The Sketchbook is Here!

So, my husband, Miller, brought up the mail and The Sketchbook has arrived! It came  in a manila envelope and is about 5" x 7", the perfect size for carrying around with me. Inside the envelope is a pamphlet explaining when the completed sketchbook is due, where to send it, and a few tips to make it easy to transport across the country. There are tips like making sure all the pages are dry (to decrease pages sticking together) and advice about not using dangling or potentially harmful elements (librarians have been known to get cut, yikes...)

I open my sketchbook and look at the clean, white pages. It is bound simply, with a cardboard back and cover,which the Project encourages artists to make part of their overall finished product. Ah, the blank, white page...so full of potential, so ready...My mind is already churning ideas around, all I need is time. As a copywriter, I'm used to the blank,white page. There was a time when it was a scary place to be. I would be at my desk, the deadline looming over my head, shortening as each second ticked by. I was under the gun to fill that page with something creative, concise; something the client would like and that would bring in more orders, more sales, for his company. I learned how to generate ideas quick.How to write fast. And short.

But the blank,white page of this sketchbook is more like an invitation. It only requires that I show up and add my own special input. I only have to please myself. To that end I have decided not to take my theme as simply a jumping off point. I have decided to use the theme of  "Forks and Spoons" as a personal journey examining hunger. Who's going to bed hungry here in my own town, my county, my state, my country, my nation, my world. We all hunger for something more than food. I want to look into this, too, and create each page as a mini poster of what I discover. Big job for such a small sketch book. But,I think it can handle it.