merel djamila hoekstra
@mereljournals
Merel Djamila Hoekstra, whose name translates to blackbird in Dutch, likes to include a little blackbird in her illustrations. Yet her art journals are more focused on the buildings and landscapes she observes during her travels – particularly Art Nouveau architecture. Merel’s journals, whether being used at home or away, serve as visual diaries. “I love finishing journals and flipping through them once they’re done,” Merel says. “My sister once joked that my filled journals look like accordions, because they can get massive.”
Based in Groningen in the Netherlands, Merel works as a content marketer and a freelance illustrator. “A journal definitely helps with letting my creative juices flow,” she says. “It’s relaxing to put your thoughts on paper, and it’s a way for me to spend less time behind my computer.” While collage art was her jam a few years back, these days Merel prefers using gouache and coloured pencils on a mixed-media sketchbook.
Last year she travelled throughout Europe for three months, keeping both a travel journal (to write in and to display receipts, pictures and train tickets) and a sketchbook for her drawings and paintings. “I decided to separate the two since I need different materials and a different sketchbook with thicker paper for my paintings,” she says.
Colourful buildings with decorative elements are Merel’s favourite things to illustrate in her journal. “Maybe that’s because we have strict rules for houses in the Netherlands and you rarely see coloured houses here,” she says. “When I was visiting Ljubljana, I painted the Vurnik house and I also painted details of Casa Vicens and Park Güell in Barcelona. In Paris, I loved walking around Rue Crémieux and seeing the colourful buildings lined up in this street, and I made several spreads of Nyhavn, the harbour with coloured houses in Copenhagen.”
Sightseeing at popular tourist spots also provides a glimpse into how many travellers capture these sites with their devices. “With my journal art, I try to offer an alternative," Merel says. "Because it takes me several hours to make a drawing, I get to observe more. This does not make me any better than tourists who rush, but I do notice that it’s a solution for me to step out of the hurried world and just stop for a moment and really take it in.”