Traveler Journals: Cartography, Astronomy, Astrology

I've always been fascinated by ancient cartography and by how our ancestors perceived and mapped their world. During the years I have created a few journals on this theme but lately I've been drawn to it more than ever and, inspired by the originality of the ancient maps and by the talent and patience of the artists who made them, I took the hand painting details on my leather covers to the next level. It is worth mentioning that all these journal are sold. They were one of a kind, I receive many requests to reproduce my previous work but I feel this would be quite impossible since the process is so labor intensive and hard to repeat. Also, the possibilities are infinite and as an artist with *hopefully* unlimited creativity I feel much more compelled to create something different and unique every time.

The Alchemist (2014)

Hand painted, an intriguing scene reminding of a worn ancient map is depicted on the front cover and a symbolic labyrinth on the back cover. This was inspired by several old maps and the antique patina is giving it the unique appearance of a tome found in a secret library. This journal was created in collaboration with the Romanian artist Adrian Borda. 

World Travel (2014)

Bound in natural goat leather this journal was painted by hand with motifs related to travel, depicting on its cover a medieval image of the world map. It is completed by writings and historic symbols such as figures of animals and ships. The decoration tells an entire story filled with meanings. This journal was created in collaboration with the Romanian artist Adrian Borda. 

Mundo Segredo (2020)

This book was  tooled and painted by hand. It depicts an original drawing that I created and that depicts a fantasy world with antique maps and symbols. I wanted it to reflect the images and thoughts that exist in one's mind, sometimes crowded, sometimes organized, some that make sense and others that don't. Symbols, secrets, history, memories, all present in our minds. The title "Secret World" refers to the personal writings of a journal's owner, thoughts that may be exactly like that, comprising of a multitude of feelings, emotions and ideas. This book was made as a work in progress which will only be finished once it is filled with your writing.

The Traveler (2023)


This blank book is bound in natural goat leather, stamped, tooled and painted by hand in great detail. The decoration is depicting a fictional double hemisphere map of the world inspired by a drawing from1594 by Petrus Plancius. This map has incredible and very detailed elements and contains some fascinating facts as the presence of the Magallanica, sive Terra Australis Incognita: ‘Magellan’s Land, a.k.a. the Unknown Southern Land’, a mythical, nonexistent location that was discovered by the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan. 

The Story of Writing (II) (2023)

This blank book is bound in natural goat leather, stamped, tooled and painted by hand in great detail. The decoration is depincting a symbolic story of how writing came into existence and the different calligraphic styles placed on the map. The image as well as the concept are inspired by the book The Story of Writing by Donald Jackson. 

Carta Marina (2024)

Nautical Windrose (2024)

  A journal very close to my heart. Bound in green leather and decorated in a mixed technique including stamping, gold tooling and hand painting. The Wind Rose is a nautical cartography element used to facilitate the orientation on the sea. This utilitarian tool has become an artistic and symbolic element, not just a mare embellishment. A wheel is surrounding it, depicting the name of the winds and their figurative representations blowing from different directions. 

The Ancient Times (2024)

This hand painted journal was inspired by very early representations from books from 16th century by the astronomer Giovanni de Sacrobosco who published On the Sphere of the World, on the Ptolemaic universe. The celestial sphere was considered at that time the imaginary representation of Mundi, the world with the sky and the stars. The book contains a clear description of the Earth as a sphere, however the Celestial sphere is considered infinite, as it has no limit in radius. It was a conceptual tool in astronomy to specify the position of an object in the sky without consideration of its linear distance from the observer. In this representation zodiacal signs are depicted on the ecliptic - the path of the Sun across the sky over the course of a year. The back cover is a representation of the world map within a Portolano coastal chart, depicting a carrack at sea. On the spine of the book, the planets Mercury, Saturn and Venus are personified as mythological characters.

Orbis Descriptio (2025)

 A free reproduction of the cartography representation from 1534 by Oronce Finé, the most prominent 16th century French cartographer. Originally engraved on wood, it was considered one of the finest and rare example of workmanship that combines geographical representation with artistic imagery. From a strict scientific view point it may be somewhat retrograde due to the fact that it depicts North America as an extension of Asia but the beauty in the details of these representations fascinated me and I wanted to create a traveler journal that reflects that. A interesting detail is also the proposed name for Antarctica, the "terra nuper inventa sed non plene examinata -- territory newly invented, but not yet explored.

Between Heavens and Earth (2025)

This journal was inspired by the illustration of the Ptolemaic (geocentric) model of the universe, created by the Portuguese cartographer Bartolomeu Velho in 1568. The model depicts the Earth at the center of the universe, with celestial spheres surrounding it, representing the Moon, planets, Sun, and fixed stars. This was the dominant cosmological model before the heliocentric theory of Copernicus. The image depicts, from inner to outer circles: Earth, depicted as a globe with continents and oceans; the Celestial Spheres (Planetary Orbits) arranged from closest to farthest: Luna (Moon), Mercurio (Mercury), Vênus (Venus), Sol (Sun), Marte (Mars), Júpiter (Jupiter), Saturno (Saturn) and The Firmament (labeled "Firmamento") represents the fixed stars, which were believed to be embedded in a great sphere beyond the planets. After that follow The Primum Mobile, the outermost sphere believed to move all others in association with the divine motion, and the Angelic Realm, representing angles.

Creatio Universi (2025)

The theme of the journal is astrology - cartography, inspired by an early engraving by J.A. Fridrich after J.M. Füssli, from book "Physique sacrée" (1732) and represents a cosmological plan of the  Copernicus' astronomical vision, surrounded by diagrams of the systems of Ptolemy and Tycho Brahe. The large central image shows the proportions of the Copernican system. Figures of the Zodiac are seen spread across the main circle. Among the clouds, other solar systems are depicted. At the top, the sacred tetragrammaton, inside a Trinitarian triangle, points down towards the Creation of the Universe.