Monday, November 17, 2008

Joker - on Lorraine's book

Last night I finished Lorraine's book. Her topic was about "other worlds, fantasy, alter-egos...." The drawing I did was on my mind since the day I read her post about the topic. This has a lot to do with Tarot and two books I like: A book of fireside poems, Solitaire mystery. Here's my own encounter of Joker:
He waived his hands and murmured "shooo", all of a sudden dozens of flies flew away from the back of my head. My vision changed, my mind cleared, my senses heightened. I began to hear a poem sung to me within. "Once I planted some potatoes in my garden fair and bright; Unelated long I waited, and no sprout appeared in sight. But my "peachblows" in the cellar, on the cold and grimy flag, all serenely sprouted greenly in an ancient paper bag". Then my Joker friend laughed a thunder-like laughter and began to sing. "When I think on the happy days I spent wi' you, my dearie; and now what lands between us lie, how can I be but errie. How slow ye move, ye heavy hours, as ye were wae and weary! It was na sae ye glinted by when I was wi' my dearie." I blinked and he was back to my beloved deck of cards in no time. I had no idea these two poems/songs would one day became the love stories of my life. My Joker friend had just showed me a movie running backward......

I had a great time with Moly_x_10 group members!

Sunday, November 16, 2008

The most delayed entry from Patrick

Dear All, My apology to a serious delay, hope you'll like my entries.
Carla: I'm sending you Zenia's book and yours together.
Lorraine: I'm finishing yours this week and then ship to Carla.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

‘What’s in your Moleskine’ Contest Deadline 11/14

Promote yourself and moly_x. Enter your fabulous moly_x entries.

Moleskine, the heir to the legendary notebook, wants to know what’s inside your Moleskine! With over 140 different formats and styles, there are many different ways to use a Moleskine—to sketch, write, watercolor, reflect, collage, collect mementos and as photo albums.

In celebration of creativity and imagination, Moleskine is looking for readers to share photos and comments about their Moleskines. Email pictures of what’s in your Moleskine to webmaster@chroniclebooks.com with the subject line “MOLESKINE.”

Five submissions will be randomly selected to receive a Free Moleskine Pack of Notebooks. The pack will include a Pocket Ruled Notebook, a Pocket Sketchbook and a Pack of Plain Kraft Pocket Cahiers.

We’ll post the images on an upcoming post announcing the winners! Also check out our Facebook Company Page to see the latest entries. Entries must be submitted by Friday Nov 14th.

Friday, September 12, 2008

Doodley, doodley do!


Had so much fun with this. Just kind of doodled away.

Freedom


My entry for Patrick. I've FINALLY completed my entry in Patrick's book. I had an idea... thought it all through... even went as far as to think "I should write this down," and then thought "nah it's fine, I've given it this much thought, I won't forget..." only to promptly forget! Still have no idea what that idea was, but I'm happy with this as my contribution to Patrick's book. Looking forward to getting mine back now!

Sunday, September 7, 2008

They're coming home

The next mailing date brings all the molys home again. I think we should try and be as prompt as possible so that we all have mailbox joy at roughly the same time. That gives us a week to finish them up and get them in the post a week on Monday. Any problems, just let the person you send to know...
I hope you've all had as much fun as I have.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Doodles for Carla


Doodles for Carla, originally uploaded by Kel_eh.

I had so much fun with this! It was actually very therapeutic for me and I had a bit of a break through about my mixed feelings about 2008 so far. I never ever use a ballpoint (yep, I'm allergic) so it was very good for me to get over myself and grab the closest.

Alter Ego for Lorraine


Alter Ego for Lorraine, originally uploaded by Kel_eh.

Bad, bad, procrastinating girl! This is very late on it's way to Patrick.

I had this all worked out in my mind, then I realised I was just reworking Lorraine's own entry in her own book - not cool. Then I had a really cool superhero idea, but with no story or depth to it. After some fooling around drawing the mannequin this idea started to develop and just really tickled me.

It's drawn with a black uniball signo, always my pen of choice. I love the way it starts behind Zenia's entry and finishes with a torn edge, like some grubby newspaper cartoon discarded in the street.

Monday, July 14, 2008

Carla's book...

Has come to play at my house... will get right onto it and pass it onto Kel ASAP.

July's Posting Day

Greetings all,

It's been a quiet month on here so far - I wanna see the pretty pictures!!! Having said that, I am finishing off my entry in Lorraine's book, so no pics from me yet.

And where are the Molys?
  • Patrick, I'll be sending to you this week.
  • Carla, do you have Zenia's yet?
  • I believe the other 3 are all in London...

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

At this moment...

Lorraine's is at my house.
Zenia's is probably on it's way to Carla's.
Mine is on it's way to Lorraine.
Patrick's is at Lorraine's.
Carla's is at Zenia's.

