Wordless Wednesday

Liir surprised me with a bubble nest this morning! He was SO proud, darting back and forth while I took these photos!

The Sketchbook Project: Collaboration

I've participated in The Sketchbook Project these last two years, so when registration opened up for 2013, I signed up immediately. Around the same time, two things happened: first, I saw this awesome sketchbook collaboration between two artists (where they created two nearly identical books, one for each of them to keep), which I thought was a great idea. Secondly, I was chatting with my friend Angie, and our high school days came up. "Remember when we used to write stories together?" She would write one page, I'd write the next, and so on, passing those notebooks back and forth near daily.

And so we decided to merge these two ideas with The Sketchbook Project - since the sketchbooks get sent back to the Art House Co-op for a national tour, we wouldn't have to worry about who gets to keep the book, or about duplicating our work into two books.

We decided to have two different "types" of spreads: 

1. left-right: one artist will complete the left page first, then the other will complete the right side, using the left side as inspiration
2. collaborative: one artist will start the spread, the other will complete it

These types of spreads will then have some order as you go through the book (not counting the very first and very last page, which we'll do together along with the cover):

1. left-right: I start the left
2. left-right: Angie starts the left
3. collaborative: I start
4. left-right: Angie starts
5. left-right: I start
6. collaborative: Angie starts
7. etc...

Since we wanted to rebind the sketchbook, I got it first. I replaced the staples with bookbinder's thread (using the same holes) and added two sheets of thick watercolour paper to the middle:

Next, I spent a few weeks deciding where to start. I have quite a few ideas for pages I want to do, but I didn't know which to start with or where to put them throughout the book. Starting something like this is intimidating!

Ultimately, I decided the very first spread would be a name doodle:

I used ink for the doodle, then filled it in with pencil crayon. This is probably the only page I'll be adding my website and the date to (except the first page, which will likely be an intro of sorts) - all the others I'll simply initial. I finished it with a spray of acrylic sealer so that the crayon wouldn't transfer to Angie's page.

Next, I knew I wanted to fill in a page with washi tape... I just love how it looks:

I'm not sure exactly which page number this one landed on, but it's before the watercolour pages. The spread directly before this page is a collaborative one I start, so I did that one next:

I went with the beginning steps that I use for many spreads in my own sketchbooks:

1. masking tape into the crease to protect the rest of the book (not that this really worked at the bottom... the ink went through to the previous page a bit, despite the masking tape, wax paper and towel I was using, and of course that's one of Angie's pages... arg.)
2. gel medium to glue down some mint ledger paper
3. orange India ink along the top, letting it drip, then adding a few drops of brown ink

I can't wait to see what Angie does with these pages and the other pages she starts! We'll be sending it back and forth about four times; I'm excited to see how it will take shape and transform throughout the year. To make it even more fun, we aren't blogging about it until the other receive the book (Angie just got it in the mail yesterday)... oh the suspense!

What do you think of our collaboration? What would you do with these pages I've started?

Mosaic Monday

It's Mosaic Monday! I hope you'll join us - it's really easy! Just make a photo mosaic - you can use whatever photo editing software you like, or a website such as the mosaic maker and photos from Flickr - then post it on your blog. Go ahead and pick a theme if you want, but don't feel like you have to. Have fun with it!

Make sure to include a link back to my blog so that everyone can participate. Then come back here and submit a link to your blog post (using the "add your link" button at the bottom). I'll be looking and commenting on each one!

Here's mine for this week: persistence.

1. Persistence, 2. Persistence //, 3. Persistence Works, 4. Persistence

Here's the list of mosaics for this week. Once you've blogged, click the button below to add your blog post link.

Sunday Seven

Here are a few things I'm grateful for this week:

Sunday: enjoying ice cream in the air conditioned car 

Monday: new trails to explore (and long weekends) 

Tuesday: stores open past 9PM

Wednesday: cooking dinner with air conditioning (unfortunately not at our apartment)

Thursday: Pat working from home and slushie breaks

Friday: cooling off at the air conditioned library

Saturday: spending a wonderful anniversary with Pat, complete with swimming, a fancy dinner and a bottle of wine  

What are you thankful for this week?

