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 January 27, 1959, and January 27, 1960. In his entry for January 27, 1959, Indiana mentions visiting Jack Youngerman and Delphine Seyrig, only to discover that they were both ill. He volunteered to take out their son Duncan, and they went to the Seaman's Ship Museum. Indiana also records receiving word that there would be no Thursday class (at the Scarsdale Studio Workshop, where he taught), and that his electric heater was burning on one of his columns. 

In his entry for January 27, 1960, Indiana records a visit from Seyrig, who relayed that the newspapers had announced that their properties (on Coenties Slip) would be condemned in June. He mentions a call from Mrs. Goldberg (chairman of the Scarsdale Studio Workshop) letting him know that he might have five classes the following week.

The entry also includes a sketch of Owl, a 14 ¾-inch metal on wood construction.