THE SKETCHBOOK PROJECT 2011

The first person to alert me to The Sketchbook Project was Diane Oswald, who I met in my workshops in Hampton, Virginia both years I taught there. Her blog entry on the work she did in my classes is worth checking out for sure.

http://mylittlecraftyworld.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2010-06-17T07:00:00-04:00&max-results=10

So anyway, I looked at the Sketchbook Project on line and was very interested. But at the time was so immersed in the remodeling project here at the house I couldn’t imagine taking on anything else. Well, The Sketchbook Project 2011 http://arthousecoop.com/ kept being suggested to me and I guess it was like the hundred monkey thing and I found myself emailing people and suggesting they do it and suddenly I had to also. Last time I checked there were over 16,000 people participating. So I signed up and even signed up a friend for her birthday present. My hidden agenda is that when the sketchbooks go on tour and appear in San Francisco my friends and I will have the perfect reason to spend some together there.

I have moved into the house. And on Friday we initiated the studio space doing paste paper. It was a magical day for me. Ignoring the many boxes that need unpacking, the piles of stuff I have accumulated that I have no space for in this little house I dove into the color and played for hours. It was one of those days that just flowed. No struggle.

There is still work to do on the house, especially on the exterior but it is quite livable. And Stella the incredible cat and I love it here. We have lots of trees and space outside, a beautiful new deck and much less traffic in this neck of the woods. At some point I will post some photos. Promise. But now I must concentrate on getting ready for teaching and vending at Art & Soul in Portland in October.