My third project with The Sketchbook Project, is on it’s way back to The Brooklyn Library and will hopefully go on tour to London and Paris this coming Summer! I love these challenges and the connections they bring and this one at just 6 x 4cm (2.33x1.66”) was super cute. Here’s a little peek into my Tiny Sketchbook, a limited edition project and how I went about creating it. If you get a chance to see any of them in person, I am sure it will make for a really delightful experience.
With such a tiny sketchbook and as a follow up to my 2013 Sketchbook Project "One week last summer" and my 1000 words for Summer project 2009-15, I wanted to try to capture tiny impressions of summer, glimpses seen, sketched on location or fragments remembered, partly as memoir and also as an emotional exercise.
I limited my materials to coloured pencil, due to the limitations of the paper, portability, but also because I wanted to focus on colour and the emotions it evokes and lasting impressions it leaves, like the memories that last long after the sun has gone.
Having completed several themed sketchbooks, I no longer work front to back but randomly, jumping back and forth. This way I never get “blank page freeze”, instead a kind of silent narrative begins, one that often surprises me and frees the viewer to make their own story.
Summer is the most significant season where I live. Life around me changes, the landscape and community comes alive. There are real tangible elements to it, but it's the vibe, the feel, the heaviness of the heat, the vitality of an ocean swim, the lightness of clothes we wear, sweetness of the foods we eat, the delights we drink, the sleepiness we feel on a hot afternoon, the freshness of the sea breeze or the simple joy of colourful flowers in the garden. It's the way beach flags fly and we how easily we choose to live. These are the tiny moments I tried to capture in this book.
As summer starts to draw to a close, I am delighted to have participated in another wonderful Sketchbook Project. Tiny doesn't mean small, or insignificant and I have enjoyed carrying this sweet little sketchbook with me as I went about my days. I love the way The Sketchbook Projects are organised, the exchanges and opportunities they bring and I get a tinge of excitement whenever someone borrows a book. Just like this Tiny Sketchbook, it's these special tiny moments, that make for a very joyful life.
For more photos of my Tiny Sketchbook on location, take a look at these posts on my Instagram, here, here and here.
UPDATE: My Tiny Sketchbook has been received and catalogued and can now be viewed on the shelves of the Brookly Art Library with call number T/1.9-10 feel free to contact or tag me in a post if you get to see it in person.
:) Suzi