34) The Sketchbook Project

I have lots of reasons why I enjoy writing this blog but the number one reason is that it forces me to do, make and think creatively every day. I have found that since we started this I have become more confident in my ability to make things mostly because I have had more experiences making stuff. I have found myself thinking more creatively because each new idea or inspiration leads to a another idea or possibility. All of this has also been rubbing off on The Bee and Bean. The Bee now often comes up with her own projects. Yesterday she found some old shoes in her closet and asked if she could decorate them, sure, I would have never thought of that, but why not. So with all this in mind, I signed our family up for  The Sketch Book Project. I purchased a $25 dollar sketchbook in our family's name for the holidays. We have until April 30th to work on our sketchbook and do whatever we want to it. We will then send it back to The Brooklyn Art Library where they will archive and display our sketchbook along with 5000 other artists sketchbooks. I love the idea behind this project, but mostly I love having a communal family sketchbook. While I obviously could just have a sketchbook without being part of this project, I have found that having some kind of structure or reason is helpful in getting us going. We leave our sketchbook in the kitchen and work on it whenever the mood strikes us. Sometimes we work collaboratively, sometimes just by ourselves. On one page I have been drawing the girls as they are eating dinner. On anther we have been collecting stickers found randomly around our house. My hope is that we will continue to have a communal and even personal sketchbooks long after this project is over. I think keeping a sketchbook is a great practice that I myself want to get better at, and a great way for kids to have a go to place for their ideas, drawings, scribbles and experiments.