Sketchbooks

Last night I went to the opening reception for the seniors graduating from the IB art program. I was impressed. Although most of the work was thoughtful and well executed, the thing I keep thinking about this morning was the sketchbooks on display. They were left out on tables near the work. each table had 3 or 4 books, one each belonging to the artists whose work was displayed close by. Guests were encouraged to flip through them.
You could tell that these books were an integral part of the creative process, perhaps even the more important part. There were elements collaged in, drawings, journalling, altered pages , and they were jam packed. Some had art history and color theory notes, some had lists of museums to visit, they were works of art in and of themselves. I spoke to one girl about it and she said that her book was her whole life.
I miss that practice. The intensely personal interaction with ideas and media breeds better art. I think that is why I am having so much fun and am getting a bit obsessed with the altered book I am working on for Art Camp this summer at my shoppe. Obviously it is themed around quilts, specifically, Art quilts that inspire me. The pages of a well worn book are naturally warm and comfortable, it is thick and takes paint really well, stitches as well as any paper I have worked on, and there is no fear of messing it up, or trouble with facing the blank page. The book can serve as a record book of completed projects, a repository for ideas for future projects, and a central place to keep frequently needed reference materials. Yes, There is an appendix in the back that holds lots of charts.

The thing that seems to hold me back a bit is that this is for a workshop, and so I need to be able to demo every technique I play with. For me, that changes the flow of the working, I am conscious of how to explain the process as I am working, sometimes I even speak out loud to hear how it sounds. That awareness of how others will see it as I am working changes the level of involvement with the process. Time is also a constraint at the moment. I MUST finish the quilt for my sister, and I have several sewing jobs for customers to do, so I need to squeeze in the book at the end of my day. Here's to getting through the stuff we have to do so we can get to the fun part.