So sorry I lost the photos...

So here is round two for my book. I don't have a lot of explanation other than it is done in thread. I like that it is very clearly different from earlier entries. I am hoping to free you up to move away from representational drawings and get a little wild and crazy. Please also feel free to interpret the theme loosely  or completely ignore it.
I attached an old bit of machine embroidery to the front on my book.

Round 2: Unintended Collections

I looked in my top drawer where I keep my underwear and found that over the years I've stashed away some precious tidbits. In doing this drawing, I discovered a time capsule of my life--the tender and sweet things of life (teeth saved by the Tooth Fairy, a plush bunny from my babyhood, a birthday card from my now deceased parents, colorful cotton underwear, hand drawn love-notes from my children) and the difficult and deeply sorrowful underbelly of my life (stillbirths and cancer). C'est la vie! Even with all its twists and turns, I love my life!

Telling The Story!

This is my attempt to describe a day in our holiday in Paradise. It is truly a Paradise of relaxation, swimming, walking and meeting up again with Greek friends. We stay at a Taverna called Paradisos at Aghia Anna, Naxos.
I took my sketchbook out for the day and simply drew what occured as it happened. Thus the day starts with the amazing orange and green colours of the Pineapple Palm outside our room.
After breakfast we walked down to the beautiful beach with its little rocky coves and clear waters. Some time was spent drawing, before going up to the tiny church on the headland to play our concertinas.
Later I noticed the vivid pinks of a Bougainvilea and during dinner added the scene with people eating under the tree on the beach.
Throughout the day colours of sea and sky change and delight the eye, but always with a lovely intensity.

A great holiday place, but of course there are concerns. Europe and particularly Greece has financial problems and many people are in difficulties.
Another issue is the care of the environment especially the sand dunes and Juniper bushes. They need protection from tourism and development www.junicoast.gr

October is the end of the holiday season and I often heard Greek people wishing each other 'Kalos Xemona' A Good Winter. I hope it is and problems can somehow be tackled amicably and fruitfully

finally

I finally finished my drawing for Rosies book. I will get it in the male post haste, Rosie.

My appologies

I still have Rosie's book as well as mine, and I haven't made a mark in either one. I have been dealing with so much lately that our exchange has been put on the back burner. I am fully recovered from the surgery now and the chemotherapy is underway. The first week or so after a treatment is tough but after that I have felt almost normal. My hair has begun to fall out ... but I am hanging in there and so far doing pretty well.
I promise I will begin working on the sketch books this week.

Another addition to Winter Remembering Spring

Squirrel and Oak Seedling

'Those Who Live', Rosie's page in Masha's book.

Sheep!

I found I couldn't make a satisfactory page from my bird drawings but realised that Masha's birds inhabited the Moscow sky, Marcia's were by the shore and Katie's on the lake. So my creatures are in the fields of Northern England.

This is a montage of several of my drawings. The sheep and thorn trees were drawn near Whitby on Yorkshire's east coast.

The dry stone walls and old stone gate posts are from Derbyshire and Cheshire in the north west.

Oh, and the snail was in my garden in Hertfordshire, (south east)! At the moment there are snails everywhere as it's been raining copiously.

I hope you like this for the theme Masha. Once again it was not really what I'd intended. It's not a styalish drawing but I've enjoyed giving the sheep and the stone walls an outing :)

Rosie's book is here!

My health issues put me in the hospital for a few days :-{

I am home now and I was so delighted that Rosie's book was here when I got home. Both my husband, Patrick, and I couldn't get over how exquisite it is!

I really have no idea what story I have to add. At this point I am simply honored to have it in my possession.

