moleskinerie

Featured Artist: Mike Sheehan

"I've kept sketchbooks for years to keep my skills up, to work out ideas for various projects and paintings and to just get ideas. But the real reason is that they compel me to wander through places you might not normally spend an afternoon.  I like that ideas just happen without a lot of thought, and you get into a flow.

My Moleskines are divided into projects, my all around that I use for cafe sketching, a storyboard for a children's book I'm writing, a journal for notes, and so on.  These days I'm using Nexus pens, I like the sepia and red ochre, black seems harsh to me these days, especially when you throw watercolor over them. I love the look of these colors over the slightly buff pages of my Moleskines.  I consider my sketchbag (which is always with me) to be my entertainment center.I'm never bored since there is always something to draw, and learn."

Mike Sheehan
Visit his FLICKR page.

© 2006 MS. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission.

Paperitif.com. Official Sponsor of the

The first notebooks will be sent out on Monday. The list is still open for those wishing to participate in WMP2. Details are here.

Greetings to M'lady and her esteemed readership. Also, a shoutout to Geoff C.'s son, Lowys.
 

For those in Tokyo, Carlos of WorkingUnit invites you for one last stop of their highly successful "My Moleskine" Exhibition. April 12  to May 17.

An Official Statement to the Moleskine Community from Modo & Modo

 Have a nice weekend everyone. Get out, have a life - and write about it!  Be back on Monday.

Timothy Leonard

"He is a peripatetic elf in China enrolled in the University of the Street.

A Vietnam veteran and writer with a photographer's eye.

This is a work-in-progress. Creative people make a mess, clean it up and make another mess. There are no mistakes in art only happy little accidents.

He explores ethnology, languages, storytelling. Hunting, gathering material. Reporting back to the tribe. For example, in the Bedouin culture the "sha'ir" is their most feared and respected poet musician possessing supernatural powers."

Timothy Leonard
Writer, photographer, English teacher in China and longtime Moleskine aficionado

Visit his blog, "Journeys"

Journalling Prompts: Resources for those days when the blank page bites back

D*I*Y* Planner has posted this great compilation: 

"Journal writing can be hard. The blank page sits ready, teasing you and your pen. A million and one thoughts swirl around in your head and you can’t settle on just one thought or idea. And as soon as the best idea one does float into your mind, you start to worry about whether or not you can get it down and how that will all look on the finished page of your journal. Or perhaps maybe you never get an idea at all, so your page sits blank once more, awaiting the muse. Sometimes it’s easier to not write than it is to write at all with all this pressure.

Fortunately, for those times when you feel the pressure, or can’t think of a single thing to write about there are prompts. These small snippets of thoughts or questions or pictures help assist you in getting out of the writer’s funk and into the writing process. Strangely, collecting prompts can also be addicting... so this week I’ve decided to share with you a few online and offline resources where you can get some quick fix inspiration to get you writing in your planners as well as meet some groups who are also journalling right along with you...."

Journalling Prompts: Resources for those days when the blank page bites back
By Innowen

D*I*Y* Planner

Visit

Photo: Manuel Meimberg @ Moleskinerie/FLICKR
© All rights reserved. Used with permission.

Sighting: "The Great British Menu"

"...here is a screen cap from the on-going competition...and yes..the notebooks are the indexed moleskine.."

Bets Pudliner

[Thanks!!]

Show link
The Great British Menu © 2006 BBC

Discussed earlier

Calligraphy on the Hong Kong Subway

Wanchai Station

Causeway Bay

Chinapage.com

[via inaminuteago]

Moleskine Covers

"A couple of my notebooks were looking a little ragged so I made some covers for them out of an old Eddie Bauer shopping bag."

Kiki5000 @ Moleskinerie/ FLICKR

© All rights reserved, Used with permission.