Recommend: The Wolf Gift

Anne Rice is one of my all-time favourite authors; I think I've mentioned this before. I have a copy of each of her books and have read most of them at least twice. Her prose is so evocative and poetic, her characters so human (even when they aren't exactly human anymore): believable, lovably flawed, and oh so irresistible... So when I heard that she had a new novel out, I knew it was only a matter of time before I devoured it with relish (ha! Pun intended!).

The Wolf Gift is Rice's first novel based on werewolf lore. Like her vampires though, she doesn't simply borrow upon legends and fairy tales, she creates her own. She uses the pieces that fit into her original origin story, refuting those that don't or seem far-fetched, and garnishing it all with tantalizing facts from ancient history. These facts are what make Rice's books so interesting to me: the story is so convincing and plausible, you have to keep reminding yourself it's fiction (or is it?).

Not just a compelling origin story, The Wolf Gift introduces us to Reuben and takes us along his struggle to come to grips with his new-found power. That it complicates his relationships with his friends, family and co-workers is a given, but he must also grapple with his conscious and try to find a place for himself in the world as he knows it. This is a similar theme found in Rice's vampire series - Lestat in particular struggles with these same thoughts. The big difference, though, is that Lestat questioned God's existence and motives, whereas Reuben's belief and trust in God are unshakable. I think this change in attitude stems from Rice and her own beliefs as a (somewhat recently) born-again Christian. Either way, this simply adds to the tale without becoming the focus, allowing her novels to be enjoyed by people of all cultures.

I highly recommend The Wolf Gift - it's a great summer read... unless you're looking for something you'll be able to put down to go for a swim!   

My Creative Space

Last week, I showed you a trio of paintings I started of my niece and nephews. I didn't work on them all weekend, so there isn't much progress to show... but I did add a couple more layers to the water:

The "white" in these photos is actually a pale shade of blue. I still have quite a few layers to add to the water to achieve the look I have in my head, but I'm really happy with how it's coming along so far. Once the water is nearer to completion, I'll block out the kids and then start working on them. I can't wait to see how it all comes together!

For more Creative Spaces, head on over here.

Wordless Wednesday

(Liir #1 did poorly for a week before he died, poor thing - tank/bowl #1 lasted two weeks before cracking at the bottom somehow... so here's Liir #2 in his new, slightly larger, abode, with his new plant. He's much healthier - eating, swimming around, exploring, reacting to anything that comes close to his tank - and such a cutie!)

Monthly Forecast: July

This is what I said about June for last month's forecast:

"I can't believe it's already June. And I'm still unemployed. And I still haven't restarted my yoga. Terrible. What did I do in May? Where did that time go? I must get back on track." 

So... it looks like nothing has changed this month at all! Time is still flying by and I seem to be wasting most of it. Most of the time, it feels too hot to do anything - including blog, job search, clean up, journal and create (oh how I wish I had air conditioning!). Which is really really boring and just too bad... there's nothing worse than wasting time! Being so unproductive makes me feel useless... which leads to more time wasting and unproductivity. It's a vicious circle!

The only thing I have been doing is reading. I've read 30 book already this year! I love reading - I wish I could make a living off of it...

Anyway, here's the plan for this month:

• celebrate 11 years together with Pat
• travel home for a long weekend at the end of the month
• JOB SEARCH: top priority! Apply to at least 3 posting each day, Mon-Fri.
• daily yoga - start blogging about it again for accountability 
• hike every weekend, go for walks during the week - enjoy the beautiful weather!
• eat lots of fresh fruits and vegetables - hit up a few farmer's markets for extra freshness 
• journal daily - catch up on 366Pages and work on my Sketchbook Project(s) 

As for blogging, here are a few things you can look forward to:

• photos from our hikes and walks around Hamilton
• pages from my many sketchbook, including the Sketchbook Project
• collections: beautiful coffee table books 
• recipes: making the most of fresh seasonal veggies
• recommend: great summer reading

I also really need to revisit Science Byte and update with a new post or two over there.

Lastly, you'll notice that no ads have gone up for July. I didn't have any bites, but that won't stop me from blogging daily! I have a few posts prepared already, with many more in the works. Hopefully the fun content for July will encourage some sponsors for August!

I hope everyone has a wonderful and productive month!