My Grandmother's Story in Rosie's Book

At 19, my grandmother left the Ukraine for America with her sister Julie.  My grandmother’s name was Sarah.  It was the 1^st decade of the 20^th century.  The Tsar had stolen their oldest brother and burned Jewish homes & villages in pogroms.  From the Black Sea to the Mediterranean, across the Atlantic into the St Lawrence Seaway & the Great Lakes to Chicago.  Grandma worked in a handbag factory and met her husband, also a Jew from the Ukraine.  She spoke Russian + Yiddish + broken English.  They moved to northern Minnesota, opened a dry goods store for the iron ore miners, and had 2 daughters—the youngest my mother.  Grandma’s husband ran off with a young, gentile woman, leaving her to raise her daughters alone.  She made chocolate cake for my mother to eat at bedtime to show her love.  When my mother & her sister were grown, Grandma moved to Los Angeles where Julie lived.  They both worked in another handbag factory.  Grandma slept in a Murphy bed, ate at the automat and enjoyed sitting under palm trees in the park.  When I was a child, Grandma would take the train cross-country to our home in New York.  She’d fill our freezer with homemade cheese blintzes and rolled cookies with Welch’s Grape Jelly.  With flour covering her hands and across the belly of her apron, she’d call me Marsh-a-lah Marsh-a-lah Shena Madel.  Grandma wore a girdle & a brassiere.  She called panties bloomers.  She died at 93 and is buried in LA next to Julie.  Weeks before my mother died 4 years ago, she slipped my grandma’s old diamond rings on my finger.

Marcia Milner-Brage           June 6, 2011

Katie's book received from Masha today

Another beauty in my keeping! I now have 2 books--Rosie & Katie.  I'm still mulling.  Hope to get going on the page by tomorrow.

Masha's book with Minneapolis geese

I have finally added a drawing to your book Masha. It is much less "finished" than what I usually draw. Maybe that makes it a bit more lively and fresher? Anyway it is done and I will get it in the mail within the next couple of days.
Minneapolis is called the City of Lakes. There are nine within the city limits, this one is Lake Calhoun. The birds are Canadian Geese. When my boys were young we used to go to Lake Calhoun and feed the geese dried bread. There are paved trails all around the lakes making them lovely places to walk, run, and walk your dog.

Rosie’s book received from Masha today!!!!

The posted images of Rosie’s book were wonderful to behold, but the originals are so much MORE amazing.  More vivid in color. The energy of each of your hand imbued on the paper.  Just spectacular.  It is an honor to have it in my keeping.

I’ll have to meditate on this a bit to know what I will add.  Today after looking at the sketchbook, my thoughts gathered around my grandmothers, both born in the Ukraine, both spoke Russian as their 1st language before coming to North America as young women in the early 20th century.  Perhaps the story that I will tell will be something about them.

I was outside planting annual sets (impatiens) when the postman tapped me on the shoulder to sign for Masha’s mailer.  He was visibly excited to have such a wonderful envelop with all those colorful Russian stamps to hand me. The book came in excellent condition, but the mailer’s flap had opened half way.  It could have fallen out!!!  Perhaps putting an extra strip of tape across the closure might be a good idea--just to be cautious, Masha.

Masha's book

I have been very slow with your book Masha. I am so sorry. I have been having some health issues for the past month. I am on it though. I know what I am going to draw, and I have begun.

Rosie's page in Marcia's book is ready to go!

This is my Unintended Collection. They are ephemeral items found at various times on holiday, mostly in Greece.
The oyster shell encrusted with limpets may be from UK, I'm not sure.
The little figure (shown actual size) I found in in rocks on a beach on Syros. I showed it to the Museum but they didn't want it. I still don't know much about it and would be curious to know what it is made from!
The tiny shells and glass marble are from Naxos (a favourite island).
The paper boat was on a pavement in Athens and I like the idea of sending it on its journey again!

Ideas for 'Collections'

I have been working on ideas for a collection but am not happy with my idea for a composition so will have to re-think!
These are only rough drawings and show some ephemera that I have found during various visits to Greece.
They include a tiny clay type figure found among stones on a beach. I showed it to the island's museum but it was not of interest to them. I still don't know if it's old or modern.
The paper boat I found on a pavement in Athens and I like the idea of sending it off on its travels again!

