Journaling, the most accessible way to make art.

Art for breakfast, in your pyjamas.

Welcome to a new [occasional] weekend letter where I hope to share thoughts on creativity, music, films and books I’ve enjoyed and the work of other creatives I admire. Last Sunday I shared this email using my Flodesk newsletter platform, but I hear Substack is the new place for those looking for creative connection of a different kind and where we can share our words and creativity with others in a less hurried way, and of course where what we share has a shelf life longer a 1 minute!

I’m still finding my way around Substack, for now I will be moving over some content that deserves to be here instead of buried in a sea of posts on Instagram or archived on Flodesk.

I’m playing catch up, should be fun!

What is art for? I believe it is for feeding our souls, for sustenance as Ethan Hawke says, not for feeding our perfectionism. 

Sometimes I get feedback from collectors of my more elaborate one-kind-journals telling me how much they love their journal, but they feel they reluctant to fill the pages up in case they make anything less than perfect art in them or write moving poetic words; while that’s sweet to hear, it would make me (the journals and the journal keeper) much happier if the pages were filled. What’s the point of a beautiful book with no story, whether written or drawn? That’s like a person with a beautiful face and body, but an empty soul! Ok, that’s a bit too deep! This post was supposed to be easy like Sunday morning. Ha! 😄 

To remedy this fear of ruining a more expensive journal with [beautiful] messy scribbles and to give my rheumatic joints a break from all the making, I’ve been working on designing a range of everyday affordable journals that are being produced by another bindery exclusively for Lotus Blu featuring prints of my artwork on the covers. I received the first samples recently and I LOVE THEM!

I've spent some time testing the handmade paper with different art media and I’m really excited to introduce them to the shop very soon! These will be journals you can fill with anything you desire, hopefully without fear of ruining them, in fact they are meant for messy art, coffee stains and inky trails. I'll share more about them in the July issue of news from the bindery and beyond. 

HERE'S A PEEK FOR NOW.

In this [occasional] weekend letter, I want to share the art of other creatives that inspire me, from those I've known for years, others I've connected with through Instagram and some I've stumbled across by happenstance. Today I want to share the work of Susan Yeates with you, she's an artist and self confessed sketchbook hoarder who teaches and encourages others who want to develop a sketchbook practise. I had the privilege of watching Susan sketch prolifically while we were on a creative retreat together in France last year, it was so inspiring. I've linked Susan's instagram if you need some inspiration to get a sketchbook practise started, she shares so generously!

I hope you’ve had a peaceful weekend and made time to do something just for you, even if for only a moment.  

Until next time, 

stay curiously creative.