The World Tour 2012 Sketchbook Project
Toronto Stop ,July 19-22 , 2012 at The Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen Street West
I first heard about the sketchbook project (http://www.arthousecoop.com/projects/sketchbookproject2012/
), based in Brooklyn New York, US in 2008 on an artist/ gallery website ,
ARTMESH, based in Berlin , Germany from a calligrapher ,friend living in
Melbourne, Australia. Speaking on going
global, here we have it , smile !
My first participation (http://www.arthousecoop.com/portfolio_pieces/11824
) in 2009 with the " One Million Little...Trips" , a sketchbook -
diary about my weekly trips to art related sites in Toronto ( galleries,
museums, public spaces, parks...)and it
was a fun project .
The catalyst between my sketches through the 36 pages of
my sketchbook , were small tags , receipts from museums, parking payments or
public transport tickets I paid to get from place to place during my visits .
In 2011 I sent in my second participation(http://www.arthousecoop.com/submission_images/35659
), " Monochromatic" , a more " me kind" of work, one with
black and white acrylic drawings, on gessoed paper : 36 pages of abstract
reflections about monochromatic sketches .
This more elaborate booklet is traveling , with other
7500 sketchbooks ,through big cities in the USA ( New York, Chicago, St .Luis ,
Portland, Seattle, Los Angeles, Miami) ,Canada( Vancouver, Toronto), UK (
London)and Australia ( Melbourne) in The World Tour 2012 Sketchbook Project.
I am following the tour on line and, finally, last weekend The World Tour 2012 Sketchbook
Project arrived in Toronto, and was hosted by The Gladstone Hotel , on 1214
Queen Street , on the second floor.
This hub of the latest artsy events in Toronto, was
certainly the "it" place for
The Gladstone Hotel, Toronto, On, July 19 th , 2012 Sketchbook Project Stop
the tour. Music bands, interior design shows, juried art
shows, burlesque theater , you can find
it all at Gladstone.
I visited with my daughter on the opening day, Thursday
evening, July 19th 2012 , and it was very well attended from the
first minutes of the first hour.
The Library Card
The young organizers from Brooklyn who are traveling with
the books , documenting ( photos, YouTube movies...) certainly did a great job:
they arranged the books, created
stations for searching on line, brought us the booklets , and created
stations for sitting and reading, or drawing , or buying small souvenirs from
the event, all in good taste and orderly manner.
We were handed four books at a time, my daughter took out
my book and I searched for the ones of my artists friends from around the
world. It was such an enlightening experience to see what other artists did
with their small booklets. I found in the library the booklet of my friend from New Mexico , US artist extarordinaire ,Cassandra Gordon-Harris and was so happy to see her beautiful drawings in "flesh".
Moi with Cassandra's Sketchbook
There is no end to human creativity when it comes to sketchbooks : some made
harmonicas from them, some wrapped them in plushy textiles, some
cut them into folding cards, or they constructed small boxes and
envelops...They were writing, drawing, collaging, assembling , or using
calligraphy , for a totally original look, working wonders with words, poems,
inks, pastels, watercolour paint, acrylic paint, classic or digitally
manipulated photography.
When we left , a couple of hours later, it was just to
make space to other many visitors waiting their turn, the magic was certainly
working , a very pleasant experience and a memory to cherish for a long time!!!
