Sunday, February 27, 2011

The Sketchbook Project And A Little Piece of Paradise

I returned from Punta Cana on Friday, slept for a few hours, then headed out on Saturday to meet Pat for our visit to the Brooklyn Art Library, temporary home to the Sketchbook Project.  We both submitted books, and several of our ATT friends did too, and we were anxious to see them before the exhibit leaves for its tour of the US.

Here are the books (about 28,000 of them), all scanned and cataloged and waiting to be looked at.



To view books, you can ask for a specific artist, a theme, or just tell the folks behind the counter to give you any books of their choosing, and you can look at four at a time.  I first requested my own book and Inge's (she's a long-time online friend and artisitic collaborator, and she lives in Belgium).  We each had the same theme, Dirigibles and Submersibles, and did very different things with many of the same materials.

On the left, Inge's book; on the right, mine.  Notice the same stamp?



Inge's book on top....this time, notice the same Graphic45 paper on both our pages?

Inge requested a photo of me holding our books.....sorry that Pat caught me without a smile!  I really was having a good time.  Honest!


The turquoise tag was for me!  Inge tucked it into the inner pocket of her book and I have to tell you....it was a real hoot to open it up and see the little ticket on it that said, "for Eileen Bellomo in New York."

I had a list of ATTers who told me they had submitted books, but sadly, I couldn't see all of them.  Either they were not yet cataloged and on the shelves, or were submitted under different names, or I had the spelling wrong.  We tried and tried, but several were never found.  So sorry!  But here are the books by Lisa, Barbara, Pat, and Paula:



And after a bit of a search I also found Marlene's:


I don't know this artist from California, but fell in love with his sketches:


Here's Pat, engrossed in a sketchbook:




And this is in no way a commentary on my experience, just a bit of Brooklyn graffiti we saw on our way home.



As I said, I just returned from 5 glorious days in the warm Dominican Republic sun, and not to rub it in for those of you still experiencing this awful winter, but......here's a little bit of paradise:















23 comments:

teri said...

So you're all warmed up now?

Loved seeing the museum and sketchbooks. I do want to get over there.I have several friends with books in the exhibit -- including you!

Helen said...

What gorgeous journals. And your holidayphotos - wow!! I don't "do" sun and sand - but I could make an exception!!

Jennifer R.D. said...

Hi Eileen,
I'm glad you had a relaxing trip! The Sketchbook exhibit looks fabulous. If you go back maybe you can see if mine is there? I don't know if I'll make it to San Francisco to check it out. You better be ready for some more mojitos in the Keys!
Hugs,
Jen

Barbara Mason said...

So envious that you get to see all of these journals...thanks for checking mine out! The DR vacation looks fabulous - we are now getting the early spring snows - beautiful but so done with winter!!!

Mary-Beth said...

How wonderful that you get to see the book and 'meet' new to you artists! How sweet of Inge to leave a surprise for you!
We have plenty of white around here, it's just not sand!! lol Glad you had fun!

Dorothy said...

cool books and cool vacation spot!

Inge Bekaert said...

Hello Eileen !!

Isn't it incredible ? This little journal I had in my hands for weeks ended up on the other side of the world in your hands !

Of course you don't laugh on the photo : you were impressed by the experience of all those journals ! LOL

Wow, to see all these journals so neatly in a row in the bookcabinets : how many of these bookcabinets were there ? 28 000 books : that's hard to imagine.

And between all those journals you found mine and the journals of the other ATT-ers !
I'm so glad the tag stayed in my book waiting for you to come :)

Yes, we used the same stamps, but I didn't have the graphic 45 paper ! Mine is a stamp ! I purchased the stampset with "aeroplanes" at www.stampingground.com years ago and this stamps was one of it.
I didn't know it was on the new Graphic 45 steampunk paper ! And you and I picked the same image between all the others... more then thousands of miles between us...

I want the photo of you and our books !! Can you send it me through mail ?
I'll blog about it in the coming weeks and surely mention your blog !

greetings from belgium
Inge ( with a big smile on my face )

Inge Bekaert said...