Yoohooo, anybody there?

I’m without a sketchbook to apply myself to at the moment.  Wondering how the 3 of you are doing & how it’s going, where you are at in the process.
--Marcia

It's here!!!

WOW! I mean ... really ... WOW! This book is so beautiful. It's so wonderful to see Masha's and Marcia's work together! What a delight to see it in person. Marcia your gulls are stunning! So rich and lively and full of texture and depth. LOVE, love, love them. (all three) :-)
Masha your birds on a wire are even more charming in person than on the blog. When I first showed them to my husband he said they reminded him of Ukrainian Easter eggs.

Masha's book is ready to go!!!

Black-Backed Gulls and seaweed on the beach at Montano de Oro State Park, California

I was able to incorporate wild fauna and flora from my trip to California after all.  These gulls are apparently the largest along the Pacific coast of California.  Aggressive scavenging carnivores, their presence while my husband and I picnicked on the beach was awe-inspiring &  scary. They kept circling us closer and closer.  I expected them to swoop in and snatch my sandwich at any moment. This composition was invented from photos I snapped that day & memory.

Tomorrow, I'll package Masha's book to send to Katie.  I so enjoyed the challenge of  your theme, Masha.  It prompted me to create an image via a different process, outside my usual. (I rarely work from photos!) And I am, for the most part, pleased with my result.  I hope you like it, ladies!

Masha's book--Marcia's working sketches

I'm well into drawing my installment of Masha's sketchbook, but I thought I'd give you a progress report by posting a rough sketch of my composition & a tangle of seaweed vignette.  It was indeed a daunting, scary thing to put marks down right on the page next to Masha's delightful, crisp & clean ink drawing. I'm using charcoal & graphite!  I'm working from my photos & memory of seagulls & seaweed strewn on the beach from my recent trip to California.  The gulls are Great Black-Backed Gulls.  The seaweed: kelp.  I hope to post the finished or close to finished work soon.

Katie's book is ready to go!

This shows part of Katie's first drawing plus my contribution to the book.

Marcias book is ready to go!

I'm done with Marcias book! I even have an envelope for it. I am not going to send it in a box this time because it was more costly to ship that way. It is late Saturday afternoon so I won't be able to mail it until Monday.
I have also included a note as you requested Marcia.

Almost done with Marcia's book

So this is what I've got. This is stuff that I found while going through old photos. The pocket knife was my dads and he gave it to my husband who loves pocket knives. The buckle with serpents on it probably belonged to my grandmother, the thimbles were my mothers. I still use many of her thimbles when I do handwork. The jewelry box was my mothers and possibly her mothers before her. It has rings and buckles and a silver baby rattle which was my uncles in it. The earrings I don't know much about. They just seemed to fit with the collection. The letter is one written to me while I was in my early 20s.

I plan on adding more color before I send it off to Rosie. I used your suggestion Marcia, and had the letter fade onto one of Rosie's pages. I plan on adding a card with a verbal account of the objects in the back pocket of the book too.

So this is how far I am on unintended collections.

Work in progress, my page in Katie's book.

This is my contribution so far. I'm not sure if it is complete yet and would welcome feedback :)
I drew the initial tree study in situe in your book Katie. This is a bit unnerving in case it got muddy or had some other accident!
The tree is an amazing Crack Willow and shows a wonderful record of its life in colour and texture.
I have kept the colour quite restained and haven't yet decided whether to add colour between the trees.

My page in Katie's book.

Beautiful spring sunshine encouraged me to take Katies book out to a local wildlife conservation area to draw. Following Katie's theme of 'Winter Remembering Spring', I decided on a thread of time and change.
I chose to do studies of an old Crack Willow Tree that has split open showing a colourful record of interior change. The tree splits wider with each season.

