On The Road

My friend lulu is a sketchbook/journal addict. About fourteen years ago she found a little store in Florence that sold handmade sketchbooks or journals - what you call them depends on whether you are an artist or a writer and since I am both, I get confused. Lulu is getting ready for her annual trip to Italy with her drawing group and this year they decided to order sketchbooks in advance so that they wouldn’t have to wait until they got to Florence to buy them.

I’m not going on lulu’s tour, but I did get in on the journal buying. I invited myself over to lulu’s studio on the day the box arrived from Florence. What a treat to see them all! Each journal is unique in that it is covered in Florentine marblized paper and bound with leather. Some of the covers are more colorful than others, but that’s what makes them interesting. The one that I’m holding in my hands in the photo is the one I bought.

When I was an art student, one of our ongoing lessons was getting used to using top grade materials for our work. It’s natural for a student on a budget to use the least expensive materials they can find. I went through a phase of doing all my work on cardboard because I couldn’t afford anything else.

As I held the journals in my hand, one by one, I thought back on those lessons. About how not to be afraid of the expense of the materials. There is almost two thousand dollars worth of imported journals laying at my feet in that photo. That is because of the euro/dollar conversion rate and shipping charges. A few years ago, they would have been almost half that. But still, these journals are molto caro, so it was quite a process in choosing just one. In any case it is not easy to put down the first scribbles in such dear book.

Lulu has a bookshelf in her studio that is full of these special journals that she has filled from cover to cover over the years. As I was looking at mine I realized that she was my age when she bought her first one. An omen? A sign? That in fourteen years I may have a bookshelf that looks like hers?

I justified the expense of my book as my birthday present to myself and today, on my birthday, I share them with you!