I love it when I come across textile sketchbooks, such as the ones below by mixed media artist Shelley Rhodes. She works in textiles and collage so her pages have lots of color and texture that go beyond just drawing and painting. If you are inspired by Shelley’s work, you might want to check out her book Sketchbook Explorations, which is specifically targeted at artists working in mixed media and textiles.

From a Q&A interview with Shelley at the School of Stitched Textiles:

What was your first memory of creating a sketchbook – who taught you or were you self-taught?

As a child I used to love to ‘cut and paste’. A favourite activity was chopping up old magazines and making collages. However, I really started working in sketchbooks whilst at art college in the 1980’s, when I studied graphic design.  My sketchbooks have changed a lot over the years and developed further when working towards my City and Guilds in Creative Embroidery.  

What’s your development process for your sketchbooks, if any?

I usually work in several books simultaneously.  I always have a current ‘workbook’ for new designs, developing ideas, exploring and experimenting  with material and concepts as I work towards finished pieces for exhibitions. I always carry a small sketchbook (about A6) for my ‘one a day’ daily creative act. This could be a drawing, collage, painting, stitched sample, arranged collection, manipulated photograph – in fact anything goes. I usually have a couple of other ongoing sketchbooks. For example at the moment I have one with black paper, one specifically for recording marks, patterns and shapes related to my ongoing coral project and another for exploring and experimenting with text, gestural and asemic writing.

Read more and see more textile sketchbooks images: Shelley Rhodes: Textile Sketchbook Journals | School of Stitched Textiles