeping personal records. It’s something I would likely use, or know someone who would appreciate it. I wanted it to feel modest, almost domestic in it’s practical design, like something that lived on the kitchen counter. The idea of a spell, recipe, or ritual can be so many things to anyone. Similarly, the pentacle is a ubiquitous symbol in our culture that also contains multitudes of meaning and is used, like symbols are, in so many ways. These ways can be from a place of revererance, humor, kitsch aesthetic, devotion, or anything else.

The burnt edge that is inherent with the cutting treatment on masonite gives the object a sense of history and contextual weight that is relative to the concept of ritual and magic practices. It also has a distinct aroma of burnt ember that conjours witchy and sacred activity.