Lessons of preparation, discipline, love, and beauty that apply to gardening also apply to building a life in the arts. I share my journals in the hope that my story will connect with those who seek encouragement and harbor the seed of a passionate desire to create and protect beauty and kindness in the garden of one’s making. 

I was born on December 19, 1951, in Columbus, Nebraska. I was the only child of Carl and Alice (Asche) Blessen. Mom was a gardener and a gifted cook. Dad was a World War II veteran and carpenter. My maternal grandparents, Edward and Bertha (Mathis) Asche, lived with us after they retired from farming.

On Sunday afternoons, our family would drive through the countryside, sharing a lively (and often judgmental) critique of one farmer’s crops and another farm family’s home and barns. The immediacy of our connection to nature and the seasons gave rise to metaphors of farm and garden that stuck with me. 

My mother hoped that I would stay in Columbus, get married and raise a family. That wasn’t to be. I wanted to be an artist. I eagerly came to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where I majored in painting and sculpture. I was exposed to the beauty and power of art by my professors and through working at Sheldon Art Gallery. I could not have imagined the career that unfolded. I found my tribe in friends at Smith Hall and Woods Art Building, and met my future husband, geology major Kelly Nash. Lifelong relationships were forged.

The seeds of my journal practice were planted at UNL, where I unnerved close friends by keeping files on them—stuffed with photos, mementoes, and written memories. The files evolved into journals. I’ve created more than 150 journals; 23 of those from 2013–2022 are in the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s Special Collections and Archives. I work in the journals as a practical method to tangle with, transform, or transcend the complexities of life. 
— Karen Blessen