A Happy Dance!

Voilà!!! 

And may you have a happy day!

Bonne Journée!

Sketchbook Wandering at the Library

Once the workshops & the show were over I found myself going back to sketching with new energy & inspiration. By teaching, I learn, by sharing, I get inspired.

J & I are regulars in the reading room of the Camden Library. He reads his newspapers, I sketch still life compositions of readers! (the above reader is not my J...) My noisy brain quiets in the midst of soft symphonies of crinkling newspapers & silent pauses. Libraries still bring me such pleasure!    

At my Art of the Sketchbook Journal workshops, people asked about materials. Except for favorite brushes, Winsor Newton watercolors & Prismacolor pencils, they vary. it keeps my sketching fresh.

Recently I tried a new Rhodia blank book, seduced by the colorful covers displayed at my local Fiddlehead Artisan Supply. The pages were very thin & I thought I wouldn't be able to make them work. But with The Test of the Pens, I found one that worked nicely. It bleeds through the backside, which means I get  fewer pages to use, but it's OK, because this book elicits pleasant sketches. With its pretty yellow cover, it calls me often. You want that in a book...

Amusez-vous bien, mes amis, et à bientôt !

Coming Back • Looking Back • Moving Forward

   '  

That is moi, at a recent workshop I gave on The Art of the Sketchbook Journal, in conjunction with a show of my work at my library. Looking back, moving forward, while in the present moment. Pas mal!

I had 2 display cases of some of my sketchbook journals.

Detail from display case

I shared 16 of my original Sketchbook Wandering pages. The show, was held in my small town Maine library & so I enjoyed many direct responses, encounters, & invitations from sharing right in my own community.  

Detail from the wall display

 It was different to see the pages on paper & all at once rather than online. 

They reminded me of pages in a paper book... 

One of the most gratifying aspects was that I got to share what I know about this joyful means of expression in two workshops, & to see others doing it. Soon the Belfast Free Library will be presenting a monthly sketch group, hosted by yours truly! More news to come! 

After some months of envisioning a new blog, with a million different title possibilities & organizing principles that I have recorded in my paper journal, I realized that I didn't need to abandon my dear friend, Sketchbook Wandering, at all! I had only needed some time & distance to tend to some other adventures. So, after this post, I'm visualizing the posts to come as a sort of Sketchbook Wandering: Chapter 2.