Robert Indiana kept a series of illustrated journals during the late 1950s and 1960s, in which he discusses the development of his work as well as his daily life on Coenties Slip.

This journal page covers August 1–2, 1963. In his entry for August 1, 1963, Indiana records that he was eager to answer the last two letters that he had received from Jan van der Marck (a curator at the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis), and that a packet of photographs from Eric Pollitzer that he was waiting for did not arrive. He then describes "another day of industry," with the British artist Gerald Laing (who was Indiana's studio assistant) shaping columns and beams while he worked on "Love Column" (now titled Column Love), bringing the number of lines (of the word "love") to seven, in two coats of gesso.

In his entry for August 2, 1962, Indiana records that the photographs from Pollitzer arrived, and that he began to write van der Marck a cover letter, letting him know about the possible inclusion of The Figure 5; he also mentions The Sweet Mystery and The Triumph of Tira. Later that year Indiana would be in a two-person exhibition with Richard Stankiewicz at the Walker Art Gallery. He also describes seeing various vagrants in Jeannette Park, with one, "in the strangest coincidences," asking another if he knew the song "Red Sails in the Sunset," after which he returned to the studio to draw the cartoon for his painting (Red Sails) inspired by the song.