2x2: 2 Artists, 2 Sketchbooks -- Week 12

I loved creating this week's page. Once again I had a plan and then ended up doing something entirely different. 

Dana (l), Anne (r)

I thought I was going to take a scrap of fabric or paper and paint my own pattern inspired by it in the same sort of layout that Dana created on her page.

But, with lino cutting near the forefront of my creative mind, a thought kept nagging at me, this would be perfect as a lino cut. And then I remembered my gold paint.

Without another thought I painted my page gold (using an acrylic craft paint I'd bought to paint some thrift store frames) and sketched out some pattern ideas. I didn't want to exactly re-create Dana's sketch or her scrap of fabric/paper, but I wanted to re-create the general feeling. I was imagining that her page could be initial sketches for a pattern design and my page would be the next step of the design process. It's fun to create a little story for the pages.

I carved the block, did a test print and then carved a little more just to refine it a bit.

After I added the extra detail I made more test prints, slightly hindered by the spiral binding of my sketchbook.

It was ok because I knew it would be better with our flat sketchbook.

To create the page in our shared sketchbook, I masked off Dana's page and the surrounding area using washi tape and freezer paper. What I didn't anticipate was how difficult it would be to print on the slick surface of the painted page. The moment I set the block on the page it slipped a bit, blurring some of the edges.

Dana (l), Anne (r)

I had a moment of panic -- did I just ruin my page? -- but I kept going.  I'm ok with the imperfections (and perfect is not the point of this project).

I think the two pages work really well together.


Don't forget to stop by 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.