Sketchbook Dilemna

The sketchbook from Art House arrives.

A blank front cover, awaiting something creative.


The inside cover, complete with pocket for people to check the book out (at least I think that's why). Note blank first page.


Blank inside pages. There are a lot of them.


Inside back cover. See, I get my very own bar code. That's a first for me. Very thrilling. Note the theme above the bar code: Over the top. This is what I need to get creative about.


I love sketchbooks. In fact, I'd have to say that I'm a sucker for sketchbooks. I buy them whenever I see one that beckons to me. I admit, while I love the idea of journaling, daily drawing, filling the sketchbook with wonderful ideas, I usually fill a few pages of my new acquisition and then put it down, never to be picked up again. Eventually it gets shelved with all the other virtually empty sketchbooks.

So when I heard about Art House's Sketchbook Project http://arthousecoop.com/projects/sketchbookproject I just couldn't resist. This company is doing a lot of fascinating stuff. To get involved, first you sign up and fork over $18. Shortly, in the mail, you receive a Moleskine blank sketchbook. You are assigned a theme, and given a deadline in which to fill the sketchbook with something creative relating to the theme. Once it's filled full of fabulous whatevers, it's mailed back to the Art House, where it (along with hundreds of others) travels to a series of galleries and then is housed in the Art House library.

Here the sketchbook looms. I've had it for a month. Thankfully the due date has been pushed forward to January 1. I'm thinking. I've had ideas. Over the top; what does that mean? Am I going to do a series of drawings or am I going to collage, cut, sew, embellish in other ways? No clue. But I need to get with the program pretty soon, because there are a lot of pages to fill.

This is supposed to be fun. It's supposed to get me to actually fill a sketchbook. Stay posted for results!