Hello Eileen,

I forgot to mention I drooled over your sunny photos....

We're longing for spring here...sigh...

greetings from belgium
inge

Elaine A said...

Hi Eileen -

Missed your blogging, but glad you had some fun in the sun, away from the crappy weather in NY - LOL! Your Punta Cana photos went a long way towards warming me up!
I can't get over that the tag Inge put in her journal for you was still there! Did you have any problems taking it with you? I love the photos of your journal and Inge's, and as to using the same elements, only goes to show that great minds think alike! It was nice to see Pat's face.

Welcome back home and here's hoping you brought the nice weather with you - LOL!

Elaine Allen

donnalouiserodgers said...

ooh I got notified today that my book had been viewed,

It is SO Exciting!!!

Dx

Debby said...

Loved seeing the sketchbooks. Kinda sorry I did not do this. I believe they are coming to Chicago too but not sure where. What a beautiful place to visit. Glad you got to go there.

MarleneMAZ said...

Thanks for checking out my sketchbook and for all the photos and information about it. It is hard to tell from the photos just what 28,000 sketchbooks looks like. It looks like you had a good day there and I enjoyed looking at your photos from your 5 day getaway.

Lori said...

Great pics, thanks for reminding me that there is actually something called a "sun" out there. Those sketchbooks are amazing. I find it so interesting that we can make such different things with the same products.

Paula said...

Ohh Eileen,Thanks so much for finding my sketch book amongst all those others and for showing us the photo of where they all are in NY.I couldn't imagine how they were all going to be displayed. Your holiday does look truly like paradise. Paula x

Anonymous said...

Oh, yay! How exciting to see my book checked out with the others of the ATT gals. And WOW - that is a LOT of books. Thanks for sharing the pics! I'll let everyone on the list know when the books come to Florida so I can be sure to pick out all the GOOD ones! :)

Elena said...

Welcome back sugar!!! I love Punta Cana! From Punta Cana to Key Largo!!! Give Pat my love!

Karen said...

Thank you for the online visit to both places. It's great that you could see the sketchbooks: I hope they are well visited and appreciated on their tour.

Healing Woman said...

Love the journals. I'm going back to Mexico again this week and had a choice of there or Punta Cana. After seeing those pictures..I will opt for going there next year. Can you tell me the name of the resort you went to this year? Is it the same one you went to last year? We all need to get away from this winter don't we?

Patzee said...

OK, I snapped a pic of Eileen just as she was about to smile--it's a special talent I have. We had a grand time checking out all the talent. The Art Library was totally awesome! Not only were there over 58,000 journals neatly sorted, the staff quickly retrieved and returned the journals. At one point every seat in the place was taken by young and old checking out the amazing talent on the shelves. Some spines were about 1/2" wide, others were 2" wide--someone even used an old Year Book. If you get a chance, check out the journal by Katie Kurtz. And yes, the photos of Punta Cana make me want a mojito! Hey, Elena (and Lori & Elaine A, too) sending my love and hugs. I can't wait for the images from the Keys.

goodling4 said...

The photos of all the sketchbooks on the wall were amazing, Eileen. Do we knopw where all the cities are that they will stop in? So great Inge sent you a tag, perfect that you captured it on film, too.
I think I need to talk with you more about Punta Cana as it rains buckets of cold wet water here!
It better be warm in the KEYS when we meet again!!!!

SusanK said...

Thanks for letting us see the Sketchbook gallery through your eyes! What fun! And the trip is a delight for these eyes - so glad you got some down time in a beautiful place!

Unknown said...

Your vacation spot looks fabulous! Makes me anxious for our cruise this fall! What fun to look at all those hand-made books! Thanks so much for posting all those pics! Say hi to Pat for me!

craftyM said...

How cool! ANd how did you happen to find out about this project and sign up for it... Is it just coincidence that both you and Inge ended up doing it or did one get the other one involved? Very neat! Wonder if it will come to Portland?
See you soon! I can't wait!
Marita