Peek Inside… Natascha’s “Holy Grails”

Our latest Peek Inside comes from Natascha, a creative artist and Harry Potter enthusiast, who was inspired by the sketchbooks of Oscar Alfaro, a fellow Peek Inside artist. About her journals, Natascha writes:

I actually own more than one Paperblanks journal, and I like to save things in them that are very very important to me. I own the 2014 Grolier Dayplanner which, up until my graduation last June, I took to school every day and proudly displayed on my desk to show everyone that I have the most beautiful agenda ever.

I have a Grolier journal, too, which is one of my two “Holy Grails.” Many people know me as the Biggest Harry Potter Fan Ever; it is almost insane how obsessed I am with that series. However, I often, well… forget things. For instance, I know everything from the movies by heart, but since I don’t read the books as often as I watch the movies, I tend to forget many specific things. That is why I love my Grolier notebook so much. Last time I read the Harry Potter series I noted everything that is different from the movies and everything that I had forgotten (or did not want to forget) from the books. My notebook is like an extension to my brain in which I store knowledge about my most beloved thing ever. I don’t know whether that sounds weird to other people, but I just feel extremely comfortable knowing that I have that book at home that I can read for hours and hours just to quickly relive the whole story.

And finally, of course, there is my second Holy Grail: my Nocturnelle journal. This book I got only two weeks ago. I ordered it on the German online book shop Thalia after I had spent ages looking for a beautiful journal that would hold all my favourite pieces of literature. I browsed through so many online shops but I couldn’t find anything that seemed precious enough for my favourite stories. Then I thought, “I should get another Paperblanks book.” And I found Nocturnelle to be just perfect! It looks amazing, like an old book from a gigantic library in which someone preserved their thoughts and now it is just waiting for somebody to take it out and read it. I ordered it and when I finally held it in my hands I felt kind of a bond with it. It felt like what I imagine the bond between a dog and his or her human must be.

I could not wait to fill my book with words, but at the same time I was afraid to ruin it. So it took me another few days until I finally decided what to write first. In the end, I chose the “Lady of Shalott,” which is one of my favourite poems. After I finished writing the poem in my new journal, it felt a lot easier to continue and fill it even more.

I went on with Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18, which I once had to analyze for English class. During the three and a half hours I needed to analyze the piece, I learned to love it. The next thing in this journal is a song text. Les Misérables is my favourite musical and my favourite song from it is “At the End of the Day,” because it feels so real. There’s no exaggeration or hyperbole. It just describes what life is like for poor people, especially in former times (but it still applies today), and how hard many people have to work in order to be able to survive.

Next, there’s my “Deathly Hallows” drawing. I just HAD to have something from Harry Potter in this journal, although I already have another one solely for Harry Potter. The art piece isn’t entirely my creation, and I have stated that on Instagram where I originally posted this photo. The basic idea and the quote from the bottom were created by somebody else (I don’t know who, though); I just changed the pictures and colors and added even more quotes from Harry Potter. This is probably my favourite page from the book so far.

The next thing in my journal is the poem “Vincent” from Tim Burton. Tim Burton is a massive inspiration for me. I have seen all his movies and own many books about him. He is quirky and crazy and amazing and creative. He is a filmmaker and his work interested me so much that it made me want to become a filmmaker, too. This now sounds like a childish dream, but it’s actually more than that. I feel like it’s my destiny to work with films. My absolute dream would be to become a director. Whenever I read or imagine something, I have a picture of it in my head. Now I know that not many people can “think in pictures” and I feel a bit blessed. This makes me want to become a director even more because I want to be able to show everybody else what I see in my head, because I really feel like the people would like what they’d see.

The last two things that I have in my book so far are two short poems. One is by Cicely Mary Barker, who wrote many flower fairy poems. I admit that in my heart I am still a child – afraid of horror movies but enjoying poems and portraits of fairies. The last poem is by Lang Leav and it is called “Dedication.” It is about love and poetry and the like. It’s just beautiful.

I still have another 150 pages (or so – I’m not quite sure) left in my Nocturnelle journal and I am going to fill them with more poems that I find beautiful, more quotes that mean a lot to me, more song texts that I love and more drawings.

I cannot yet say what I will write in my next notebook; I think this will develop in due time. Maybe I’ll put some of my own work in my journal. I can never predict things like this. Most of the time I just see something and think, “That is it!” and that will be the next thing to be added to my journal. I just know that the fuller this book gets, the more precious it will be to me. Once it is full, I will probably get another Paperblanks journal to continue my collection.

About Paperblanks: We believe that art matters and should have a place in all aspects of life. That’s why we follow the artist’s way in everything we do – creating, crafting and releasing designs we believe have the power to touch people. For more about Paperblanks, go to our website at paperblanks.com.