Okay, so I relaxed and finished. I will get it in the mail to Rosie tomorrow.
Katie

So here it is, well most of it the whole thing doesn't fit in my scanner. First I misspelled remember. I glued paper on top of that, then I started to misspell it again. Then I wrote too big and the poem has ended up way down at the bottom of the page.
I am considering drawing in some ivy branches with sparse leaves on it around the lettering. That might tie in with the sign in pages branches. I welcome any suggestions.
Katie

I have my first drawing in my book. I want to do a little writing in it and then I will send it off to Rosie.

a note to Masha

Hi Masha,

You asked who you were to send your book to. On the right hand side of the blog page you will see a box with our names listed. The order of the names is the order for mailing our molys. So you will always be sending your finished pages to Marcia. Rosie will always send hers to you.

Masha, will you please let me know if you get this posting emailed to you.

Katie

Telling The Story: moving along!

Here are the next pages, ready to send to Masha.

Perhaps not quite what I'd envisaged, but these are the images I've used.

Greek Dancers on Paros. They were dancing to a beautiful, unaccompanied song.

Our dear friend Graham who is playing the wooden flute that he made.

Lisa dancing the 'Broom Dance', a traditional folk dance requiring energy and rythm!

Eliza in 1997. She is now an internationally known folk performer.

The Bone Dancer at Sidmouth Festival. He reminds us to be kind to our fellow travellers as we are all bones in the end!

Masha, Marcia, Katie, I look forward to whatever occurs,
Rosie x

I got it!!!!

Marcia,
Your book came in the mail today! It is so beautiful!!!!!!! I have a couple of ideas of what I might do to add to it. First I need to finish mine. I am working on a study and am nearly ready to add the drawing to my book.
Here is the study.



This is from two photos of my mother one in her teens and one a few years before she died. I messed around with the computer doing the composition. I added chair bits, porch bits and ivy from other photos and came up with an image I liked. Now I am working on drawing it. I will do my best to give it life so that it doesn't look like a drawing of a photo.
Katie

Unintended Collection: ready to send!

Here's my Sign-in & Title Page:

Here's my first drawing:

And here's some thoughts along the way that I tucked in the back pocket of my moly.  Dear ladies, as Masha has called us, please share your thoughts when it's your turn to add to my sketchbook.

Tomorrow, onto Katie!!!! I'm really excited to see what happens next!

Best regards.  Hope you're having as much enjoyment with your first entries as I have had!

--Marcia

Discovering an unintended collection

I found it in my basement.  Screws, bolts, nuts, O-rings, a chair leg protector that make a collection of found, perhaps someday useful, stuff my husband has dropped on the top of the workbench in the furnace room. I drew this sketch in my carry-with-me-everywhere pocket Moleskine as a way to familiarize myself with the forms, to take a "reading" on what they mean to me.  These objects are about and in appreciation of my husband and deceased father, both fix-it people, people always on the lookout for things that might come in handy for a future project. Besides this sketch, I've started to rough in my 1st 4 page spread.  More, as it unfolds.....

winter remembering spring

So... I have just had the most wonderful day at an agility seminar with my dog Zander. I learned so much about myself as a dog handler and about what an amazing gift he is to me. He is so tolerant of my handling mistakes and remains excited and motivated, he is forgiving and so much fun. I am so lucky!
Now about my theme.
The theme of Winter remembering Spring does not have to be limited to changes in weather, ecology, and hours of daylight. It can also refer to the seasons of life. I think of my relationship with my granddaughter. I also think of the song by Joni Mitchell called "The Circle Game". You can listen to it on youtube. Go to http://www.google.com/#sclient=psy&hl=en&tbs=vid:1&q=joni+mitchell+the+circle+game+live&aq=1&aqi=g3&aql=f&oq=&pbx=1&fp=106bd4fa2f9f528f
and you can choose from several videos.
I also think of the trilogy of "Maiden , Mother and Crone". There are also the seasons of our own lives. Drawing about the earth's seasons is only one way to interpret my theme. I have not decided on what I will do to start. I am considering a drawing from a photograph of my great grandmother and my brother as a baby. I am also considering doing winter trees. I will be more than happy for the drawings that you all do to move on from and beyond the marks I have put on paper.
I think of the theme being largely about transition which can be described through images of winter (the old) moving towards spring (the new). One doesn't usually think of transitioning from old to young but here are a few inadequate words I wrote on the subject several years ago.

