Accidental Vix

I was so excited to go to the Canada Water Library in London, despite the underground problems, to be re-united with my sketchbook project 2012, as well as meeting my fab friend Jess from Jessie G for the day and getting engrossed in lots of great sketchbooks. The problem wasn’t where to start but when to finish! I was lucky enough to have the help of Rob Jelinski’s top 25 read list (I advise you take it if you’re visiting this week – only the European and Australian books are in London but I’m determined to get to Brooklyn to see the rest!!) and the ones I saw were all amazing:

• The first book that I managed to get out was that of Marian Wood, and one of the first artists I noticed through Rob’s blog. I’m gutted that in the initial chaos when the system wasn’t set up that I forgot to take more photos of the delicate colour, line weight and traditional feel of Marian‘s sketches as it was beautiful
• Charlotte Valance is somebody I’ve got to know through twitter, and the sketchbookproject, but who I also got to meet on my Gocco course earlier in the summer so I was very excited to see her book in person. Well worth seeing for the gorgeous ink sketches of buildings, and a style I instantly recognise now as Charlotte‘s
• I knew there was a chance that I would see Matt Robinson there, and thanks to sketchbook name badges I did. Matt‘s detailed sketches with dots/stippled effect captured my attention from the first page I saw, and the book is even better in person – no photo can give it justice. Can’t wait for Matt’s 2013 entry, and hoping it comes back to London
• I have to admit that Mat Roff‘s Legend of Mat Marvel has gone straight in at no.1 in my opinion – you MUST see this in person. Not only is it a gripping story, which I consider to be a cross between James Bond and TinTin but the illustrations are so detailed and beautiful, and the cover grabbed mine and everybody else’s attention. If I could buy this I would… Please tell me you’re doing Sketchbook Project 2013 Mat!!
• The delicately detailed illustrations of Naomi Adams have been on my must see list from early on, and are even better in person. The red string tells a story of it’s own and is like a wordless fairytale that any child can narrate themselves. I was lucky enough to bump into Naomi and her gorgeous children who must have loved watching the story unfold.
• I am addicted to twitter and the sense of community so was pleased to meet Zoe Ford, who I have tweeted with plenty but never met in person before, and of course view her sketchbook which was a very different take on a path through the trees.
• Last but not least, a big mention to my friend Jessie G who I feel I bullied into the sketchbook project (in a nice way) and did all of her clean, bright and bold sketches in just 10 minutes!

As well as the books specifically chosen to view you also get a ‘random’ book given with it so you get to view books that you might not otherwise have seen. Or, you could choose to search by a theme, colour or random selection which means it’s perfect for people just wanting to visit but not knowing how to choose a book and my fave random book has to be from wellywearer and again the gorgeous detailed linework. For me, the only disappointing things were the long queue (but I guess that means it’s popular which has to be a good thing) and the fact that I wanted to go over and pick the books off the shelf that took my fancy; this also got me thinking how likely my book is to be chosen as a random selection by visitors.

All in all it was a great experience and has spurred me on to do some more pages of my sketchbook project 2013, to be shared later in the week.

Have a great week,

Xx

Yay, I will finally be re-united with my sketchbookproject 2012 in London this weekend. This is my second book to go on tour, the first is now housed in the Brooklyn Art Library, and my third is in progress. For those of you who have not heard about it here’s a quick summary from my own point of view:

• Sign up to the Sketchbook Project, and choose your theme (I chose this is a sketchbook for my 2012 project)
• Then pay through the website and wait for the exciting post to arrive looking all new and ready to be personalised
• Get creative! For my 2012 sketchbook I chose to base it on my life as a bride and use it as a storybook because there are 32 pages (standard picture book)
• Then the hardest bit is saying goodbye and posting it back to New York before the deadline
• That’s it… let it fly off around the globe and hopefully be kept company along the way as people pick it off the shelves

I cannot recommend it enough, what are you waiting for? Sign up now if you haven’t already, and if you did the 2012 project then please post your name and sketchbook details below so I can add it to my list for Saturday. Thanks to a fab artist I met through twitter, Rob Jelinski, here is a Top 25 read list (only the European entries are coming to London) if you get chance to visit Canada Waters Library over the next week to see the fab creative books on display, and of course it would be great if mine got a few views before it heads back to live in New York – there could be an excuse for a holiday to the USA in there!

Thanks to Art House Co-op who make all of this possible…

Xx

As you will probably know I’ve been doing a few of the Art House Co-op free projects to keep my mind creative whilst I debate where to take my sketchbookproject next. When I saw the mystery project it was an absolute must do as I think it’s really important to keep doing the little things to make people smile and if my art can do that then I’m in.  I received my free Prismacolor green tea pen and started my mini-zine of all things green – a series of A6 pages with green things from green tea to a grasshopper. Once I’d sewn it together it was time to decide where to leave it, I deliberated on a library but then that had already been done… a coffee shop, but that was too obvious… I knew I wanted it to be an independent and quirky place and then I had the idea to leave it in a fab treasure trove of books in an amazing little independent book shop in Wimbledon. I went there this morning and slipped it between a box of books in the sunshine, so who knows when it will be discovered, but when it is I hope it makes someone smile.

Xx

I was very excited to receive my sketchbook project from Art House Co-op for 2013 last week and couldn’t wait to start it. Although I had told myself I wouldn’t start it until I’d finished my prismacolor mystery project, which I am still finishing, I just couldn’t resist as I already have many ideas swimming round in my head. So, I allowed myself to start working on the cover and although it is work in progress I feel better that I have started to put pen (and thread) to paper.

Watch this space…

Xx

After doing the 4×6 exchange 2 I was looking for the next Art House Co-op when the note swap came up. It was inspired by a gigs and lyrics book I had recently done for my friend’s birthday and was a combination of my fave lyrics and I couldn’t live without music! It was a bit of a rush as it needed to be posted on the day we returned from Montreal and I was a bit jet-lagged but I can’t wait to see what I get in return…

Xx

I love a challenge, especially if it’s creative so I couldn’t wait to sign up to the 4×6 exchange 2 by Art house Co-op. After finding out about the sketchbookproject 2 years ago Art house have managed to motivate me to push myself further, and their latest series of project is no exception. I have good days and bad days at the moment, still recovering from major hip surgery and phasing my return to work from this week so it’s important that I find things to keep my creativity going. So, when I hobbled home after my first day back at work after 6 months off I was cheered up by the post waiting for me, and this fab combo #1 artwork from Edgar Exclamation, who also sells on etsy.

Xx