Sketchbook Project: Page 17

Final Page of the Sketchbook

I used the final page of this sketchbook for a note on sketchbooks.
I wrote:

A Sketchbook:

 An opportunity
to be me
in any given moment.

I really do love the way a sketchbook allows you to just be you in any moment…if I Let it. even though I know that others will be seeing this book and it will be on tour around the country, I was able to put that thought aside and just create whatever came to mind and whatever felt right for me in that moment of creativity. I have tried new things, whether they worked out the way I wanted them to or not. I was able to let go of the end result and just go with the flow of ideas. 

I was able to have fun in the process and be free to create anything. Just creating allows for greater creative growth, just creating develops the creative muscle and you become stronger and more creatively fit in the process.

On the back inside cover, I included my Website. Here's what I included:

For more art by Wendy Meg Siegel,
visit: WendyArts.com

Sketchbook Project: Page 16

In becoming a part of this Sketchbook Project, I had to choose a theme from a list. I chose "The Companion Book," as my theme and have thought about the sketchbook as my companion through the days I have spent on it.

As I near the end of this project, I wanted to look at the companions I have had on this creative journey.  The left side of the page highlights some of "My Companions." The painted page ended up reminding me of a paint palette, which seemed oh so appropriate. "My Companions" in working on this Sketchbook Project are...Music, Art, Paint, Color, Prokofiev, and My Sketchbook.


The right side of the page was used to let the viewer know a bit about me. Here's what I wrote:

About Me:
Wendy Meg Siegel

I am a mixed media artist with two
great passions: painting and music.
Music is part of my process and my
greatest joy is to paint while dancing
to the music. I grew up in New York
and now live in California where the
beauty of the mountain mist and the
visions of the coastal marine layer
never fail to dazzle me. For a number
of years, I have enjoyed incorporating
my photos into my paintings, utilizing
multiple canvas layers, and further
developing canvases with the use of
papers and other textural elements.

Sketchbook Project: Page 15

"Glow"

The glowing sunset has become something of a bookend to the image on page 3, "Light Explosion."  That image  represented a light that seemed to burst through the trees as the sun was rising. This page is the purely, unobstructed view of the sunset and the colors that surround it. 

I didn’t plan to do the two on either end of the sketchbook but it ended up that way. At the beginning of this project, I had the notion I might be filling the sketchbook with landscape images using music, papers and paint. I'm so glad I didn’t sensor the images and instead went with whatever felt right to create in the moment. I know I've gotten more out of this experience because of it.

Sketchbook Project: Page 14

"Swirl"

A few years ago, I found a great page of sheet music with loads of rounded lines and notes that followed a circular pattern. So I made a copy of the page and cut all the rounded note segments out to create a small collage of curves and swirls.

Music Collage with Curves

After I painted the background colors of this sketchbook page, I had no idea what I was going to do with it. Then I saw the collage of musical swirls hanging on the wall and decided to copy it and cut the collection of curves so it would fit on the two sided sketchbook page. After adding the top coat of paint, it seemed to visually come together.

Sketchbook Project: Page 13

"Vista"

This image represents the wonder of the coastal marine layer and the mist we see in this area of the world, layering the hills and mountains.

The page began with layers of color just for the fun of it. I wanted to fill the page with horizontal rows of blues and I didn't want them to be too straight or neat. As I painted, my focus was to make a fun mess of linear colors. I didn't plan or expect for it to look like the landscape I see so often when driving on our local highways. So I used some colored pencil to add and accentuate the different layers and created a foreground with the papers.

I love the way you can just have fun painting and then find out later where it will lead. Most of the pages in this sketchbook have started just with the fun of painting and the delight in getting to see how it develops.

Sketchbook Project: Page 12

"Energy...Flow"

This may have become my favorite page to do. I loved painting the background colors and using the colored pencils to add additional color and texture. With the foreground of musical hills, the page began to represent the "feel good" quality of where I am right now and where I want to be.

This image has become a perfect symbol of the feeling space I envision for this year. I can use it to help me hold the vision of what I want to create in my life throughout 2012.

Sketchbook Project: Page 11

"Life"

For the past few years I have used music strips in my paintings, to act as a design element and help create treelike landscapes. I enjoyed using this page to go back to something I've known and loved.

First I filled the page with shades of green. What can I say, I was in a green mood. It was then that the life energy of the green made me think of trees, landscapes and the natural world. So the musical trees gave me a tug and I was back in a familiar space. Once the papers were added I ended up softening the background greens so it looked like a quieter and more peaceful setting.

Sketchbook Project: Page 10

"Windows"

With the opening cut from the prior page, this page literally became a window to the past...with the window that allows you to peak into the prior page (the lower left hand square).

I wasn't trying to make them look like windows but that's how it ended up.

(No matter what I do to alter the image, I've been unable to reproduce all of the orange that's on the original painted page.  Oh well.)

Sketchbook Project: Page 9

"Space"

 When I started this page, my goal was twofold...to work with complementary colors and to cut a hole, or window to the next page. (The square on the bottom right hand side has been cut out.) Once that was accomplished I just played with the space, repeating the color and or shape, both horizontally and vertically.

Because of the cutout, I found myself giving some thought to the next page rather than just focusing on the page at hand. It was like having an adjoining door into the future.


Although I have no intention of creating more windows on these sketchbook pages, I would love to create a small journal project in which every page has a window to the next. For now, as I continue this Sketchbook Project, I would like to stay focused on one page at a time.

Sketchbook Project: Page 8

"Patterns"

With this sketchbook page, I wanted to focus on the simplicity of a repetitive pattern. I wasn't interested in embellishing it with any other elements. So, I chose to leave it clean, without adding color to the papers or shadows of any kind.

Of course, now I'm interested in recreating this same image so I can play with colors and shadows and  add some more dimension to the look. But here I felt the need to keep it simple and clean...a raw statement.

I chose a set of background colors that make my heart dance and make me smile.