Winter is the season of sleep,
of waiting for renewal,
of going inside
to find one’s self.
It is a time of unseen growth.
It is the season of death
leading to rebirth.

So that is my theme

Katie

Unintended Collections: Marcia’s Theme

Unintended Collections is my theme.  Here’s my initiating/current thought about it.  But like Rosie, I’m interested to see where it goes through each of our interpretations. Masha requested more input on the meaning of each of our themes. So here goes for me:

I do not intentionally collect things for collecting sake. As I get older, my inclination is to have less, rather than more. I’m always looking to give things away to a next rightful appreciative “keeper”. Certainly, I like to have functional objects in my life--especially in the kitchen :-).  But despite this, I find that “stuff” seems to pool around me. Sometimes I’ll realize that these “unintended collections" do have meaning for me. Or I can’t help but to claim them as part of my story. I’ll open a drawer & realize there’s some like things that have gathered.  I’ll put on a jacket that I haven’t worn since a previous season & find a handful of  shriveled buds, or curls of bark, or a few shells. Are these like crumbs left by my unconscious mind?  Little omens? Something that will make me know my life more deeply if I let them stay in my keeping for at least a short time so I might shine a spotlight on them through drawing them?

I  hope this help, Masha. Words are good, but I think the artwork that you receive in each of our books will be your best guide.

The next pages.

Here is a draft of the next pages.

The first is blank at the moment! I used watercolour crayons plus a little watercolour paint and a bit has bled through. So shall have to think of something.

The next three images continue the musians/dance /friends thread.

The last one is of a Tibetan Bone Dancer. The premise of his dance is that as we are all bones in the end, we should be generous to our fellow travellers!

With this I hope to open out the theme to wider thoughts.

It could move on in any direction anyone likes :)

Rosie x

Telling the Story: sign in page.

Masha,
I think I got it figured out how to get posts sent to you. Please let me know if you get a copy of this emailed to you.
Katie

So .. This is my sign in page. Now I have to figure out what to do as my first drawing.

This is a sketch of what my sign in page will look like. Each of us will sign in on a branch.

'Telling the Story : sketch book images.’ : some thoughts

I’m really excited about your theme, Rosie.  I just finished reading an excellent book by Edmund de Waal (a British potter), The Hare with Amber Eyes: A Family’s Century of Art and Loss.  His story follows a collection of netsuke--Japanese small art pieces that has been in his family for generations.  Here’s a quote: “..take an object from your pocket and put it down in front of you and you start.  You begin to tell a story”.  And another: “Each one of these netsuke for Anna is a resistance to the sapping of memory."

My sketch books!

About me!

moly-x-24 A bit about me!

Drawing has been an activity and a companion for as long as I can remember. This has resulted in a stack of sketch books etc! Retired now, I have taught art and craft subjects for children and adults as well as (occasionally) selling my work.

Life drawing is a favourite occupation and I sometimes teach workshops and organise drawing sessions. I use watercolour when out and about and experiment with print -making and mixed media collage.

I'm married and have one son and a grandson. My second husband (of twentyfive years) has two daughters and four granddaughters. During the last few years I have learnt to play concertina and enjoy being part of a folk dance band. Many of our friends are musicians, giving me subjects for sketching!

I'm looking forward to the sketchbook exchange with hope,

Rosie x

winter remembering spring

This is a doll I made years ago at a workshop I taught. It is what I was thinking about for my theme. In fact I might start with a drawing of this doll.

Peace

Katie

Seeking a 4th artist

I’m assuming you both got the copy of the invitation to join us email I wrote to Donna Malone in Brisbane, Australia. To recap: she needs until Tuesday to think about it.  That’s OK with me. Is waiting OK with you two?

