The Sketchbook Project

In my search for more global art exchange projects I came across the Sketchbook Project based out of Brooklyn. Love love love the concept of this project and what's even cooler is that they have quite a few other global art exchange initiatives.

Here's a link to the main site: http://www.sketchbookproject.com/sketchbookproject. And here's a short description of the project taken from the site.
"The Sketchbook Project is a global, crowd-sourced art project and interactive, traveling exhibition of handmade books. Our mission is to allow anyone to be able to participate in art and to create a collection of work that represents the current state of artists worldwide."

There is a main library of over 26,000 sketchbooks in Brooklyn. Would love to actually go to the library someday. An online library of sketchbooks and there is a traveling exhibit around the US.  I would love to have this project exhibited in Rochester! hint hint!

I waited impatiently for my sketchbook to arrive (which didn't take long at all) and then excitedly got started on it this week. So the sketchbooks are fairly small by sketchbook standards and paper is moderately thick (made from recycled paper). There is about 16 pages or 32 if you use both sides. A person has a year I believe to fill their sketchbook and then you return it in the mail. It has a barcode on the back which identifies you.

The hardest part for me when creating is taking the time to pull out all of my art supplies. A long time ago I use to primarily work in pencil and color pencil which is easy and portable to use. However; over the years I've progressed to using more mixed media materials which makes it more difficult and time consuming when I want to create. This is mostly because I'm a bit OCD and my office/studio has to be tidy and neat which means every time I want to create I have to pull everything out and then put everything back when I'm done.  So, I've made an executive decision to give myself permission to leave my supplies out and ready for when I'm in the mood and want to work on my sketchbook. My thought is that this will help me to actually create instead of being deterred from the prospect of having to pull everything out and return it all each time.

I put on some celtic tunes and went to town this week creating in my sketchbook. It felt intimidating to make those first marks but once started I just wanted to keep creating. Below are some pics from my sketchbook.  The one challenge I'm finding is that it's difficult to work in mixed media material and try to work on both sides of the paper. Not just because of drying time but because the mediums I'm using (watercolor, paint, permanent marker) are seeping through to the other side. This is frustrating when I finish a piece, work on the other side, and then go back and see that something seeped through. I've just been working through it so far having to adapt and rework the images sometimes and yet other times it's the perfect in the imperfect in that I like what effect the seeping through had. As always I'm finding this project a work in progress but like myself...

Part of my studio with supplies left out.

Recognize the cover?

If you want to be a part of this project go to the site listed above and purchase a sketchbook. I found a promo code at Maker Mama Blog; http://www.makermama.com/2013/02/the-sketchbook-project.html. The code was supposedly out of date but it worked.

**Happy Creating!

Global Art Project for Peace

Around Christmas time and during the New Year I decided after participating in the Sock Monkey exchange project that I wanted to participate in other larger national and global art exchanges. I searched for a while and came across a few projects that I decided to sign up for. I will share one now as my part of the project is completed and share the others as I participate in them.

The first one is called Global Art Project for Peace and information can be found at; http://www.globalartproject.org/index.html.  I joined as an individual but was thinking that it would be a really great experience to be a part of a group doing this too.

Here is the project mission and description as sited from their website:

Project Mission The mission of the Global Art Project is to joyously create a culture of peace through art. The Project celebrates diversity and multi-culturalism while expressing the idea: We Are All One. Project Description Anyone can participate! The Global Art Project is an International Art Exchange for Peace. Here's how it works: Participants create a work of art in any medium, expressing their vision of global peace and goodwill. The art is displayed locally in each participant’s community. Global Art Project then organizes an international exchange by matching participants—group-to-group and individual-to-individual. The exchange occurs April 23-30 biennially, resulting in thousands of people sending messages of Peace around the world at one time—visions of unity simultaneously encircle the Earth. The art is sent as a gift of global friendship and exhibited in the receiving community. Participants may send documentation of the art created and of the people who came together to create the art to the GAP Art Bank. Global Art Project exhibitions, books, slide presentations, and this website give people an opportunity to experience visions of peace and unity created by individuals from diverse cultures around the world.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I had originally thought to make a painting on canvas until I realized the cost of shipping internationally. Ouch! I took a walk New Year's day with a friend and was talking about my dilemma and trying to figure what else I could make that would represent my view on peace and would be a bit lighter and more economical to ship.  I mentioned some of the other projects I'd seen on the website like peace boxes and peace bracelets. My wonderful friend Cindi mentioned a bag of some sort and my idea grew from there.  Thanks for your brain Cindi!

At first I wanted to sign up for a block printing class being held next weekend at Rochester Makerspace so I could create an image to print onto a canvas bag that I would purchase. But then I started looking at the cost and realizing that I had a conflict in events and couldn't attend the workshop and it made me think about the mixed media fiber arts class I just took in November and the new skills I developed and how I could use those skills to create a bag.

I decided to pull out some wool sweater scraps and set off creating my own bag from scratch.  I chose two complimentary colors, one for the front and one for the back.  I then designed the mandala like image for the front using a permanent marker, printed it out onto iron on transfer paper and ironed it onto a beige piece of fabric.  I cut around the circle and hand sewed onto the front of the bag using the blanket stitch. Then I embroidered a saying about how I feel about peace around the circle. It states "Do not walk behind me or in front of me but beside me and bring peace."  I then sewed the front and back of the bag together. Found a beige canvas belt that had been in my closet for 10 years (always thinking I might use it but never did) and cut off the ends and then sewed it onto the inside of the bag to create the handle.  I created a liner out of the beige fabric and sewed it to the inside of the purse (this covered the handle and the stitching from the front).  The final step was rather to put on a button or not. I prefer buttons so that I worry less about losing something out of my bags. However; I really didn't want to deal with creating a button hole and messing up the bag.  I put a poll out to family and friends and of course the button won out 3:2.  It turned out okay (not perfect but I didn't ruin the bag). :)

Overall I really liked creating this project. It's a one of the kind bag and I like that it's a functional piece of art that still allowed me to express my thoughts around global peace.  Now all I have to do is wait until the end of March to find out who I send it to. Stay tuned...