Click Here To Purchase From Amazon Creating Sketchbooks for Embroiderers and Textile Artists

Author: Kay Greenlees

Sterling Publishing Co.

ISBN:0-7134-8957-x

For the most of us, when you think “sketchbook” one of those bohemian artist types with their hands stained from paint and charcoal, with a matching set somewhere on their clothes, scribbling fiercely in a book, pouring their soul into each line as they record glimmers of ideas for incubation and further use somewhere down the line.

Sketchbooks are your lifeline to future projects of creativity, a way to work out the process before committing it to a scale that everyone will see and critique. Needless to say my sketches were usually better than the actual work due to only having to please myself, so I have a love hate relationship with sketchbooks. Since putting pencil to paper to release that creative nervous energy never really worked for me, I turned to embroidery for that release. The feel of a needle and thread through fabric has this Zen quality that I could never find with drawing – too many people staring over my shoulder while I worked. With embroidery, people could care less what I’m doing thus creativity has free reign. Upon discovering Kay Greenlees’ book, I’ve decided to give sketchbooks another go.

She has written this book with those skittish of sketchbooks in mind. In the introduction she puts the reader at ease by letting you know you’re not alone in feeling overwhelmed, and try to put aside your preconceived notions and create one that best suits your needs, since it is your sketchbook for your use alone. Then Greenlees moves on to explain the purpose, the pros and cons of handmade to purchased sketchbooks and how to get started with your own “book”. Within this we are given the textile artist’s approach to sketches and that it doesn’t have to just be pencil to paper.

Throughout the entire book we are given glimpses of the inside of fellow textile artist’s sketchbooks. Greenlees took such care to present this in such a way to help overcome the fears and hesitations of sketchbooks and to remind us what they are for – a place to record flashes of thoughts, colors and ideas as well as a place to evolve them to final pieces to share with everyone else. Needless to say, I’m looking forward to starting my own textile sketchbook.

The above review was contributed by: Jennifer Murray Somerset:  BFA in Graphic Design, and BS Legal Assistant Studies:    Click Here To Read Jennifer's  Reviews: 

Click Here To Purchase From Amazon Creating Sketchbooks for Embroiderers and Textile Artists