Patrick has a break this month, and Lorraine will end up with two.

I am really enjoying watching everyone's books fill up with such original takes on the themes.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Monday, June 16, 2008

If I was not me...


Here's my entry in Lorraine's moly. The theme is alternates so I thought about an alternate me. I often wonder who / what I would be if I wasn't my shape / colour / shy-self. Would I be a wife and mother, would I be a traveller, would I be a singer? I chose to explore one of these alternate Zenias. So here she is... the girl I would be if I wasn't me.

It's going to Kelly for coffee on Thursday.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Patrick's book arrived from Carla today and it looks fantastic. It survived being left on a soggy doorstep perfectly (the dear old post office will be hearing from me very soon, let me tell you.)and is now sitting by the fire with a cup of hot chocolate. Zenia, any time you want Carla's book it's ready...

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Patrick's Time Moly


On its way to Lorraine today!

Saturday, May 31, 2008

Received from Kelly Zenia's Book Today

Just received Zenia's book from Kelly today.  The package was sent from Beijing.  I'll be traveling to Japan soon, so I will probably send Zenia's book to Carla from Tokyo.

Friday, May 30, 2008

Carla's



Well here's a not wonderful pic of Carla's Doodle Moley. Posted from my phone, which is why it's a bit rubbish, it's my first go at the panoramic thingy.

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Kelly's Entry for Zenia


Kelly's Entry for Zenia, originally uploaded by Kel_eh.

Zenia's theme is all about "what do you see when you look in my eyes?" My take on this was to sketch out the shape of my eye using some of the messages you may receive if you were to look long enough. I liked the idea of the eyelashes being made of words like "beauty, desire, flirtation". (HB and 2B pencils, watercolour pencils, Pitt artist pen M)

There is a close up detail in Flickr too.

Envelope Ready: Beijing to Hong Kong

Hi everyone!

I am in a special blogging position on my trip. I can blog from flickr, but not view any blogs at all. So please forgive any wonky formatting. I didn't get to post to Patrick before I left London, or in Vienna, so it is a little late, sorry!

Here is my envelope, ready to mail, from the Shatan Post Office on a road that runs along the north edge of the Forbidden City.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

carla's is here

Yes it arrived yesterday and I started work on it immediately. Have nearly done with it so can close gap a bit if it helps? Will post pics when I'm finished.

Sunday, May 18, 2008

An apology...

For my prolonged absence from this blog. I have been moving house, unpacking and waiting for my internet connection to go live. But I'm back online now and have been having a look around the exchange. Wow! Just wow guys. I'm so glad that I'm a part of this group. See you all soon.

Zxx

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Molys on the move - update

Whose Moly?
Where's Moly?Who's next
Patrick's
is travelling...
to Carla
Kelly's
is travelling...to Carla
Zenia's
is simmering at Kelly's...
for Patrick
Lorraine's
is going to dinner tonight...
at Zenia's
Carla's
is travelling...to Lorraine's



At the moment, our circle has a gap and a bump in it. We can try and smooth it out over the next month like this:
(we all have busy lives though and we are doing this for fun, so I don't want anyone to feel stressed about deadlines; just keep in touch with the group so we know where all the books are and how everyone is doing)

In May,
Patrick will receive Zenia's and work on it until the 15 June mailing.
Kelly has a gap.
Zenia will receive Lorraine's and either pass it on early to Kelly to close the gap, or work on it until the 15 June mailing.
Lorraine will receive Carla's and work on it until the 15 June mailing.
Carla will receive Patrick's and Kelly's. That's the bump. Feel free to tuck one away to worry about later, if having two feels like pressure. If you get inspired, feel free to send to Lorraine early to smooth out the bump or work on it until the 15 June mailing.

It's so exciting now that they're well and truly on their way. Great to see everyone posting and commenting on here too.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Carla's is Finally in the Mail!


Sooooooo sorry to be late, Kelly!

I want people to just doodle doodle doodle. No judgments at all. Just scribbles and scrabbles, please! Believe me, it was fun to do.

Monday, May 12, 2008

Package Going to Carla


It took me a bit longer to finish mine so on my hands now are two Moly_x_10 entries, one from Kelly and one mine.  Bought an envelope today, sending it out tomorrow to Carla.

A bit of my Moley


my moley a
Originally uploaded by TiaraThib
Well I worked out how to get a picture onto the blog. I am very worried about all this learning because it means something has to fall out of my head, I don't want that to be anything useful, like how to make a good Long Island Iced tea. Oh well. I think I just forget how to get out of quicksand...lets hope I won't need that in the near future.

