The Sketchbook Project 2012 is in the UK!

I didn't think we'd be able to travel to London on Saturday, what with S and me feeling exhausted from a busy week. But I'm glad we managed to drag our carcasses out of the house anyway all the way to Canada Water. We had never been there, but we saw photos of the quirky Canada Water Library online so knew what to look for. What we didn't know was that the building is right above the Underground. We spent about twenty seconds after emerging from the Tube station frantically looking for it, only for S tor turn around and see that we were right next to the entrance!

When we got into the room where The Sketchbook Project 2012 is exhibiting, there was a long queue of people signing up for library cards and an even longer queue of people borrowing the sketchbooks. It was lovely to meet the people from the Art House Co-op, the Brooklyn-based group behind the project.

The best moment for me, of course, was seeing my sketchbook again. I honestly thought I'd be embarrassed by it, but it actually felt good to see the pictures and read what I wrote in there. A lot of it was very personal, but the whole process was a cathartic one for me, and for that I am really grateful to the Sketchbook Project.

I had no intention of joining the project again as it did take up a lot of my time last year, but seeing my sketchbook and those of other people has piqued my interest again. Lucas also enjoyed looking at the sketchbooks and found a lot of inspiring drawings.

So today, I signed up for the 2013 edition. This time, the sketchbook will be a collaboration between Lucas and me! We haven't decided yet how we're going to do it, but I'm really excited about my son joining me. I'm sure he'll be wonderful at motivating me and I'm looking forward to the pictures he'll come up with.

If you'd like to see my sketchbook, there's a digitized version over here.

The Sketchbook Project 2012 London exhibition runs until the 19th of October at the Canada Water Library. For timetables, please visit this page. To join the Sketchbook Project 2013, click here!

Hello October

There's nothing like your kids shouting 'Just 76 more sleeps until Christmas!' to jolt you into realising that summer is indeed long gone, autumn has settled in, and before long, Christmas will be here. Which means I really need to plan and start making Christmas stuff for the Art of Whimsy. I have a lot of projects in mind, the only problem is how to find the time to do them!

Other than that, I love autumn's arrival. I love the colours—the reds and yellows and oranges and browns of it. I love the coolness in the air—there's something cleansing about it, after the heat and humidity of the summer. I love having an excuse to wear loose, chunky clothes and put on my red Doc Martens.

Work in progress: Autumn trees

I am obsessed with trees and leaves these days. All my sketches and paintings seem to focus on trees. I guess that comes with the seasons—leaves look their best in autumn, blazing red and gold just before they fall to the ground.

I've just started using alcohol-based markers. They're terrific but they do take some getting used to. I thought I'd start out first with some Letraset Promarkers, which are cheaper than Prismacolor ones.

I still prefer acrylic paints and watercolours though. I haven't used watercolours for a long time, as I'm having too much fun with acrylics. I love the fact that I can change colours if I need to just by painting over the old ones, which I can't do with watercolours.

My box of acrylic paints

Two acrylic tree paintings on miniature canvasses. I have a few more paintings to finish, and will post them as soon as I'm done.

I'll be in London on Saturday to take a  look at The Sketchbook Project 2012 exhibition. I'm excited to be reunited with my sketchbook and to see some other sketchbooks by artists from Europe and Australia! If you're in London in the next few days, please do go and have a look!