A year in sketchbooks

Another page from my autumn sketchbook, one of the last sketches before I moved into my newly made winter sketchbook. I have been making my own sketchbooks for a year now and I must say that it would be somewhat difficult to go back to using a commercially made sketchbook at this point.

Here is a photo of my year of sketchbooks with the most recent edition for this winter sitting on the very top. The sketchbooks that I make for myself are not as nicely made as those you can buy. And with each one there was something that went wrong in the process of putting it together that makes it not quite altogether right. You could call them quirky. But they work for me. They have paper that I like which works well with a variety of media. I also include a signature in the front and back using regular copy paper and use these pages to paste in a calendar and scribble notes. I put a pocket in the back to hold business cards and collect things. The act of making these sketchbooks has become a ritual of sorts throughout the year. I have begun each one with the change of season, either on the solstice or equinox. This has resulted in a greater awareness in me of the turning of the year and increased my desire to make note of each season's special qualities in my journal. For my handmade sketchbook from last winter, I recycled a used book found in a thrift store. For all of the other sketchbooks I made my own covers, which then also became a part of the ritual process. All of the materials, the fabric and end papers, were something I already had on hand, leftovers from past projects now given a new life. There has been something very satisfying in all of this, as a way to mark the passage of time and celebrate the moment that is now.

*There is a new blog on keeping an artists' journal, put together by Cathy Johnson, and well worth a visit. It was her class "Keeping an Artists' Journal" that inspired me with my own visual journaling, which she has turned into a book, Artists' Journal Workshop, and now a blog. And reading all of the fascinating interviews on her blog is sure to keep me busy while I am eagerly waiting for my copy of her book.