The Sketchbook Project is an ongoing art project originating in Brooklyn, New York. For a small price you can purchase a 5 x 7 sketchbook, fill it with whatever art or design or thoughts you wish, then return it. It will then live in Brooklyn for some unknown amount of time - reluctant to say "forever" because that is not likely. At least for the foreseeable future it will reside with thousands of other notebooks submitted by artists from all over the world. I paid to have mine digitized so it is available on-line.
You can safely follow the link provided to view my book. If you scroll down once you get there, there is a link that allows you to skip to another random notebook. You can continue to skip to another random notebook to your heart's content! There are children's books, and fantastic artists, and designers, and all manner of work from everywhere. I find it delightful and amazing.
My sketchbook can be viewed here.
I chose the 2018 theme "A Long Story with a Short Ending". That brought to mind the beautiful landscape where my home is located. I have often thought of how incredibly long it took Nature to produce the tall grass prairie. I continue to grieve that my people - the European ancestors who stole this land - destroyed it in considerably less than 200 years. There truly is no longer a functioning prairie biome in Kansas. There are no apex predators. Countless species of plants, insects, mammals, fish have all been extirpated or made extinct. Invasive species are finishing what our greed and ignorance did not. All that is left is a tiny echo - to our everlasting shame.
Of course, I did not want to commit such grief and negativity to my contribution to the Sketchbook Project. I simply included a nod to the forces of nature that created the land where I live, and how exceedingly short my life is in comparison. It was fun.
Pay a visit to my notebook. Maybe you will want to order you own sketchbook to participate in the 2019 edition! Happy sketchbooking!
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