Saturn and Jupiter aren’t the only things intersecting in unusual ways this year. For me, I’m having a notebook conjunction, where my 4 daily use notebooks are all ending almost at the same time! First off, two of them are 2020 Nolty planners, so it’s not unexpected that I’d finish using both of those at … Continue reading The December 2020 Conjunction
Here’s a few things I discovered over the past few weeks, at least one of which I think might be under my Christmas tree already. The rest will be purchased with a gift card I just received! J.M.W. Turner: The Wilson Sketchbook This looks like a lovely facsimile sketchbook to add to my collection. Turner … Continue reading What I Want for Christmas!
A lovely image of a notebook that belonged to Rodin. I found this on the website of an auction house, where it was sold for over 20,000 Euros. A little out of my price range! I guess I’ll have to stick to eBay for buying notebooks that belonged to artists! See the original image and … Continue reading Rodin’s Notebook
For years, I’ve wanted to find an example of the original “carnets moleskine” that existed for many decades before the capital-M Moleskine brand was founded. It’s difficult to research online, as the capital-M notebooks dominate the results if you try to search any related terms. I wrote about it in a blog post a few … Continue reading 1898 Agenda Notebook
I thought this was quite an intriguing presentation of an artist’s sketchbooks– though perhaps frustrating, as you’d want to be able to see more! It’s from an installation of artworks by Antonio Marras, who is best known as a fashion designer. He may have made a name for himself as a fashion designer, but the … Continue reading Notebooks Under Glass
I stumbled across an old article from Wallpaper about a 2015 exhibition of the sketchbooks of British architect Chris Wilkinson, at the Royal Academy. Looks like it must have been a very interesting show! Here is an image from one of Chris Wilkinson’s sketchbooks: I also love this image of his pile of sketchbooks. Almost … Continue reading Chris Wilkinson’s Sketchbooks
Photographer Nigel Shafran‘s “Work Books” were exhibited in 2018 as the first show at a new London gallery, Sion and Moore. Here’s a few photos from a Wallpaper article about the show: Rather than present the photographs he is celebrated for, the work books – part sketchbook, part diary – give a deeper, more intimate … Continue reading Nigel Shafran’s Notebooks
If you are fortunate enough to be anywhere near Leeds, you are lucky! An exhibition of Henry Moore’s notebooks and sketchbooks is opening this week: The Henry Moore Institute and Leeds Arts University are marking 100 years since Yorkshire’s own Henry Moore started studying sculpture, the first step on his journey to becoming a world … Continue reading Henry Moore’s Notebooks and Sketchbooks
These are some pretty amazing nature journals! The site where I first saw Jo Brown’s images described them as being in a “Moleskine” but that page layout doesn’t look like any Moleskine brand notebook I’ve ever seen. Does anyone recognize it? Many artists find inspiration in the diverse beauty of the environment. UK-based illustrator Jo Brown documents the … Continue reading Jo Brown’s Nature Journals
The gallery exhibition below at An Lantair in Scotland looks like quite an amazing presentation of sketchbooks. The sketchbooks were created during the lockdown, and of course with pandemic precautions continuing, it’s difficult for many people to view it in person. But you can see it online in their virtual gallery. [An Lantair’s] Lockdown Sketchbooks exhibition is … Continue reading Scottish Lockdown Sketchbooks