2x2: 2 Artists, 2 Sketchbooks -- Week 5

I have to say that the page I did for this week caused me much anxiety. I painted it quite a while ago, only the third page in my sketchbook. It was the first time I'd used acrylics in a while, which was fun. Being loose. Being messy. I prepared the page with gesso before I started. I put freezer paper down on my work space and between the pages of the sketchbook to keep everything neat. And my watery paint seeped everywhere. Fine if it's my own sketchbook pages with drips of blue paint. But these sketchbook pages were destined for Dana.

Oh, the things I can find to stress over.

Anyway, my page was fun to do even if it did make a bit of a mess. It reminded me of some sort of crazy plaid. If plaids were asymmetrical and messy. I felt it needed something, though, so I went back later and drew some circles with black marker as a contrast to the straight brushstrokes.

As with each week so far, I was surprised and delighted by Dana's response.

Dana (l), Anne (r)

It's never what I expect. Not that I am expecting anything.

This week I love the contrasts. The negative space. The soft watercolors. The paper cut out and arranged.

Dana (l), Anne (r)

What she comes up with always inspires me.

Don't forget to stop by Dana's blog to hear 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.

*photos by Dana Barbieri