Entry for City

“Cities, like dreams, are made of desires and fears, even if the thread of their discourse is secret, their rules are absurd, their perspectives deceitful, and everything conceals something else.”

Italo Calvino

I  totally forgot about the Blog. Sorry to all.

I love the topic and I found Calvino's quote that fits with this book. I went through Barcelona feeling "the city" and decided to draw from a little Plaza close to Santa Maria del Mar, a beautiful medieval church. 

Hope that all of you will come in Autumn and have some tapas and wine at this Basque restaurant, while you sketch and take pictures.

Entry for Pause

This entry is fairly late and for that I apologize - the yearbook has basically consumed my life these past 3 weeks.. but we just went to print and now I have a life again.

I loved the feel of Pause - the cover for this book is a lovely soft material, and it's very delicate. I had to be very careful when prepping my background and creating the print because I am often rough when prepping, and this caused me to slow down quite a bit so I wouldn't tear any pages.

I took two pages for this piece. The Pause theme caused me to think about moments when I have taken time to stop and think, while taking a moment for myself. For me, it's when I am exercising outdoors - running, hiking, biking - anything that involves the outdoors. However, some of my calmest moments have also happened at home. So I was in a pickle - how do I show the outdoors and home at once? Do I even want to show myself? I decided against it.

Instead I chose to place a person in an environment that reflected the stillness of the outdoors with the warmth and security of a home. The home was made from a lino print block - I've made about 3 or 4 with different types of cottages and homes, and chose the one that I felt was the most inviting. The person is close to home, with a companion (small dog) and has taken a moment during their walk to just appreciate their surroundings and the environment, which in this case included rain. They have no destination, as the trail disappears into the background behind some trees.

I chose to place bright colours in the background to avoid the gloomy effect that may be associated with the rain, as I didn't want the piece to have a melancholy feel to it. In retrospect, more natural earth tones would have probably worked better. I created the background by staining bleeding tissue paper, which is how I like to prep a lot of my backgrounds.  I love the rough surface it provides. The house is an ink print on lino, and the rest was drawn with black felt tip pen.

Liz's entry into Sopie's Spaces

So Spaces, yeah…

Deep breath…

I was all excited about the eclipse (really, eclipses and solstices… Solsti? are big in my house) I was hanging with two of my very best people while finishing this entry (a physics teacher and another who studies physics at university - and is a star). We were looking at pictures and projections for the big day (nope, not at all goofy) so I wanted that to figure in this somewhere (although I was informed that my vision of the coming eclipse was not really an accurate representation and would in no way help me unlock any complex secrets of the universe, nor help me pass IB Diploma Physics).

I had already started the ink drawing at school – this is the view from my room (I work in the middle of a forest in a school that comprises of a number of dinky little huts like you see in the drawing) and there is so much space - I wanted to work in ink because I always see Jemina working away in her sketchbooks and she is masterful and inspiring (Jemina you rule).

Now, the view from my window at school takes in a special tree that was planted in memory of a student (a truly lovely boy) who drowned whilst swimming with some his friends just a few years ago. This was one of the most shocking and fully sad events I can remember and it is something that is still quite present in the atmosphere of our school and the memories of those who are still there.

I think it was Barthes, either in a lovers discourse or the one on photography where he talks about how, quite often the absence of someone can create a uniquely powerful (often more powerful) presence and it was this idea that I wanted to communicate through the composition of this piece. Art can’t restore that which has been abolished or obliterated but it can show you that that which is now no longer present, existed, and continues to exist as a different from of energy.

I also wanted to somehow convey the idea of the physical space that a person leaves behind when they move on to other spaces and places.

It seems kinda crude looking at the finished piece and I don’t know if it can possibly communicate anything like what I was aiming at and I certainly don't compare with Jemina's inking skills but…

Treasure book

Hi all!
For my book, I was inspired by finding those little things we have around our house which we rediscover and become little treasures through the memories attached to them.

Tapa cloth from a trip to Tonga stored in the cupboard for years, pages out of gallery exhibition leaflets, birthday notes all came together to make a little Treasure book. These artifacts remind me of the value of friendship, where others invest into me and I into them. Memories of being awestruck by seeing Matisse's cutouts for the first time, and how that inspired my own art making, and the journeys I have taken with friends to see places.

I also made the actual book out of a couple of pocket books, as I was also thinking of how we store these little treasures away, laden with meaning and memories, and sometimes we only remember their value when we pull them out or stumble across them again. Sorry I don't have more photos, I was rushing to get it off to the post office. :-)

Really excited to see how each of our books grow and develop!

Jo

Spaces

Hey everyone, I've finally gotten my life together and have found a few moments to post my sketchbook. Heading on a WWW trip for the first week of the month didn't really help my timeliness, but hopefully now I can keep on track. Everyone's sketchbooks look lovely so far!

For my sketchbook, I wanted to explore the idea of space. Spaces around us, spaces away from us, even the space our planet Earth exists in! Any kind of space. I have found that no matter where I've lived, whether a big home in Canada, tiny apartment in Japan, or way-too-large condo in Dubai, I've struggled with space. Finding enough space for all my junk, or having too much space to fill with furniture.

For my sketchbook, I used a cardboard front and back cover and a ready made spine. The paper also came ready made with holes in it - all these pieces are from book making kits I bought my students. I painted the front and back cover with black paint and had some fun with acrylic crackle paste on top, and painting it in with a light water colour wash. I didn't seal the crackle paste - I thought it would be cool to see how it holds up through travel, and what kind of condition it would be in upon it's return!

I just made a little apocalyptic sketch for the first entry, showing a fan of art toasting to the end, in an open space made from the bombardment of a building.

Have fun playing with space!

PAUSE

"Slow down and enjoy life. It's not only the scenery you miss by going too fast - you also miss the sense of where you are going and why.”
― Eddie Cantor

Hello Everyone!!!

I'm so excited to start this rotation.
I have sent Sophie my book, and I'm excited to see if I can inspire everyone with this idea!

I think that we tend to rush from one place to another, we get lost in our responsibilities. When we pause a moment, cease our work, and look around...  we find our center and we learn more from ourselves achieving high-levels of performance with enthusiasm and confidence.

Pause is a tool for creating clarity, calmness, a fresh look and internal peace!

Have fun and enjoy!

I can't wait to receive Hayes and Jen's book

Take care,

Ana

COUNTING DOWN

LATE NIGHT | CAN'T SLEEP | COUNTING PROBLEMS LIKE SHEEP...

Because, well because there are so many things to be done and time is a tricksy fish that keeps on slipping out of my grasp and I just lye awake at night counting the things I have to do (like evil sheep) until I think I’m going to vomit and then sometimes I fall asleep. I am using this book that is already made that has numbers for counting down to sleep and I hope that you can use it to explore your dreams.

I kept away from the violent stabby/inappropriately naked/inappropriate use of a toilet/being hunted in glass house/yes, I have sought help/sort-of dreams that I have when the god of sleep visits my house, to try to create something more that has layers of reality blurred together, things that I have made/seen/experienced all mushed together in a sort-a surreal dreamy and much less scary way, where, "full of delight, the god of sleep has his house".

Anywho, the DHL man has stood me up again, so I hope that this goes out to Jo tomorrow and sorry about the late posting/notice… I just got so much to do…