I began my current sketchbook (#8) at Autumn Equinox 2016; ’til then I’d been finishing a sketchbook a year. By the following spring I noticed something was changing; I wasn’t drawing as much, and my life, very full, was draining me in ways I couldn’t articulate. It was good; I suspect there was just too much of it. This has to do with aging, this much is clear. So, at that time, I adopted the word ‘Emptiness’ as a guide; I tried it on, it seemed to fit, and I began letting go. Of things. Of commitments. Of false selves. I remember soon after looking at my sketchbook, frighteningly empty, and wondering just what it was I was looking for. I turned to the center spread, lettered the above, and asked myself, “Where will I be when that page becomes current?”
Little did I know … It wasn’t long after that when our floathouse broke, Greg fell in the river, and we both looked around, knowing we couldn’t do this any longer. That’s when I asked him where he would like to live. “New England,” he said without hesitation.
We’ve been here nearly a year now, our initial goal of living through 4 seasons almost done. Big snowstorm is expected today, perhaps the biggest so far (a mild winter). And while I’m not drawing, I am doing a lot more lettering. Turns out the sketchbook works well for that too. And yes, I have reached the center spread, gone a little beyond. I have more to say about what’s come to be known as “The Emptiness Project,” tho that can be a topic for future consideration. In the meantime,
