Secret sketching

I am a very secretive sketcher.  Aside from my children, I don't think that anyone has seen me draw since schooldays.

When I dug out my drawings of the garden to work up as the meadow cushions most people were surprised to find that I sketched at all.
This is largely because I am not a natural sketcher - I have never been able to draw things in a straightforward representative way. 90% of my drawings are a bit wonky, they are a way of looking at things rather than a finished artwork.
It is this lack of drawing ability that has led me to feel all my life that I am not "artistic" - looking back this is obviously balderdash but it is powerful none the less.
I now see Zoe shying away from drawing because she feels that the things that she draws look wrong.  I had hoped that art teaching in schools  would have changed.  I hoped that it would no longer just be the children who were adept at copying that would be regarded as the creative ones with the children who respond to colour, pattern or structure becoming disillusioned.  It seems not.
Anyway as part of my attempts to take my own drawing more seriously and thus encourage Zoe, I made us a couple of covered sketchbooks and, as these things seem to go, made a few more for sale at fairs.  They were popular so I have now put the smaller size one which also works well as a notebook  onto the website.
    I am very particular about notebooks - one of my bugbears is buying a beautifully covered notebook and then finding that the book inside is one of those cheap and nasty 30p ones that are just not nice to use. Because these have high quality artists sketchbooks inside they are lovely to write on whether it is a shopping list or a poem - they can also be easily replaced when full at any artshop.
The removable cover is a felted woolly blanket and is washable on a gentle wool wash cycle.
The top design, of the growing grass (briza maxima since you ask!) is the one on the website - the other which is a version of Zoe's book, is destined for a giveaway on the next newsletter (out on 21st) - e-mail me at snapdragonjane@googlemail.com ifyou want to subscribe.
Both photos c.Jane Robertson 2008.

Comments

[Gina]

This is so beautiful! :O)

[ginny]

These are lovely Jane. I know what you mean about sketching.. i still suffer from not feeling like an 'artist' and i even went to art college! We are sometimes our own worst critics aren't we. I love your free style and your recent creations. I am trying to inspire my girls to learn to express their creativity and enjoy the process and see things develop organically. It's good for my girls to see this in relation to how many 'prototypes' are often needed to get to a result i am happy with. I do think being around creativity from cooking, sketching to crafting does rub off on our children, as does our renewed confidence. Happy Sketching to you and Zoe.
ginny
x

[Alice C]

I am astonished that you have ever felt 'Not Artistic' because it seems to me that you are Artistic from your heart outwards. I wonder if you, like me, were encouraged along the academic motorway with the result that other areas of expression were discouraged or disparaged. Sometimes it is a sense that one area of expression is more 'worthwhile' than another and those values can become very ingrained. It is difficult to avoid passing them on to your children and I admire you for recognising the issue and dealing with it.

[Diana]

These are really beautiful Jane - and yes, you can draw, don't doubt it!

[tracy x]

again we are on the same wave length!
i have recently put some covered notebooks on to NOTHS x
mine are not as beautiful and creative as yours - but they were fun to do and not at all taxing on my already overflowing mind!
hope to speak soon
t x

[Gigibird]

It’s sad how so many equate being artistic purely by being able draw well.
Lovely covers.
And you’re right about the poor quality of the paper in some covered books – hopeless for drawing on.

[pipany]

This rang a bell with me too Jane; I do believe though that it was what the children experience around them that opens their minds to other possibilities. If they are introduced to alternative forms of art, etc then they just accept that there are a myriad forms. Love the notebooks, particularly the Zoe one xx

[Tricia]

Love the notebooks and I think you are very artistic but have to say I am completely different on the notebook side. I have one in my bag all the time I am forever ripping pages out to give telephone numbers or something to people or writing message etc in them so a cheaper one suits me better. However I do like a nice cover on them. But then I don't sketch if I did I am sure I would want a better quality one in there but for my quick notes ripping pages out I would prefer a cheaper one to use. So I think there is a place for both types.

[the homely year]

Love the notebook covers...so simple and pretty. Don't let anyone tell you that you're not artistic!
Margaret and Noreen