A long, long time ago, as an artist in a job far, far away, I was given this little sketchbook …

Actually it was while my work was included in the original NextMonet web site and all of the represented artists got one of these as a Christmas/Holiday gift that first year. I did also end up working there, as an engineer on the web site, but that was a little later. In any case it was a long, long time ago – back in 2001.

When I got it in the mail, I thought, how cute, and for a very long time it sat on my studio table. I found I couldn’t use it. It drove me crazy. It really was just a paper sample sketchbook from Fabriano, with eleven different colors of paper. I did start to use it a few years ago, but it just didn’t appeal to me. So many pages – daunting to fill. But it was just the other day when I realized why I liked it – the challenge of filling it, but also didn’t – it was the cover. It was basically an advertisement for Fabriano, the name being stamped in shiny red ink on the front.

So I made my own little label out of yellow legal pad writing paper and have called the book Objects. I glued the label right over the Fabriano stamp. I’ve been working on filling it with little line drawings of at least one object a day.

Right now I am housesitting in my friend Lulu’s live/work studio, which is filled with Objets of all sorts. There is no lack of subject matter here. Her studio is filled with knick-knacks and objects that she has collected over the years, most of which have worked their way into her paintings.

After I move on, maybe I’ll work on some bare winter trees.