It looks like 2016 is a year of huge changes in my corner of the world, so in order to keep my balance I have a new rule: Finish. This is a tough rule for a polymath like me, but I did start off the year right by finishing my......Ha! if you thought I was going to say the Pomegranate Tree, you would be wrong. True, it's a priority and I'm stitching everyday, but, man, those French knots are killing me. It's a love/hate relationship.No, the first big finish of 2016 was my small (6"x4"), more-or-less-daily, out-and-about, purse journal with 160 pages (or 320 drawable pages). A gift from my brother, it sat on a shelf for 30 years until Sketchbook Skool came along and changed my drawing habits.
to not use color, I decided to use a different color of pen every day. I think it would've killed me to use black ink everyday.
I did have a thought about using a bit of fabric on each page as a sort of frame, however, that didn't last long. Inauspicious beginnings.
It developed into a diary entry, a list, a sketch for each page along with a quote. Which led me to the Paul Klee quote:"Drawing is taking a line for a walk".
I could see myself taking a line for a walk like one would take a dog for a walk on a leash.
And, no, I didn't quit, but, I should have. Things went downhill from there.
Colleagues appeared as well.
The lists disappeared, but the wandering line stayed.
Family and friends appeared.After the end of the 75-day challenge, I started to add color with my Prismacolor Pencils. It was like coming out of the desert.
And then a theme of suffering students developed, students taking exams in an unheated building in the winter.
Reflecting upon my journal has made me realize what a huge project this was.
To be continued...
5 comments:
i just love this, all of it, what you actually put on the page
and what you write in the post about putting it on the page and
how i feel left hanging...love all this and so happy to
find you this morning
Nadia, you continually amaze me with your talent and with that compassionate voice you use in your art. Very inspiring - all of it!
Cleaning up things from the past, I found one of these I had filled. I only wish I had put in some writing or even dates, though much I can remember. Good job. I'm definitely inspired.
love your pomegranates, you have such a deep affinity with colour, texture and movement & thank you for sharing your sketchbook!
It was interesting to see how your journal has morphed into something so different from how it began. I think that is true of all our creative endeavors .
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