Friday, August 7, 2009

unwind





The time has come to head back to reality....leaving rural Pennsylvania tomorrow for Detroit and then Spokane. I am finishing my last few drawings tonight while I finish watching Blade Runner...(in the mood for 80's sci-fi...who knows why?) and I have put a sneak preview on flickr.

A fawn lives under the porch here...I think that he was raised by the goats nearby? Anyway, incredibly tame which is likely not a good thing for surviving the winter, but I will try to avoid worrying about that for now.
Last night I went for one of my last runs on these country roads and I kept noticing how loud it actually was. Everyone claims to head to the woods for peace and quiet, but I could barely think over the crickets and wind in the trees and the river. I will miss these sounds.

Back to the bookbinding studio though. I will try to have some new journals up within the next few weeks...just in time for the fall.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

hello inspiration...

I found this video on etsy...Please check out Margaux Kent's etsy shop: the black spot books
Inspiring.

Monday, July 27, 2009

Speaking of Sketchbooks





I was browsing some webpages that I had bookmarked ages ago and came across Book By Its Cover...a website by a Brooklyn designer...I have been particularly obsessed with the Sketchbook Series. I thought this was fitting to go with my recent conversation about loving to see filled books! Here are some glorious images from the Ben Finer Sketchbook Series...

Friday, July 24, 2009

Sketchbook Interiors...and Glorious Rainstorms


The messy drawing studio...
text pgs: Ingres lightweight
covered with grass green book cloth and amate bark paper for the spine as well as screen-printed bits and pieces for fun

photos from a really old sack of lentils....
Anais Nin quotes and an old etching proof.
It is so peculiar how most of the best things could never be planned for. Today - iced coffee on the porch during a rainstorm...perfect.
It has been raining on and off for then entire week here (in rural PA), but it is the lovely sort of rain-warm and breezy and everything smells so wonderful when the drops stop falling. Plus, this has been a very productive week for drawing, so no complaints here!

In other news, I have been wanting to do a feature on this blog for a while about some of the books/journals/sketchbooks that I have made in the past...how are they holding up? Are they filled? How have they been used and by whom? I am afterall most interested in making functional items. I love gorgeous old bindings and really intricate detail work, but in the long-run I am always more satisfied when I give someone a journal that they will actually use, even if it happens to be a simple leather notebook.

That being said, I decided to begin the feature with a book that I have carried around for the past year. I created it as a sketchbook...filling it with an earthy toned lightweight Ingres paper, which I have always loved to draw on....though I must admit it has been used as more of a storage location for my racing thoughts and inspirations (photos, exhibit cards, quotes, etc.) that I want to remember.

Take a look, and let me know what you think...and please send any images and/or notes about the tangible press journals that you have been filling my way to be featured!