Monday, May 5, 2008

My Moly_x_10 Moleskine Book

Here's a Moleskine Japanese Album I started for the Moly_x_10 group. The topic here is: What has nothing to do with TIME. I'm going to send it to the next artists inviting them to add their drawings/writings to enlighten me. I believe TIME is the greatest invention by human consciousness to cope with the ever changing world of uncertainty. Many of the things we all treasure have nothing to do with TIME. What are they? Imagination is one of them I contemplated. "Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world - Albert Einstein". For this Moleskine I punched a hole on the front cover and added an eyelet holding a string. I found that many of my old Moleskine have problem with the elastic band deteriorated, so I customized this one this way, not as handy but won't be ugly in *time*. The external pocket was also fixed on the cover, which holds a tag, a note to other artists and a scrap photo. There are two ways to do the enclosure, like an envelope or like a parcel. I hope it will travel safely back to me opening new windows of my consciousness. More on Scription blog: moleskine.vox.com/library/post/moleskine-moly_x_10-group-...

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Hi all. Moly is done and just waiting for Zenia to be all moved in to her fab new flat. I will post pictures as soon as i can work out either how to use the scanner or get back to work to get my camera (I have been off with very painful kidney stones, which I was going to catch and stick in book but missed it so don't go looking for it, disappointing I know, we'll get over it.) and take some decent pictures, which rarely happens....anyhoo, love Kel and Zenias books, can't wait to get my next one. L

Monday, April 28, 2008

Some goodbyes and a hello!

My first goodbye is to Trista. Sadly she has decided to leave the group and I am sure you all join me in wishing her well. I also want her to know she can jump back in at any time - at least a few of us may get our sketchbooks around the circle twice.

I had to said goodbye to my Moly - I packed it up with a warm sweater and a sandwich for the journey, kissed it fondly, told it not to get in strange cars, and most of all to have fun and write home often.

Here is my entry:










My theme is 'the view from here' but I am hoping that people will interpret that loosely: from this mornings coffee cup, to the view from their favourite spot, details of their city, or even their view of the world or the future.

I would like you to play by the following rules:
1. work in black/white/grey - I don't mind if it is pencil, pen, ink paint, crayon whatever.
2. start your work on the last page of the previous entry (Eg. my page of clouds for Patrick) and leave some space on your last page for the next artist.
3. *optional challenge* please include a tree or part of a tree (leaf, acorn, etc) somewhere in your work. The tree is a personal symbol for me, and I would love to see your take on this.

Have fun! I can't wait to see some more entries. I got to say hello to Zenia's and I can't wait to start on it, it is even more cool looking in real life.

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Back from Typhoon and Delays

Hey guys, just want to let you know I'm back from Bangkok for business.  Typhoon signal was hoisted so all >200 planes were not able to land Hong Kong, my flight was diverted to Manila and the final flight time was 10 hours!  Yeah I know, this is not a good excuse for my delay in sending you my version of moly_x_10 :)

My target is to send out the album in 4 days, bear with me.

Friday, April 18, 2008

What do you see?


What do you see?
Originally uploaded by Zenia Mc
So I have this weird thing where the public perception of me is not AT ALL the same as my perception of myself. I am loud and gregarious and confident, but on the flip side I have very little confidence, I go quiet and introverted. So that's what my entry in my journal is about.

And it's with Kel and I wish it luck!

Thursday, April 17, 2008

First journal entry is complete...


Moly - entry 1 006
Originally uploaded by Zenia Mc
... and on its way to Kel.

I finally committed and FINISHED my entry in my Moly (have to say, beautiful though they are and cool though they look, they're flippin' awkward to work in for someone with my level of clumsy!) and it will be going to Kel tomorrow (today?!)

More later when it's dry and I can photograph it properly!

Yay!

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Woohoo! They're on their way...

Well, today was posting day. Our flight was delayed, so I will have to send a day or two late (sorry Patrick!) If you haven't sent yours yet, photograph or scan your pages please - we want a peek! Hopefully everyone has the addresses they need, but if you aren't sure, please send your address to the person who sends to you. If you haven't taken a picture, maybe we should photograph our books as they arrive. Email to say your packet's on the way so that the recipient can watch out for it.

I always get nervous at sending on time, but just let your pen follow your heart. If you are happy with it, we will be happy with it.

Friday, March 21, 2008

Who is bad hatty?

The last post 'My theme' is from Lorraine, Bad hatty is my google id, sorry for any confusion.

My theme

Other.
Other Worlds, alter-egos, fantasies, daydreams, Second lives, escapes, through the looking glass, down the rabbit hole, memory palaces, alternates, altered states, somewhere, someone, something else, beyond, inside, instead. Anything Other...

I don't want to lay down too many rules, do as many pages as you feel necessary but I would like a little note on your 'Other', on the blog or in the book, Just a couple of words though, keep it mysterious.