"Cream Teas"

From Jeanette Jobson's blog, "Illustrated Life" :

"This image reminds me of cream teas that I indulged in while living in Somerset. A friend's parents ran a dairy farm and offered the biggest cream teas you could possibly imagine. Nearly everything was made with ingredients grown on their farm. Lucious pale clotted cream that had a texture of soft butter; rich red strawberries glistening and sweet or homemade strawberry jam if the berries were out of season; light, flaky scones still warm from the oven, followed with lashings of steaming hot tea, dainty sandwiches and lots of conversation, all taken in the confines of their enclosed flower garden..."

Drawings so good you actually want to drop by.

VISIT

[Thanks Dawn!]

Sunday Scribblings

Sunday Scribblings was set up to provide inspiration and motivation for anyone who enjoys writing and would like a weekly challenge. Here's a snip:

"...this week we thought that we would lighten it up a little. (Well, I wouldn't say that this topic is light - try rich and creamy and obsessively delicious!) With Easter behind us, spring springing up all over, and all of us needing a little sweetness and a little whimsy, (or a little dark indulgence) this week's topic is: "Chocolate."

Are you up for a challenge?

Sunday Scribblings. Visit.

[Thanks Jeffrey Yamaguchi @ 52projects]

Moleskines deviating from intended purpose

"Hello. My name is Kate and I'm new to this community, but not new to the world of the Moleskine. I have two, the large ruled and the large squared, regular Moleskines and three sets of cahiers. I usually toss a cahier in whatever bag I'm carrying as insurance in the event I forget my regular Moleskine.

My question is this: have you ever purchased a Moleskine with specific intent only to have it completely drift out of purpose? My present ruled Moleskine was supposed to be strictly for a "life as it happens" journal but has become so much more. It's so intensely personal that I am literally afraid to let it out of my sight. Is this sort of relationship with a notebook "normal"?"

Kate @ the LiveJournal Moleskine Users' Group

Join the discussion @ LJ

Image: "Moleskine Stack 2"
By Cinemafia @ Moleskinerie/FLICKR
© All rights reserved. Used with permission. 

Percy the Pug

A reader sent us this link to Quotidian Curiosities. Check out the fascinating drawings.

" Percy the Pug -- the "grandpuppy" -- who I fell in love with this past week. We had the best time playing fetch with an old beat up, chewed up, and well loved purple monkey.

When he finally gets tired, like most other babies, he fights sleep. In a desperate attempt to stay awake he will run madly around the apartment in a figure-8 pattern -- what they call the "roast beef run" (it's a long story ...) Finally, when he can go no further, he collapses. What a cutie!"

Linda @ Quotidian Curiosities

Visit.

© 2006 Linda All Rights Reserved.

Paperitif Minute

Designer's Art Box and Artist Travel Kits are now available.

Visit Paperitif.com

Chema Madoz

Spain-based, Chema Madoz is one the best-known art photographers in the country.

 

Born in 1958, Chema Madoz studied Art History at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid and photography at the Centro de Enseñanza de la Imagen, also in Madrid.

 

In 1985, he received his initial acclaim when the La Real Sociedad Fotográfica de Madrid (The Royal Photography Society, Madrid) held the first major exhibition of his work. In 1988, the Sala Minerva del Círculo de Bellas Artes (Madrid) inaugrated its photography program with the artworks of Chema.

CHEMA MADOZ

Visit.

[Thanks JC!]

Rusell Beattie Quits Blogging

...and uses Moleskine instead?

RussellBeattie.com

His blog will be missed.

Journey to the Rooftop of the World

" As I stare at my computer screen, which alternates between an online airfare search and my money market statement, the want of material goods taunts me: Michelle Kaufmann’s Sunset® Breezehouse, a sporty BMW, party dresses galore, and kicky high heels. Once I permit myself to muddle my desire to adventure with the estimated cost of this trip I’ve been musing about, the floodgates open and an endless string of dizzying questions descend upon me like a cloying fog. I instantly feel burdened by the weight of Atlas, and I sigh in resignation. For the last week, I have made up my mind to take this trip only to change my mind with the next passing hour.

