Thursday, November 17, 2016

Making Foldable Books


 The workshop we attended (previous post)
was called "It's a Foldable World", (how cute is that)  
& was taught by artist Cynthia Ahlstrin. 
She taught us "Faux Japanese Wrap Books." 

Right at the start she emphasized 
"Handmade, not Perfect" 
 & we all relaxed.
"We're not stressing today," 
she would remind us from time to time. 
The model book I made in the class is the bottom photo. 
Above is my follow up book, made at home,
using little painted elements 
that have been hanging around,
just waiting for this!
 The interior is an accordion fold.
Don't use anything lighter than 70 pound paper.
(She gave lots of tips like this.)
These springy little gems come alive in your hands.
And they hold together without glue! 
And you can make them be cards with fewer pages
if you want!
Foldable Magic!
Say hello to my 3rd book. I'm going to be filling these
with French vocabulary, quotes & expressions
for my new series/project. 
More are already in the works.
 My very first book, done in class.
She brought such nice papers for us to work with.
Cynthia was prepared, methodical & yet spritied.
With her method, you couldn't fail! 
And she made me laugh with expressions like 
"It's about quicko-chango-form today, not about content.
Does everyone know what content means?" 
(Filling the pages was to be done on our own time.)

Thanks Cynthia & thanks to my friends for taking me there
and sharing the fun!

Monday, November 14, 2016

The Art Notes & Learning Journals

I've been filling my "Art Notes & Learning Journals"
with notes from books such as
Sketching People by illustrator, urban sketcher, 
Lynne Chapman.
The 4 X 6" Pentallic Traveler blank books
are perfect for this series.
And they have lovely colored covers... 
Pages of notes...
I always record the page numbers
from the books from which I'm noting.
And put the day's date on top of many of my journal pages...
I also use these journals for workshop & class
notes & sketches. We traveled 50 miles yesterday
for a super fun workshop 
on making "Faux Japanese Folded Books."
Inbetween the pages of directions & teacher quotes
(she was very funny!)
I sketched the scene before me.

During the ride over I noted some details
that I saw out the window.
Chapman and her book were a good influence:
Record essentials...quick is fine!
On the way back it was dark in the car.
The gigantic white full Moon accompanied us,
& I gazed without sketching...

Tuesday, November 1, 2016

An Old Autumn Tree

Time away from the blog has told me: 
I needed to get back to my true purpose:
To remember why I draw.
I had gotten distracted, 
starting to think that it was 
about showing others, forgetting
my internal need for 
observing, recording, reflecting,
When I'm in my personal process,
knowing that I'm not obligated to show everything,
then I can also choose to share.
Phew! 

I sketched the tree out the window during breakfast
at my favorite bed & breakfast in Bar Harbor.
After, I had a lovely sketch walk 
along one of the carriage roads, 
with a friend,
a friend who is more familiar 
with what's happening in nature
than I am. 
We would stop, she would point out
what she was seeing,
give explanations,
while I sketched & wrote down her quotes. 
I too was in the mode of stopping & noticing.
Very very wonderful, a gift,
at this time of year when there is so 
much variety & change.