2x2: 2 Artists, 2 Sketchbooks -- Week 23

I had a lot of fun doing my page in this week's spread.

It was winter at the time and I was longing to be able to dig in the dirt. I'd just read an article about how soil contains microbes with anti-depressant properties and dreamed of dirt and mud and gardening.

I had no idea what sort of page Dana would create to go along with mine and when I received the photos in my email this week I had forgotten that this would be this week's page.

How delightful are Dana's ladybugs?

I like that her page gives the spread a bright pop of color.

And, of course, that her ladybugs are so cute! It's an interesting contrast, too, because the arrival of the ladybugs signal the end of the season and remind me to enjoy digging in the dirt while I still can.


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.

*photos in this post by Dana Barbieri