Turbulent indigos: glorious Joni Mitchell watercolours – in pictures

In 1971, Mitchell gave 100 of her closest friends a handmade copy of The Christmas Book, a collection of early songs, poems and watercolours. It is now being published more than 40 years later by Canongate as Morning Glory on the Vine

Sam Briggs

Main image: Neil Young, as depicted by Joni Mitchell. Photograph: Joni Mitchell/Canongate Books

Tue 22 Oct 2019 09.24 EDT Last modified on Wed 19 Oct 2022 10.13 EDT

  • Self Portrait

    In 1971, Joni Mitchell gifted a book of watercolours and poems to her closest friends. It came shortly after the end of a three year creative spell, which included the release of her debut album, Song to a Seagull, 1968; Ladies of the Canyon, 1970, (her first Gold album); and her seminal work, Blue, in June 1971. All images: Joni Mitchell/Canongate Books

  • Untitled

    Morning Glory on the Vine includes more than 30 original paintings, with some notable additions to those present in the original 100 handmade copies

  • Kassandra

    In addition to its distinctive images, the book also features poems and handwritten lyrics to some of Mitchell’s most recognisable works, including Woodstock and Big Yellow Taxi. In the opening for the original text, Mitchell wishes its recipients a ‘Merry Christmas’ and a ‘Happy Hollywood’

  • Dining Room, Laurel Canyon

    A young Mitchell honed her artistic skills at the Alberta College of Art in Canada before dropping out after a year at the age of 20 in 1964. Mitchell would later cite the priority the school placed on technical prowess over creative flair as part of her decision to leave

  • Neil Young

    An arresting portrait of her fellow Canadian and frequent collaborator

  • Hunter

    A painting with the same name as a Mitchell song originally intended for Blue, but removed from the tracklisting at the last minute

  • Audience

    An audience sketch done shortly before performing at a gig in Central Park. In the book’s foreword, Mitchell claims she had to be dragged away from finishing the work in order to perform

  • James Taylor

    A depiction of the American singer-songwriter. Alongside Phil Ochs, Mitchell and Taylor performed a benefits concert on 16 October 1970 at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver. The event funded Greenpeace’s 1971 protests against proposed nuclear weapons tests by the US Atomic Energy Commission at Amchitka, Alaska. The recording was eventually released in 2009 as a double-disc called Amchitka

  • Abigail Haness

    A swirling impression of Abigale Haness, founding member and vocalist of LA rock group Jo Mama. The group’s debut LP, released in 1970 on Atlantic Records, features backing vocals from Carole King

  • Graham Nash

    A captivating image with the nature motifs that recur in the paintings. Mitchell and Nash famously shared a romance after first meeting in Ottawa in 1968, at a performance of Nash’s band the Hollies

  • Jane Lurie

    As the sole designer of many of her own album covers, Mitchell frequently described herself as a ‘painter derailed by circumstance’
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