If she declines, I have others in mind who would also make interesting additions to our group.--Marcia

Yes Rosie we still have snow

In celsius it is -18 here this morning. We expect it might warm up to a balmy 0 degrees celsius today. Here are two photos of my garden so you can get a feel of February here in Minnesota this year.

decision time

So are we ready to make a decision on how we are going to do our exchange? We have several options to choose from.

Theme or no theme
1. we choose a comon theme
2. we don't have a theme
3. each of us chooses independently her own theme or no theme

Process
1. we send our books around once and do 10 pages at a time
2. we send them around twice doing 5 pages at a time
3. we send them around 3 times and do 3.3 pages at a time

I am leaning towards each of us having our own theme.

As far as process goes I like the idea of sending them around either twice or three times. Twice would be cheaper but five pages is a bit of a long spread. Three times would cost more in postage but I like the shape of 3.3 pages better than the long 5 page rectangle.

What do you think Rosie and Marcia?

Peace
Katie

Welcome to moly_x_24!

This blog will follow the adventure of a group of artists around the world, in a Japanese fold Moleskine sketchbook exchange.

Each artist will set off with a small Japanese (accordian) folded Moleskine. Creating a drawing, collage, or painting, then send that book on to the next artist. Each artist will draw on a couple of spreads (3-4 pages) then send it on to the next artist. When the artists book is filled, it will be returned to the owner with images created by artist around the world. Each artist has a month to make an entry. The outcome will be a pleasant and surprising adventure, as artists are encouraged to interact and merge their art with others.

The concept:

1. Each artist begins with the Japanese fold Moleskine - Name, address, email address written in book.

2. Each artist gets 1 month to make a sketchbook entry, and mail it to the next person. The order is listed to the right.

3. Each artist will do 3-4 pages each round.

4. Artists are encouraged to interact with other images in the book. Please be respectful.

5. When the book is full, when one side of the unfolded book is filled, the book will be sent back to its original owner. That artist may continue by buying a new book and sending it to the next person.

6. If a person decides not to continue, she will simply keep her book when it comes back to her. She should email all of the participants to say she is not going to continue. We will decide, then, if we want to find a new person.

7. Please communicate regularly via email. Let each person know that you have received/sent the book. The goal is to have a dialogue. Any comments and questions are welcome.


This moly_x_project was begun by Marty Harris, Minnesota, USA.

I am trying to figure this out for us

I have been a bit confused about the process. At first I thought that we worked on one sketchbook at a time. As I look into it more it seems that we each get a Moleskine Japanese Album and start them more or less simultaneously. You can see the Moleskine Japanese Album at
http://www.moleskine.com/catalogue/classic/hard_black_cover/japanese_album__pocket.php
it is a tiny little thing. They can be purchased on line at
http://www.amazon.com/Moleskine-Japanese-Album-Pocket/dp/8883701046
or you might check at your local art supply store.


When finished with our entry we send it on to the next artist on the list. So, Marcia would send hers to me (Katie) when I'm done I would send it to Nina. Nina would make her contribution and send it to Rosie who would return it to Marcia after she adds her work.
At the same time the book I start will go ... Katie > Nina >Rosie > Marcia > Katie
Nina's .... Nina > Rosie > Marcia > Katie > Nina
Rosies ... Rosie > Marcia > Katie > Nina > Rosie

To get started it seems that we will need the mailing address of the person that we will be mailing to. So Nina I guess I need your address. You can email it to me directly if you prefer ksrivard@gmail.com.

In addition because I misunderstood the process .. I wonder if it wouldn't be better if we decided mutually to have a theme or not and if so what it should be. So I will leave my suggestion out there but it is only a suggestion.

Marty has kindly posted on the blog a step by step explanation for the process as well.

It seems that other than just getting to know each other step #1 is for each of us to buy a Moleskine Japanese Album.

I am so looking forward to hearing from you all.
Katie