more from the sketchbook project

bre's sketchbook wasn't the only one i took the time to flip through during the 2011 sketchbook project tour. to be honest, most of the books i checked out were very disappointing. maybe that was a fluke. a few of them looked like the artist wasn't even trying. one in particular only had pencil scribbles in it. and not the good, interesting, purposeful, artsy kind (if you know what i mean).

however, there was one lovely sketchbook that made me smile.

uk illustrator lauren peppiatt submitted this sketchbook and it completely made my day (well, besides bre's book, of course). lauren's style is so playful and happy; i was glad i happened upon her book when i inquired about the theme "in 5 minutes."

i love how creative ventures like the sketchbook project bring together people who otherwise might never have connected. here i am in chicago, paging through a sketchbook by an illustrator from the united kingdom. how cool is that?! the randomness of it all still boggles my mind.

my favorite part about lauren's sketchbook was the opportunity to participate! how brilliant! i was all too happy to add my answer to the question: what would you do "in 5 minutes"?

"put on some music and DANCE!"

obviously. i mean, what else would i do??

wonderful job, lauren! thank you for sharing your art with the world!

the sketchbook project

during the summer of 2008 i spent five weeks studying abroad in italy with 19 other interior design students. it was by far the most influential experience of my educational career. it not only increased my knowledge and appreciation for art, architecture and design, but it also deepened my love for italian culture, food, language and traveling in general.

one of the girls from the trip, bre, emailed me last fall to let me know she signed up for something called the sketchbook project. we did plenty of sketching while we were abroad so i was excited to see what she was going to do with this project. her theme was "down your street" and she had the brilliant idea to have her friends from all over the world send pictures of their streets so she could do something creative with them. i jumped on board right away.

bre finished her book and turned it in earlier this year. her lovely sketchbook is now touring the country and this weekend the tour stopped in chicago. yesterday i made the trek to the hyde park art center and saw it in person.

leah and jessica were part of our italy group and they also helped with this project. holding bre's sketchbook in my hands and seeing the sketch of via ricasoli, our home in florence for five weeks, made me miss italy so, so much. i haven't seen these girls in three years but flipping through the sketchbook brought all of us back together in a way. oh, what i wouldn't do to be back in firenze, sitting on the steps of the duomo, drinking cheap red wine and talking about the amazing works of art and architecture we had seen that day..

to ease my longing for all things italian, i stopped by the istria cafe (next door to the art center) and enjoyed a piccolo cup of strawberry gelato. sure, it wasn't as good as the gelato i had in italy but it got the job done.

bre, congrats on a beautiful sketchbook! so glad i could be a part of it.