2x2: 2 Artists, 2 Sketchbooks -- Week 38

Dana's page this week was another sweet flowery watercolor (and one of my favorites when I initially received the sketchbook). It's a dream of spring and although I'm (surprisingly) content to reside in winter right now (we even have the snow, finally!), the thought of spring flowers always brings me a little jolt of excitement and joy. I knew I wanted to capture that feeling and have fun with this week's page.

Dana (l), Anne (r)

I imagined Dana's watercolor flowers as a fabric design and imagined it sewn into a sweet, summery dress.

Dana (l), Anne (r)

It was so much fun to let go and just play with my page. Not worrying about making it perfect (throwing out my idea of creating a symmetrical dress template to trace... I know!... not attempting to design an actual repeat pattern), just playing. Letting my page be as playful and carefree as I feel when spring begins to arrive.

Perhaps a bit funny for the last week of December, but I'm ok with that. I never say no to flowers.

Don't forget to check out Dana's blog for her take on this week's pages!


About the project:

2x2: 2 Artists, 2 Sketchbooks is a collaboration between artists Dana Barbieri and Anne Butera. Dana and Anne met in an online painting class. Although they have never met in person, they have become friends through regular visits to each others' blogs. It was through this connection that this project began. Wanting to move from friendship to collaboration, each spent two months filling one half of a sketchbook before mailing it off to the other. Dana worked on the lefthand pages and Anne on the right. Each will be responding to the other's work on the adjacent sketchbook pages over the coming year. Watch weekly as they reveal another page of their story.

About the artists:

Dana is an artist and crafter living in the foothills of the Catskill mountains two hours north of New York City with her husband, two children and little kitty. She is passionate about painting, knitting, crochet, color, pattern and design.

Anne is an artist, writer and crafter who finds inspiration and joy in the beauty of her garden and the magic of nature. Dissatisfied with and disheartened by the pace and lifestyle of the city, she and her husband (with their two rescued greyhounds and an aging Siamese) relocated to a small town in the beautiful Driftless region in southwest Wisconsin with the goal of living a slower, simpler, more intentional life.