Tag Archives: Brooklyn Art Library

Sketchbook Project will be in Portland(ia) next weekend – oops, make it July 8 & 9…!

June 25 – just got word that dates have been changed to July 8 & 9, so changing them here as well.  KM

Last year I joined the Sketchbook Project when we were in Brooklyn, and now my little sketchbook is touring the country with 100’s of others in a special little “bookmobile”.    The topic I chose was “Borders”, one of those interesting multi-dimensional concepts that gives lots of room for interpretation.  I actually had a bit of “stage fright”, staring at that little blank book, but I approached like I do any other sketches, just get started and see what develops!

Sketchbook Project page spread, mixed media by Kerry McFall

Sketchbook Project page spread, mixed media by Kerry McFall

If you happen to be in Portland, I highly recommend stopping by and thumbing through a few sketchbooks.  I couldn’t believe how marvelous it was to hold the ACTUAL sketchbook in my hand, reading the artists’ own handwriting, seeing every stroke of the pen – it’s why original art is so much better than a copy, duh!  Here’s the scoop:

The Sketchbook Project Mobile Library is making two special stops in Portland, OR! To start, we’ll be at Portland Art Museum on Friday, July 8th and 9th. We’d love to see you out! 

Thousands of sketchbooks have been sent in from across the globe to make their rounds across North America on The 2014 Tour. We are only in town for 2 days before moving along our route, so you won’t want to miss it!

These events are totally free to attend. You’ll be able to browse sketchbooks cataloged by theme, materials, tags, location, and much more. You can even pick up a blank book for creating your own submission to next year’s project.

Please join us:

June 27th | 4:00pm – 8:00pm
Portland Art Museum
1219 SW Park Ave
Portland, OR 97205
RSVP AND GET EVENT DETAILS HERE

June 28th | 12:00pm – 4:00pm
Director Park
SW Park Ave
Between SW Taylor and SW Yamhill
Portland, OR

Sketchbook to Brooklyn Art Library: Check!

The Sketchbook Project at the Brooklyn Art Library is a marvelous concept – check it out http://www.sketchbookproject.com/.  My finished sketchbook is definitely the rough product of a fun learning process – I used it to explore one of my favorite techniques, which is bordering my sketches.  Some of the books I saw last spring at the Brooklyn Art Library were anything but rough, but when I started this book I didn’t have the bandwidth or the studio space to do what so many artists did, which was to completely reconstruct the book using fancy papers, fabric, etc.  So I decided to treat it like a “real” sketchbook, where I doodle and think and write.  And the best part is – it’s done!  And mailed!  Feels like quite an accomplishment!  Watch for it when the Sketchbook Project comes to a town near you!

The Ultimate Sketchers Destination & A Fabulous Cantina

The walls are bursting with sketchbooks!  That you can touch!  And no one scolds you, they just give you more!

Friday (4/26) we made it to the Brooklyn Art Library, aka the Sketchbook Project, and it was literally worth the price of this entire trip to New York state just to see that place.  It’s not big, it’s all about being on a human scale.  It’s a little store front tucked in to the Williamsburg area of Brooklyn, which apparently is the current hipster hotspot of New York City.  A staffer welcomes you and explains a bit, then hands you some sketchbooks… and off you go, down into the Rabbit Hole.  You make yourself at home at a big table and get lost in other people’s worlds.  Each book is small but mighty.  It’s like a Tapas feast for the mind.  Beautiful, intriguing, weird – and then some.  As we say in our family to indicate the ultimate Thumbs Up review, “I laughed.  I cried.  It moved me, Bob.”  (a quote from a talking cucumber about a favorite episode of Veggie Tales.)  So if you can get to New York, go.  If you can’t get to New York, click on the link and join the project that way, or watch for their “bookmobile” to come to a city near you – they tour!  I signed up for the 2014 tour, can’t wait to get started on my little sketchbook!

 

"The Sketchbook Project", mixed media but mostly ink by Kerry McFall

“The Sketchbook Project”, mixed media but mostly ink by Kerry McFall

This sketch includes their business card in the middle of the page, and the smiles of the other folks sharing our table!

And speaking of Tapas – after our visit at the sketch project, we strolled around the waterfront for a bit, then went back up the street to Cantina Royale – perfection on a plate!  The wine was very good, the food was divine, the wait staff were fun.  When I ordered the Camarones Something-I’ve-Forgotten but sort of like Lubinsky, the handsome waiter said, in his gorgeous Mallorcan (sp) accent, “That will make a good small plate, but not enough for a meal.”  Wrong.  He brought a not-so-small plate of three rich plump shrimp, stuffed with some kind of cheese that is now my favorite if I only knew the name, wrapped in bacon, and broiled… displayed on a bed of carefully-sliced crisp greens, with a hint of some rosy-colored sauce.  Pretty sure I had died and gone to Heaven…  completelely made up for the abysmal dining experience of a few days before in Midwood.  Griff ordered what he thought would be a bowl of soup, which turned out to be a huge cauldron of the best chicken tortilla soup ever.  The Cantina was uniquely decorated also, lots of wine reds and rich browns, funky touches like the old red phone and a chandelier worthy of a Phantom of the Opera stage, although my sketch didn’t capture the glass-encased electrical meters and pipes and ducting that made up both of the side walls.  If you’re ever in the Williamsburg area, don’t miss these two treats!

sketch of interior of Cantina

“Cantina Royale”, mixed media by Kerry McFall