a new sketchbook...

letter writing... not a common thing any longer, at least not the "written on beautiful paper with a fine pen" kind of letters, but my friend christine and i do write each other letters, twice a year

hers are so lovely to hold in your hand, the papers she chooses have a beautiful softness to them and the ink clear and dark...  christine always begins each letter by telling me the type and origin of the paper followed by a description of the pen and ink

i love that

 i've had a thing for fine writing paper since a friend and I began collecting stationery at the age of 12... my understanding of fine pens began in high school with a parker 57 given to me my grandfather when he retired

the description of paper, pen and ink not only informs, it also causes a pause whilst i look closer at the pages, running my fingers over them a while before settling in to enjoy the letter itself

i've always saved them - letters like this must be saved but a couple of weeks ago i took a notion to make something with some them...

in need of a new sketchbook,  a search at the two stationery/art shops in town yielded nothing, nor did i have any paper suitable for what i was wanting

fingers tapping on my worktable, i cast my eyes around the room

and then i saw the latest letter with it's corresponding envelope...

picking them up, turning them over in hands, looking close at the grain and how the ink sat on it, feeling the sturdiness of the paper I thought that if they were given a light coat of gesso they would be perfect for sketching

and the envelope could be trimmed, reinforced with other paper and used for the cover

so i set to work

a scrap of blue mineraux paper christine used to wrap a previous gift is a favourite so it would be used on the cover somehow

for the front-facing cover i used a failed acetate transfer print and then glued the mineraux paper to the inside of the envelope flap for a wrap-around cover

below you see first page - enough gesso to obscure the handwriting, not obliterate it

and those beautiful deckle edges

acrylic gesso does have a bit of a plastic feel to it but it has not significantly changed the way the paper feels in the hand

I'd like to find a more natural one but not sure it even exists

using nine pages, i made three signatures with three pages each

a button and a twisted cord to tie it closed

 i'm going to enjoy using this over the coming days and weeks as i do some summer sketching... a reminder of a day several years ago when i was in england and christine and i sat in front of the derwent dam and sketched on a sunny spring afternoon