Marmalade making
Winter sticks and jam jars
Studio space
I have always loved other people’s sketchbooks. To see the thought process behind a finished work, to see the doodlings, the imaginings, and the various ways others go about it as well as the different reasons a person might have for keeping a sketchbook is like having a peek into the secret world of the artist. It has interested me so much I have bought books on how to create a sketchbook….great books that are very informative and interesting like ‘Creating Sketchbooks for Embroiderers and Textile artists’ By Kay Greenlees, and ‘Artists Journals and Sketchbooks. Exploring and Creating Personal Pages,’ by Lynne Perrella. But for all the interest I have shown, I have never really figured out how it might help me. At college I used to end up making up the sketchbook after I had completed my final piece just because I was supposed to go through the process. It has always seemed that if I was going to sketch out my ideas for a finished work first, then why bother to do the final work as I already knew what it would look like.
However, it has dawned on me that recently I have accidentally fallen upon my own personal reasons for keeping a sketchbook. It didn’t happen because I forced myself into doing it as normal, but just because I wanted to record some of the things in my life at the moment so that I will have them for future reference in the vocab of things I could use. Its so simple! – Maybe I have just been complicating it too much in the past. Also, when it is hard to get going doing a sketch seems to be the answer that opens up the way for creativity once more.