The first entry in my new journal stares back at me. As I feverishly study those three little words, the letters begin to dance across the page in a churlish manner. Soon, I am laughing, and the words laugh right back at me. Yes, I am stone cold crazy: I have 17 days to prepare for the unknown. As I write, my heart thumps wildly in my chest.

If I never go, I’ll never know."

Ida Becker
Journey to the Rooftop of the World

VISIT.

© 2006 All Rights Reserved. Used with permission.

Greetings to our friends in Togo, Indianapolis, IN., Guangzhou, Bayern, Shah Alama, Stillorgan, Biltris, Pedrouos, Abu Dhabi, Slamannan, Vrouwenakker, Settimo Torinese, Cheung Shek Pai, Praha, Corvalis, OR., Kano, Oaxaca, Tunis, Shizuoka, Don Torcuato, Rio Grande do Sul, Mombasa, Punjab, Edinburgh, French Polynesia, Milan, Esfahan, Lakonia and Santa Marta, Colombia. 
...
Note: I'll be AFK until late this afternoon. Since our comments are moderated, they won't show up til then. Pardon the delay.

Moleskine on sale at Cheap Joes

Moleskine Reporters, Sketch and Cahiers on sale.
Head over (or click) to JOE'S

[Thanks Joy!]

Kt Tunstall

Scottish solo artist KT Tunstall has a cool-looking diary. Check it out.

LINK [Click on "Diary"]

[Thanks Hannah!]

Featured Artist: Sandy Shum

I wish to provide a moment to pause and reflect on the wonder and grace in
the dreamlight of daily life.

I work with Polaroids, moving the emulsion around while it is still soft,
giving the photographs movement, texture and dimension, like a painting.  My
favorite subjects are the things of daily life, the beauty that surrounds
us, when we just pause to notice.

My Moleskine is where I catch all my ideas. My camera is a 30 year old
Polaroid sx-70 -- the one that pops up, probably your parents have one in
the closet.  When I'm photographing I travel light, I carry my camera, my
Moleskine and film.  In my Moleskine I keep ephemera of the day, write where
I've been, thoughts and impressions, I do rubbings of textured or carved
signs, details from manhole covers, post boxes, coins.  I keep lists of
things I want to photograph, places I want to return to photograph in a
different light, or on another day with less people, etc.  Once I get home,
my Moleskine is an essential reference as I work further with the
photographs, to remind me of where/what an image is, ideas I had for
cropping, what I had for lunch.  Months later, reading through my journal
while working on photographs and preparing for a show brings me right back
to the time and space when I was photographing, and I hope to convey the
entire sum of that moment in my photographs, yet give space for the viewer's
own story, memories and impressions.

Sandy Shum
Visit her website. sandyshum.com

Text and images © SS. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission.

Discover and join the Moleskine communities at MYSPACE (191), FLICKR (Now 1003 member-strong!) SQUIDOO, LIVEJOURNAL (216) & GOOGLEGROUPS.

Paperitif.com. Official Sponsor of

We've opened the list to those wishing to participate in WMP2. Details are here.

For those in Tokyo, Carlos of WorkingUnit invites you for one last stop of their highly successful "My Moleskine" Exhibition. April 12  to May 17.

An Official Statement to the Moleskine Community from Modo & Modo

I'll be away on a photo shoot from today until Monday. Excuse the delay in responses to your emails, etc. 

Have a nice weekend everyone. Get out, have a life - and write about it!  Be back on Monday.

The Notebook Girls

Four Stuyvesant High School students decided to publish their shared teenage journal—in their own handwriting, with photos and doodles included. Susan Lehman spoke to diarists Julia Baskin, Lindsey Newman, Sophie Pollitt-Cohen, and Courtney Toombs, who are now college freshmen, about their book, The Notebook Girls.

"Why did you write this book?

