sailboats and color

"What concerns me when I work is not 

whether the picture is a landscape, 

or whether it's pastoral, 

or whether somebody will see a sunset in it.

 What concerns me is -did I make a beautiful picture?"

-Helen Frankenthaler

I met with a client this morning to talk about the custom journal I'm binding for her brother. It was a great and inspiring meeting, and Daisy Cakes was crowded but cozy. 

We decided on a lot of the design details:

• blue & lemon yellow & white
• sailboat(s) & water
• lemon yellow or white elastic as the spine pen-holder
• front cover: unmounted-linoleum (the kind used for lino-cuts. I'm planning to cut a sailboat into the cover and possibly ink it blue.) 
• back cover: matboard or canvas board (for sturdiness); with a blue & yellow color-field horizon

I created a design pinboard to share ideas. Here's a little sneak peak:

We're picking up the sailboat image from her brother's time on a sailing team. I love the idea of incorporating a personal image, like a sailboat, as a kind of mantra for a journal. I think a simple outline will be classy -something Matisse-inspired, like my sketch here. I also like the simplicity and atmosphere of these color field paintings (here: Rothko and Frankenthaler.) A journal is a place to collect and remember, so keeping it in line with a kind of "blank slate" feel is key. 

I am excited to go to the art supply store and get this thing started! 

making it beautiful,

m.