My Sketchbook Project: All Stitched Up



Just sent in my entry to the “All Stitched Up Sketchbook Art Show”! 


Title for the work is “Postmodern Ancient Figures.”



About the Show

The sketchbook show is sponsored by the University of Puget Sound in the Seattle area. 


From the Call to Artists page: 


“To stitch is to join together, to mend, or fasten as with stitches – to sew. To stitch is to bring together fabric, paper, wounds of the body, or cultural divides. Stitching can be an act of healing, hope, practicality, creativity, and revolution. All Stitched Up recognizes and celebrates the work of book artists’ where stitching has become an integral part of the visual design. Curators Catherine Alice Michaelis, Jane A. Carlin, and Diana Weymar will jury the show and a print catalogue will be created.”

 

Submission Concept

I’ve been working on this project for three months, filling my Extra Large Leda art journal with sketches, song lyrics, quotes, poems and collages. Almost all of the 160 pages are graced with images front and back. 



Ancient Greece Birthplace of Western Art

The Leda sketchbook gets its name from ancient Greek mythology. Zeus fell in love with the beautiful Leda and wooed her by turning himself into a magic swan. 



I chose to fill the XL Leda art journal with images related to ancient Greece -- the birth place of western art. I included photocopies and transfers of sketches I’ve made of Greek and Roman Statues at various museums over the years (LA County, Getty, Santa Barbara, and Art Instituted in Chicago). 



I also added original sketches and transfers of images taken from art history books as well as gluing reduced photocopies of some of my paintings. 



Weird and Wonderful

To add some over the top creativity I paired the Greek art with collaged Japanese Anime. Somehow the Japanese designs and figures fit the show theme of bringing cultures together. It creates what literary critic Kenneth Burke calls, “Perspective by incongruity”.  



Creating an Ancient Artifact

Following the advice of my art instructor Larry Calkins, I began by messing up each page with ink spray and washes, coffee, tea, natural clay and even shellac to give the book the look and feel an ancient artifact. 










Wish me Luck!

Hope that the judges will like my bizarre collection of images all stitched together in one messy volume. If my sketchbook project is accepted I will deliver the book to the gallery in person. 


I will let you know the results.