Le Poisson d’Avril 2002

In 2002,  the Belle Papier yahoogroup [ended] traded Poisson d'Avril faux stamps at the instigation of member, Kelly.

With the prospect of new writing paper and somewhat matching envelops, I decided on a very serious whim to decorate a rather nice cigar box with stamps.   I sorted out the Belle Papier stamps from those real stamps from around the world that I received in the mail on envelops, or from friends who brought them back to me from their travels.

Left hand section, under construction

I really enjoyed that exchange.  If anyone wanted to do it again, I'd sure be game.

Book Review: An Illustrated Journey, Danny Gregory

I've just read it, page by page or rather artist by artist after having circled around aimlessly and madly.  I also have been following Danny Gregory's blog posts which include interviews with the artists in An Illustrated Journey.

It is terrific.

The interviews are a wonderful supplement to the book, and Danny brings out the best in each artist, where they share themselves, their work, their techniques and their tools.

The more remarkable aspects of this compilation is the breadth of the artists Mr. Gregory selected, not one alike, yet all with a similar if not identical passion--sketching on the road, on a trip, even if that trip, like Roz Stendahl, is just a few miles away.

It was most fascinating to me to hear the interviews of those artists I knew little or nothing about and see their background space and hear them voice their enthusiasm for the magic of a sketchbook.   The interview with Lisa Cheney Jorgensen spurred me to get my two grand-daughters, aged nearly 9 and just 6 to draw self portraits.

If I ranked this book among many I'd give it an A+ and if I ranked it among Mr. Gregory's I'd rank it at the top of  my growing pile of Danny Gregory offerings.