What a Cool Way to Start the Year!!!

Put on your dancing shoes for the new year...because the coolest project for 2011 is "the Sketchbook Challenge !!! (Not to be confused with the Sketchbook Project!) I was planning on starting a new art journal this year, but when I heard about this awesome project, I want to jump on board and encourage any fellow sketchers to come along!

 Each month, a theme will be chosen. Then some of the most well-known art journalers and instructors will share their processes and journal pages with us. Talk about an inspiring 2011!!! You can post your entries, as well as be awed by what Sketch Challenge artists and fellow artists from around the world have created!

Check out the December 6th entry on this blog: The Sketchbook Challenge: Welcome to the Sketchbook Challenge! to find out all the details. You can also meet the Sketchbook Challenge artists on The Sketchbook Challenge blog and hear about their favorite materials, processes, and philosophies. There are give-aways and prizes involved as well.
What a win-win way to bring artists together and keep us excited about sticking to our art journals in the upcoming year!

A New Place to Explore Creativity

Though Columbus Circle looked tempting to visit on Black Friday, I spent a sparky day browsing the inspiring sketch book entries of "The Sketchbook Project" at the brand new Art Library in Williamsburg Brooklyn!!! It just opened November 20th.

It's located here at 103A N.3rd St.

When you walk in, you see all kinds of new and retro blank journals and books for sale. There are also shelves, as you see on the left, of the sketch book journals entered from past and current "Sketch book Projects." (See Sept. 24th blog entry for annual project details.)

There are also friendly librarians to help you in the back of the library.

There are many journals to browse through. How exciting it is to see how each entry has such a unique perspective to it. Some found unusual ways to make the covers and pages their own, some were 3D, some 2D, some plain on the outside---yet loaded on the inside, some even did as much sketching as they felt like and left the rest blank.

But, you can see...there are many more shelves just waiting for YOUR sketch book entry!

You can sit at a table and leaf through as many journals as you wish for as long as you'd like...or just come in and check out the cool retro journals and books from other countries and eras on display that are for sale.

The journals I saw were from all levels and age group of artist. Some were filled with how-to's of collage and fiber art techniques, some were filled with current teenage interests and heartthrobs, some had very touching illustrated stories in them, some were funny, some blatent, some sad, some included breath-taking artwork and photographs...the sketch books were as diverse as the people who created them.

I am so thrilled there is a library where we can explore how creatives express themselves and that the Art House Co-op has created so many opportunities for people to be a part of.

Bookmark this site if you want to become a part of the cool projects Art House Co-op offers Projects Open For Participation » Art House Co-op | We build art projects and communities

If you can't make it to this library and would still enjoy a creativity fix, check out the sketch books posted online. There are some brilliant creatives in our world and I'm so thrilled Art House Co-op has given everyone the opportunity to express their creative voice.

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