Courtney: We never wrote any of this intending it to be published. This is our diary.
Julia:We wrote the diary as a way to get closer. We thought we could be genuinely good friends. The notebook was a fun way to keep that going.
Lindsey: Once we found out we were going to publish it, we had to stop writing because there is no way to write a diary knowing someone will read it and still sound like yourself.

Why would you want to publish your diary?
Lindsey: A lot of people—parents and adults—are interested in knowing about kids’ lives, not specifically ours. Everyone goes through adolescence and high school. It’s kind of cool that we get to present our perspective on things.
Sophie: What I hope parents get out of it is that just because your kids seem like they are getting grades or have friends, they might be going through things that are hard and that are troubling. And just because your kids smoke pot, it’s not the end of the world; they’re not bad kids.
Julia: The notebook sends an important message: You can be experimental, not be a prude or a goody two-shoes and still be a responsible person..."

NEW YORK METRO

AMAZON LINK

Radio Notebook

As the cold recedes farther north, thunderstorms return with all its associated electronic noises - the bane of radio enthusiasts everywhere. Visual Impact offers some consolation:

"In northen Ontario, distanced
from overwhelming city
transmissions, in the
calm of the night,
softly DXing the dial,
I can hear many voices
  from many far off cities...

Nevermind Radio Netherlands
the AM band opens like
a tattered box of junk
dusty with static
and hidden voices calling
from the...
  South-west to Toronto,
  South-east to Montreal
    and far south to Georgia...

When sounds fade to the bird-chirp dawn,
all that remains
are some notes."

Poem and photo by Visual Imapct on FLICKR
Some rights reserved. Used with permission.

An Official Statement to the Moleskine Community from Modo & Modo

The following is an official communication we just received from Modo & Modo, SpA:

MOLESKINE LOOKS TO THE FUTURE

In response to the ever-growing demands of its supporters and distributors, Moleskine is committed to strengthening its brand and broadening its horizons.

Moleskine is currently involved in the design and development of new products; as one example, from Autumn 2006 Moleskine will launch its new “City Notebooks, the first guidebook you write by yourself” !

Moleskine is also investing in its network of distributors and retailers with in and off-line communication initiatives and in other activities designed to further strengthen the Moleskine brand.

Moleskine belongs to all – to its Publisher but equally, and more importantly, to the community of Moleskine users and supporters.The Publisher is fully aware that Moleskine has grown thanks to the support of many people and is fully conscious of the need to respect the love so many have shown to Moleskine. As a company, we want to create new products and to encourage new adventures.

To realize these ambitious projects, Moleskine needs the additional energy and skills that new partners can bring. We are looking for partners of the highest quality,which will be selected for the ability to continue the story we have written together so far. In all this, the continuing success of Moleskine is our number one priority. 

We will keep you informed of the progress we are making to build a better Moleskine world for all of us.

The Publisher Modo&Modo

Mario Baruzzi and Francesco Franceschi
Milano, Italy
4.20.06

Labeling Moleskines

I bought my first Moleskine around 1999, and have used them ever since. I read Bruce Chatwin's "Songlines" about 10 years prior, and when I saw my first Moleskine on the bookstore shelf, his passage came back to me.  I remember when I read about Moleskines a decade before, mourning the fact that they were extinct before I ever saw one. I felt I had struck gold!

Since then I've bought my Moleskines in California, Florence Italy, and Hong Kong.  I live in Thailand now and they're not available here, so I buy a few whenever I see them while on the road.  But it's good to know I have amazon.com as a backup when I'm down to my last pages there's no trip planned.

I use the large, unlined notebook and turn it 90 degrees to write, using it like a Reporter, because my handwriting is large.

My dream Moleskine would be the large size with good watercolor paper.  It is absolutely the perfect size for me, not too big to carry, but big enough for expression.  I look forward to seeing the new Watercolor Moleskines when I'm in California this summer.  But I'd really like a version that opens as
a traditional notebook, with binding on the long side, rather than opening as a Reporter with binding on the short side.  I prefer the 2-page spread to be a big, nearly square canvas to work on, rather than a long thin rectangle.  But maybe it'll inspire me to do landscapes.

