The Sketchbook Project

Have you heard about the Sketchbook Project? I decided to participate and have purchased my sketchbook. Part of signing up is selecting a theme, and I chose "In Flight." (The above picture may be my title page.) Other topics included: Below the Surface, Happy Thoughts, Nightmare, and Face in the Crowd - about 30 themes to choose from. Sketchbooks will be barcoded into the Brooklyn Art Library, and will be on tour around the country for a year. They can also be digitized so that you and your friends can read them online. I think they received about 1500-2000 completed sketchbooks last year.

I chose "In Flight" mostly because I love birds and have always wished I could fly. Probably just as well that I can't, considering my fear of heights - but I have flown in my dreams many times and really loved it. Also, Ed and I lived on a sailboat for 14 years (from 1978-1992), and that's a WEE bit like flying. When you're sailing downwind, for example, and have two headsails up, one on either side of the boat, that's called sailing "wing and wing."

During our time on Tropic Moon, I wrote newsletters to describe our travels, and I've meant to edit them for years. We have lots of slides from that time that I can use. I also have lots of art quilts that feature birds. All in all, I feel I have a lot to work with already, and I'm drawn to pulling it all together in one place.

I stopped blogging early last month when my husband had an MRI, and a tumor the size of a golf ball was found. He's been through surgery at Duke University Medical Center. The surgery was very successful and the tumor was benign. This week Ed will have another MRI and the week after that we'll be back at Duke for the follow-up visit. Needless to say, I got distracted from other things! I plan to use the sketchbook project to get me back into blogging.