Hope this okay with everyone. I know nobody has seen anything of mine yet, I will try and rectify that this weekend, but I can draw, paint, scrap, collage and bead like hell, ask Zenia, so don't be frightened.

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Okay so my journal has arrived and I'm trying to get over that 'new book - must not sully its pages' nonsense. So I've been thinking about a theme. I think I'm going to go for 'If eyes are the windows to the soul, what do you see when you look into mine?' as a theme. The idea is that I will do a starter page with the heading/ theme and then we all do 2 / 3/ 4 pages about what people see when they look into your eyes, or maybe what they don't see because you keep it so well hidden from the world.
Something along these lines:
So the front cover that I will do will look a little like this one.












And then we might do pages along these sorts of lines:











Does that sound okay? I'm looking forward to get started and might have a go this weekend... Long weekend! Yay!

Friday, March 14, 2008

What next?

If you don't have your sketchbooks yet, get your hands on one. The Japanese fold sketchbooks consist of one long page folding accordian style so that there are 30 pages created on one side of the zigzag and 30 on the other.

Add your address into the front cover so it will always come back to you and give your address to the person who will be sending to you. I've set up the mailing order so that the postage costs are as even as possible.

Decide whether you want your book to have a theme and/or any rules, and post here to share your ideas. Start drawing! You can do anything you want (well of course! it's your book) on the inside covers, address page and back of the address page, or not. Then start your sketches on the first 2-3 pages of the zig-zag. Most groups seem to be sharing their pages on their exchange blog so let's do that (cuz I wanna SEE!).

Any views on a posting date of the 15th of every month, starting with April? That will give us time to get the books, ponder themes and then draw. I'm worried if we leave it later we will lose momentum.

Monday, March 10, 2008

You're in good company

I've known Zenia the longest and she is my regular art buddy. We are always up for trying new things (this year so far we have art journalled, made felt and beaded together), and she has recently started visual journalling. She has a unique eye and a great sense of colour.

I met Lorraine almost exactly a year ago. I love her sense of humour and envy her eye for beads (and her secret knowledge of all the best bead shops). I loved her work in a Buffy collaborative journal and her ideas for demotivational scrapbooking crack me up.

I met Carla at Artfest last year. She was teaching a class I was in about finding your creative voice. She is just such a warm, humble, funny person and I was drawn to her immediately. Her 'girls' series is wonderful, but her animals just make me so happy.

I know Trista through Artfest, but I only really got to know her at the Lomo Conference in London in September. I felt more myself talking to her than with most people I met. I love her photos and she has one of the coolest art journals I have ever seen.

I met Patrick at the Lomo Conference in London in September. We had such a great conversation about life, work, marriage, families and moleskines too of course. His blog is beautiful, no one quite captures their surroundings like he does, entertaining and informative in all things stationary. His drawings are amazing too.

There you go, that's why you are all here. I know lots of creative people, but you all have a unique eye that appeals to me and a sense of humour that is my kind of weird.

Access to Post

Each of you has been set up as an author for this blog. You will need a Google account to get started. I will need your email addresses in order to set up access to posting on this blog.

https://www.google.com/accounts/LoginAuth

You should then be able to post to this blog.

Cheers.

Welcome to moly_x_10!

This group, founded by Kelly Harcus (UK), is an extension of the Moleskine Exchange. This blog will follow the adventure of a group of artists around the world, in a Japanese fold Moleskine sketchbook exchange.

Each artist will set off with a small Japanese (accordian) folded Moleskine. Creating a drawing, collage, or painting, then send on to the next artist. Each artist will draw on a couple of spreads (3-4 pages) then send it on to the next artist. When the artists book is filled, it will be returned to the owner with images created by artist around the world. Each artist has a month to make an entry. The outcome will be a pleasant and surprising adventure, as artists are encouraged to interact and merge their art with others.

The concept:

1. The artists start with the Japanese fold Moleskine - Name, address, email address written in book.

2. Each artist gets 1 month to make a sketchbook entry, and mail it to the next person. The order is listed to the right.

3. Each artist will do 3-4 pages each round.

4. Artists are encouraged to interact with other images in the book. Please be respectful.

5. When the book is full, when one side of the unfolded book is filled, the book will be sent back to its original owner. That artist may continue by buying a new book and sending it to the next person.

6. If a person decides not to continue, she will simply keep her book when it comes back to her. She should email all of the participants to say she is not going to continue. We will decide, then, if we want to find a new person.

7. Please communicate regularly via email. Let each person know that you have received/sent the book. The goal is to have a dialogue. Any comments and questions are welcome.


This moly_x_project was begun by Marty Harris, Minnesota, USA.