Thursday, August 9, 2012

My ZIA Sketchbook Exchange...

It all began one day this past February when I taught a
Zentangle Inspired Art (ZIA) class
at my local Art Club.
 A good time was had by all...and as a result
ten of us decided we would enjoy
exchanging sketchbooks
with each other.
We decided we would complete two pages
in each others book
 and then pass the book to the next artist in line.
Pictured above are several of the group members
who were present the day
of our first exchange April 16th, 2012
We chose to use the
wonderful Maruman Japanese fold sketchbooks
for our exchange.
Japanese fold sketchbooks expand like an accordian
and are fabulous for this type of
a communal exchange.
I love the size and paper quality so much better
than the Moleskine Japanese fold books.
The Maruman books
have
a nicely toothed paper
which can take a lovely watercolor wash and
are simply delightful to work in.
I highly recommend them.
We bought ours online from Jerry's Artarama.
We each chose a theme for our books.
My theme is a
Zen Inspired Imaginary Garden
filled with luscious flowers drawn larger than life
and filled with
rich patterns and textures.
We made little instruction pages for
each artist to follow.
The tags above and below are the guidelines for
my book.
Click on any of these images to enlarge.
My pages also had a little fold out piece
with an inspirational quote attached.
 Above is a photo of my first pages in my own book
with the quote showing...
and...
...here are the pages with the quotation flap folded down...:)
The last photo is of the back cover of my book,
 the little packet of instruction guidelines for my book,
and
the ribbon tie to hold it all together.
Sooo...
to bring the project up to speed...
we are now on our fifth round of exchanges...actually
it will be taking place this Friday in Arizona.
I will post all of
my art in my friends books in the next few weeks.
The themes each artist has chosen
and
 their finished pages are simply wonderful.
There is soooo much good art
going on here...
and I am lovin' absolutely every
minute of it!
Mmmmmmm !  :)

“In art...
the hand can never execute anything higher
than the heart can inspire.”

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

9 comments:

jinxxxygirl said...

You do know don't you that your art belongs on the wall and not in a book don't you... :) You are such an inspiration. I cannot wait to see the splendors you will show us! Hugs! deb

Clare said...

Stunning, Just stunning!!

Lisa at Greenbow said...

Oh be still my heart. What an inspiration. I haven't done an exchange in a long time. Seeing all of these that you are doing makes me itchy to do one. :) I love the way these fold-out books bring the different artist's works together. What luck to be able to get this many artists together at one time too. There is no such group around here. Sigh~~

Jane said...

What a wonderful idea, and your notebook is gorgeous - how lovely to have such an exchange!

studio lolo said...

I'm so glad you're out there teaching classes! No one will ever compare with you though. You're the Queen of zentangling!! I look forward to seeing what these talented ladies do.

Thanks for sharing!

marianne said...

Wow Margaret! Such a wonderful project! Makes me long to be in a project like that again...... Doing not enough art lately.
Your book cover and start are fabulous! Can't wait to see the other books and of course your contributions in them!
♥M

nanke's stuff said...

I'm sure the book will be stunning, nancy

bean bags adelaide said...

wow. That's a great idea. Exchanging sketch books to the next person will be such an inspiration. You'll be able to share your work and let them know you personally through your sketches.

PAK ART said...

This would be so fun to do - I really don't have many friends who do art near me....wait, I don't have ANY!!! bah! I guess I need to get more involved in the local art community.