Barbara's Bistro Book...

First,

the rough draft is completed on copy paper...

and

is then followed by drawing the illustration

using graphite

in the actual Maruman Japanese fold sketchbook.

This step is always sooo messy for me...

lots of erasing

along with fingers and hand clean up to follow.

 Next comes laying in the ink...my favorite part.

Here is where I get to add details

and begin to carve out the finished product.

Ahhh!

So...now, at long last...

here is the reveal of the final book in our exchange.
Ta...Daaaa...

presenting to all of blogland...Barbara's book...

my entry is at the very end.

Click on any image to enlarge for better viewing...:)

 Barbara's pages 1 and 2...officially

opening the bistro for business and a world of artistic encounters.

 Her pages are followed

 by Paulette's bountiful Italian inspired pages 3 and 4...

I absolutely LOVE that quote...:)

 ...and then we go "South of the Border"

for Jan's zesty "Killer Guacamole" illustration

and recipe on pages 5 and 6.

 Next comes a familiar laid back reference to the king

of Key West...Jimmy Buffett...

on Char's pages 7 and 8...

 ...followed by Carolle's fresh and healthy market inspired

bistro take

on pages 9 and 10.

 Cindy's pages 11 and 12 follow with a country inspiration,
some fresh seasonal ingredients,
multiple cookbooks, and bright flowers...

...only to be topped of with

a traditional banana split (ZIA style) for dessert

on pages 13 and 14

"yummiliciously" drawn by Barb W.

Thanksgiving occurred during the time Judy designed pages

15 and 16...and as you can see

she included a favorite family recipe

for turkey dressing.

I received Barbara's book in December...

so I thought it best

to personally research typical desserts one might find

during this time of year.

It was a hard job..."but somebody had to do it"...

...Right???  :)

I included my version of a beautiful "Blitz Torte"

which

Barbara remembers her mother making.

The chocolate "Black Russian" bundt cake on the pedestal stand

was inspired by the lovely dessert

Barbara made for my birthday gathering this year.

The cookies and other treats

were a nod

to the delectable home made goodies found

in the wonderful traditional

Polish and German and Italian bakeries

of the city of Chicago...

where Barbara and I both lived

in our youth.

Lastly,

here is the "whole enchilada."

I hope you can appreciate the fact that

from start to finish

it was

a work of culinary and artistic love...

and also a wonderful trip for many of us down

memory lane.

“A balanced diet is a cookie in each hand..

and my artistic Muse

hovering over my shoulder.”

~Author Unknown

Beading it...

...another work in progress...:) 

These are my 2 pages

in Paulette's Maruman Japanese fold sketchbook.

Paulette's theme is "Womens Accessories"

and as you can see above

by the time I received the book many options

had already been chosen.

This is when my latest copy of the Chico's

catalogue gave my Muse

some wonderfully beaded inspiration

and
I was off to begin the rough draft.

Once I had my idea...work in the actual book began.

The chain strap was the first thing

to be inked in...

followed by seemingly thousands upon thousands

of beads.

 

 Color play then followed...a rough draft first...

then some

serious painting in the book itself.

I added a crystal bangle for a little extra bling

and to also provide a nice lead in

for Barbara

the next, and final, artist in the exchange.

(Please click on any image to enlarge for better viewing.)

Above is the final scan of my two pages...

complete with an art club badge and a few art accessories.

Our own books will return home to us

at our final art exchange/wine party in January.

Hmmm...

What more might a girl want???

"Try to be inspired by something every day.

Try to inspire at least one person

every day."

 ~Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

My Art in Jan's Book...

 Penciling in some basic ideas...

I make my preliminary drawings on copy paper

just to see

how I can best visually blend my art

with the art of the person who came before me.

The theme of Jan's book is "Doors"...and...it is spectacular to see.

The books we are using for this exchange

are the Japanese fold Maruman sketchbooks.

These books take both ink and watercolor beautifully...

I really love them!

 My next layer in with ink...

then after running a couple of color tests...again on copy paper...

 ...I am ready to layer in my watercolor...

ever darkening my shadows and enriching my color.

Then, adding my night sky...complete with bits of starlight...

it's ready for a signature

and the next book exchange...What fun!!!!!!