I have a question for the Moleskine hackers out there, about labeling Moleskines.

The Vanishing Craft of the Typewriter Repairman

Margot Adler interviewed a typewriter repairman in New York City for NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday:

"Some people still write with fountain pens. Some still love their old manual and electric typewriters. But typewriter repairmen are a vanishing breed. Up on the eighth floor of the Flatiron Building in Manhattan, Paul Schweitzer has been fixing and cleaning typewriters for 40 years.

Schweitzer's father began the business during the Depression. Today, manual and electronic typewriters of all shapes, colors and sizes fill Schweitzer's tiny workshop. He spends most of the day making house calls around the city, carrying a tool bag that doesn't look so different from the old doctor's bag."

LINK

Related link: St. Louis Wholesale Typewriter Co.

[Thanks John ]

This just in: Moleskine Company Up for Sale

A classic Hemingway favourite goes up for sale
Business Telegraph
By Malcolm Moore in Rome

"The Italian maker of a small black notebook once used by Vincent Van Gogh, Henri Matisse and Ernest Hemingway has put his company up for sale.

The Moleskine, named for its oilcloth cover, gained cult status after its relaunch in 1998 by Mario Beruzzi.

Last year, his company Modo & Modo sold 4.5m notebooks across the world, half of them in the United States. The company, with a staff of 13, had turnover of €12.7m (£9.1m) last year and profits of more than €2m. In the UK its classic notebook sells for upwards of £7.

Mr Beruzzi, 69, said: "Moleskine is growing very quickly and it is becoming too big for us. We do not have the capacity to follow it through." He said KPMG, the accountants, were preparing the company for sale..."

LINK
Related news: "KPMG works on Van Gogh notebooks"
Here's something to sweeten the deal: Moleskine is currently #10 at Lovemarks.

[via Mike Shea]

Photo by MattL on FLICKR
© All rights reserved. Originally posted with permission on Moleskinerie 12.21.04

Also discussed on FLICKR and Moleskinerie/GOOGLEGROUPS.

...

UPDATES:

4.20.06 4.00 P CST
An Official Statement to the Moleskine Community from Modo & Modo

Drawings of Louis Renard

Fishy but stunning:

"Poissons, ecrevisses et crabes, de diverses couleurs et figures extraordinaires, que l'on trouve autour des isles Moluques et sur les côtes des terres australes by Louis Renard."

 

Heritage Collection

The Nelson Meers Foundation

 

LINK

[Thanks Jake!]

Paperitif Minute

Distinctive gift sets filled with journals, art supplies and fun freebies to fire up the imagination.

Visit Paperitif.com
"Written...and stirred"
Proud Sponsor of the Wandering Moleskine Project

National Poetry Month: "In Antigua"

"In Antigua I am famous. I am bathed in jasmine
and pressed with warm stones."
—Carnival Cruise ad in The New Yorker

In Albuquerque, on the other hand, I am infamous; children
throw stones and the elderly whisper behind their hands.
In Juneau, I am glacial, a cool blue where anyone can bathe
for a price. In Rio I am neither exalted nor defamed; I walk
the streets and nothing makes sense, voices garbled, something
about electricity, something about peonies and cheap wool.

In Prague I am as fabulous as Napoleon and everyone
knows it. They give me a horse and I tell them this horse
will be buried with me, I tell them I will call the horse either
Andromeda or Murphy and all applaud wildly. In Montreal
I am paler than I am in Toronto. In Istanbul I trip over cracks
in the sidewalk and no one rushes to take my elbow, to say
Miss or brew strong tea for a poultice. In Sydney they talk
about my arrival for days. I sit outside the opera house.."

