What's in a Bookshop name?

Sketch based on my local bookshop, Left Bank Books

Have you seen the illustrated books 

Books & Mortar:

A Celebration of The Local Bookstore

by Gibbs M. Smith? And

Footnotes from the World's Greatest Bookstores 

by Bob Eckstein

and the postcards of his illustrations?

This is some of  what I found in these books & 

in the What's Next brochures

that are given away at independent bookstores:

One More Page Books, Arlington VA

The Dog Eared Book, Palmyra NY

Bookbug, Kalamazoo MI

Once Upon a Time, Montrose CA

Hooray For Books! Alexandria VA

Red Balloon Bookshop, St Paul MN

The Corner Bookstore, NY NY

Politics & Prose, Washington DC (of course!)

Books & Books, Coral Gables, FLA

The King's English Bookshop, Salt Lake City UT

Page & Palette, Fairhope ALA

Is your local bookshop listed here?

What is the name of your local bookstore?

What would YOU name a bookshop?

Leave your answers with a comment!

Valentine's Day Fun

 

I tried printing this Valentine Girl

with my printer.

 But the colors came out badly.

So I did a black & white version 

& added just a few colors by hand.

Valentine Girl's source was a small, 

super quick sketch 

I did last summer

when a woman zipped past me 

while I was sketching a church.

 

 I led our Library Art Group this week in making

non-adhesive, folded gift boxes. 

Valentine's Day has been a fun inspiration 

for me since childhood.

I used the January page from a 

beautiful letterpress calendar for this box.

I've had a lot of painted snippets around, 

great for adorning boxes.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Exploring Rather Than Wandering

 

Sketchbook Wandering. 

I've done it here for almost 7 years!!!!!

Sketching & writing still bring me joy & comfort, 

as when I took a pause from last Saturday's winter festivities

at a café on Main St. I sat by a wall.

My sketchbook transformed the scene to interesting theater.

There are people who appreciate my sketches, 

& some have learned from my process.

But:

Change might be starting...

Expression, discovery, exploration, reflection, 

& who knows what else! 

I've been experimenting with making marks 

with a brush & "high flow" acrylic paints.

(Thanks, for introducing me, Beth. Go to Sew Sew Art.)

My marks turned to shapes & my shapes 

arranged themselves.

Aaaah, order...but maybe not too much...

More will be revealed...