(Click on any image to enlarge...)

Here are our books from our most recent exchange...October 17.

We have only two more exchange rounds

until our books return home to their owners in January.

My book

is the floral themed book 5th from the top...:)

"The doors we open and close each day 

decide the lives we live."

~Flora Whittemore

Char's Flower Themed Maruman...

 Char's pages 1and 2...

 followed by Carolle's pages 3 and 4...

 followed by Cindy's pages 5 and 6...

 followed by Barb W's pages 7 and 8...

 followed by Judy's pages 9 and 10...

and then, finally, followed by my pages 11 and 12.

Our books will continue to circulate

amongst our little group until

they return to their owners hopefully sometime

mid January.

At that time we are tentatively planning

a group "show and tell"

accompanied by good friends, our Muses, and some

delicious wine sipping

bathed in the soothing Arizona winter sun.

Ahh!

The life of an artist...what joy it can bring...:)

"My artmaking
 is simply a personal celebration
of the joy of being alive."
~Dean Taylor Drewye

Carolle's Paper Doll Themed Maruman...

 Carolle's pages 1 and 2...

 followed by Cindy's pages 3 and 4...

 followed by Barb W's pages 5 and 6...

 followed by Judy's pages 7 and 8...

...and then, lastly, my pages 9 and 10...

which were inspired by the art of

Mary Englebreit.

It was quite an interesting experience

to rethink how clothes

would need to be drawn to fit a paper doll...great fun, too!

We meet

monthly to exchange our sketchbooks in person

except

for the middle of the summer

when everyone seemed to seek cooler climates

and few of us are in town.

This book was exchanged the beginning of

August...

and since I was in Illinois I had to mail her

back to Arizona...

which was like watching your child leave home for the first time.

I was so anxious about her flying cross country...

and like a little mother hen

I eagerly awaited email news of her safe landing.

All ended up well...

and she has now moved along to the

next couple of artists in line.

Click on any image to enlarge to better see details...:)

"Here, Kitty, Kitty..."

 I am severely allergic to cats.

I sneeze and get all itchy and terribly congested

whenever I am near them.

I take allergy medicine...but to no avail.

All that being said...

I don't mind drawing them...and actually am

extremely fascinated by their

beautiful eyes.

To me cats seem almost like messengers...spiritual entities...

if you will.

These photo are of my pages are, actually, yet another

"work in progress" for you to enjoy

They were made

in Cindy's "cat themed"

zentangle inspired

Japanese fold Maruman sketchbook.

Pencil outlines came first...above...

 ...then an ink overlay...

 ...some color trials...

 ...all followed by the first layers of watercolor.

 Next on the agenda was

 more layers of color...ever deepening the values.
(Click on any image to enlarge.)

Lastly,

a zen filled "Bali Cat" emerges all perfectly primped

and

florally blinged out

ready for a fun night on the town

and,

possibly, a special magical encounter.

You know...

I thoroughly enjoyed this project...

no sneezes...

no itchiness...and no congestion...

Purrrrr...:)

"I believe cats to be spirits come to earth.

A cat, I am sure,

could walk on a cloud

without coming through."

~Jules Verne

A Book of Flowers...

Above is the 

 pencil layout of my art in my friend Barb's book...

Judy's work is on the pages to the left.

 Now...getting ready to play with paint!!!!

 Voila!

The pages in order above are Barb's, Judy's, then mine.

 A close up of my pages...and then

...the formal scan.

This book was exchanged in June

with my art girlfriends in our local art studio in Arizona.

It is part of the
Maruman Japanese fold ZIA sketchbook

exchange I am in.

As you might notice by the calendar above

that

I am trying to catch up with

all my art postings.

Sorry for all the timeline bobbles...:)

Click on any image to enlarge.

“To achieve great things, two things are needed;

a plan,

and not quite enough time.”

~Leonard Berstein

The Shoe Book...

...and every gal should have one!

Above are photos of my flip flop shoe pages in

Judy's shoe themed Maruman.

See... I really do own a pair of these!

Is it time to go home yet?

I keep clicking these damn shoes, but nothing happens.”

~Robin Hecht

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