Those of you who know me either in real
life or through the wonders of the internet know that I have a few
diverse and seemingly divergent interests and that occasionally I can
be somewhat single minded in the pursuit of those interests, to the
detriment of the other interests.

I've had a few interests that have
lasted most of my life; art, sports, engines (the sports associated
with them, and bikes. I've also had a few interests that were
passing; such as electronics, various art supply based arts, and
other assorted things. Typically one or two of my various interests
overtake my free time and I pass the others not quite by but they get
pushed aside. As a result I owe a bunch of people some apologetic
email. I'll get those out at some point in the near future.

Anyway, my recent obsession has been
about as opposite from art and journaling as it can get. I've been
working on bikes; a pretty much lifelong obsession for me, at least
until 10 years ago when I was riding and hit by a car. While I was
not hurt badly it did turn me off from riding a bike until this pat
summer, when I started to ride my bike, bought a cruiser bike and it
all went downhill from there. I started to ride for health and it
went from there. Now I'm helping my friends buy bikes craigslist,
repair, update and modify them into something that they won't be
embarrassed to ride.

It's an addiction. It's pretty cool to
buy a bike with a nice frame, fix it and then ride it.

So anyway, I've made a few books,
mainly recycled, over the last few months. I've also been exploring
some of where I want to go with my bookbinding. Now that it is
brutally cold here in the NorthEast I'll be making books more.

How about a Wishlist for the Art Journaler or “lifeBooker”?

Here’s my wishlist:

#1 A nice set of Pencils. A set ranging in hardness from H
up to 6B is excellent. IT gives a lot of great selection for drawing and
sketching. Or maybe a group of all around great sketching pencils like a 2B. (A
set of Palominos is always nice. Send me an email if you want some prices on
stuff I have in stock.)

#2. A nice set of pens. I like Pigma Microns. They come in a
great selection of sizes a variety of colors and will write anywhere and are
archival. I read a story once of a photographer who tipped her canoe and all
her stuff went into the water. He journal washed ashore a day or so later,
covers gone, pages still stitched together and with everything written in Pigma
still there. Not that I think that the average journaler will find occasion to
tip their canoe, but you might decide to journal in the tub and you never know
when your going to drop something into the water. I’d pick 3 sizes a small,
medium and larger size. You can get Pigma’s at most craft and art supply stores
in singles as well as in 3 and 6 packs.

#3. A set of watercolors. Watercolors are one of the fastest
and easiest ways to get color onto a page. A page can be sketched out, inked
in and then colored pretty quickly. Go
for a pocket set of 8 to 12 colors. I’m partial to grumbacher water colors, but
there are a lot of brands. Go for something on the nicer end of the spectrum
rather than crayola…

#4. Niji waterbrushes. Niji makes these cool brushes that hold
water in their handle. I discovered that you could also fill the handle with
ink or dilute watercolor. These are great for when you’re out sketching or
journaling at a coffee shop if your into that.

#5. Gouache. I’m a big fan of gouache. It’s good stuff. It’s
watercolor on steroids. It’s water based and opaque. You can pain in layers,
like in oils and acrylics, but you can wipe out whole layers of color at a
time. Good stuff right there.

I've been working on other things this summer, I expect to get back into making books sometime in November. But here's something for those of you thinking to take some nice photos of your art journals or bookbinding:
a fold up photography tent. It's from harbor freight which is not known for it's high quality but it's low price. $30 is a low price for one of these. If any one purchases one let us all know about how nice/not nice it is.