A sketchbook can mean many things to different people. To me a sketchbook is not a place of finished art but a place for capturing an image that speaks to the owner of the book. A place to capture an idea, thoughts, inspiration, feelings, etc..... Sometimes it can be a place to take things further with some experiment/playing, a place for samplers and notes. It can serve as a spring board to various creative outlets. A page can be finished in moments or take hours. It is not meant to contain polished work that can be framed or displayed. It is a place where you are allowed to be free, there are no wrongs and no rights. You have permission to play and not be perfect. It is a book that captures a small part of the sketcher, the artist, the creator, the person behind these labels, and for this reason it can be a very personal space.
With all of this in mind is how I approached my Sketchbook for the 2012 Sketchbook Project. Before receiving my book in the post I jotted down my thoughts and ideas of how I was going to approach my chosen theme, with lots of room to see where the journey would take me. I decided I would not go on-line to see what others were doing as I did not want to feel doubt and lack confidence, this was already a big step for me and so I want to stay protected until I complete my book.
There have been times when I felt I would not finish and thoughts of giving up ran through my mind but for reasons I can not give I have pushed on. With the deadline of January 31st fast approaching I have been spending lots of time in this little book. I can't wait to finish, to see what others have created, to see their interpretations of the various themes and send my book off into the world & share what I have done.
My choosen theme is A Path Through the Trees as I love trees. To me that means looking at trees and all they entail and using all that I capture in this book as a path to creativity outside of it. So for me a more apt title is A Path Through the Trees to Creativity.
Here is my first page...
I did not really give much thought as to what my first page would be, it just happened that his is a path through trees near my house that I sketched. As the first page I feel it is inviting me, and possibly any viewers, to come down the path, into the book and hopefully into inspiration for creativity.