'In Antigua'
Kerri Webster on NPR

Celebrate National Poetry Month

Sighting: "The Great British Menu"

Moleskinerie pal B. Pudliner writes:

"Just saw on BBC 2, on the contest for which Chef will cook for the Queen's 80th birthday party, the judges were using the Moleskine Index/Info small book....I just saw a brief glimpse...but I'm sure it was that little book..."

BBC LINK

We are absolutely delighted to hear about this and we shall endeavour to watch the said programme this Friday.   

Mwah-lskine!

"Moleskine Kissbook"

By Questus @ Moleskinerie/FLICKR
© All rights reserved. Used with permission.

So, help me out here. How do you say "Can you kiss my Moleskine" without getting that dirty look? ^-^

Message Quests

Message Quests allows you to send personalized interactive adventures to any number of web users. The recipients are able to play out these adventures in the form of a quest; by doing so, they will magically reveal your (the sender’s) message.

LINK

[Thanks JC!]

Dr. Reid's Notebooks

Elisa Nobe alerted us to this very interesting site:

"I recently stumbled upon the website of one of the stars of CBS drama "Criminal Minds". Matthew Gray Gubler (who plays the character of Dr.Spencer Reid) has a very interesting website  and if I'm not mistaken, the entries (pictures) are from moleskine notebooks?..."

Matthew Gray Gubler - Totally Tubular

LINK

[Thanks Elisa!]

Travel sketches from William Seddon Brown

We received these gorgeous scans from William Seddon Brown over the weekend:

Château de Cordes

Chez Remacle 3 St Tropez

Louvre, Paris

Pearce, Paris Apartment

We first featured Mr. Seddon Brown last December.

© 2006 WSB All Rights Reserved.

 Greetings to our friends in East Tamaki, Nuuksio, Lincoln, NE., Breda, Algiers, Costa Rica, Kent, Nairobi, Rognac, Damascus, Chap Wai Kon, Opole, Hordaland, Sana, Sarawak, Tbilisi, Kampong Chantek Baharu, Les Lolettes, Tirana, Urawa, Regina, Chile, UAE, Bagan Luar, Keo, AK, Minsk, Casablanca, Brasilia, Punjab and Yerevan.

The Writer in the Garden

"Enter a world of real and imaginary gardens portrayed by writers through the ages. See how gardens have inspired authors and how authors in their turn have shaped notions of the garden.

This website, which is associated with a previous British Library exhibition, looks briefly at some of the ideas associated with the garden, from the middle ages to the present day. Using the work of poets, novelists, essayists, philosophers, designers and scientists it explores the interrelationship between writers, writing and gardens..."

The Writer in the Garden
The British Library

LINK

[via Plep]

"One World, One Kid"

"When Skyler Pia's friend Erik was very ill, Skyler thought music might cheer him up. Even at 6, Skyler knew music can be good medicine. After all, music had always made him feel good. Surely it would work for Erik.

The two of them had just visited the Pixar Animation Studios in the Bay Area. What might have been the perfect field trip was too much for Erik, then 8, who was tired and not feeling well at all.

"He was undergoing chemotherapy," Skyler's mother, Cheryl, explained, for a rare brain tumor.

It hadn't been a good day. So back home in Carlsbad, Skyler had an idea. "Dad, I would like to do a radio show," Skyler recalled last week, while spinning in the chair in his dad's office. That radio show is now Skyler's first CD, "One World, One Kid," to be released Tuesday as a fundraising effort for Make-A-Wish Foundation, which helps seriously ill children like Skyler's friend."

"One World, One Kid" One Wish
By Jane Clifford
San Diego Union Tribune

Related links:
KPBS TV Interview (Google Video)
NPR Feature
Putumayo
Make-A-Wish-Foundation
....
I especially love 'Nyangi Matilda,' by Trevor Adamson, an Aborigine version of the English classic. It reminds me of the Radio Australia interval signal with Jacko, the broadcasting kookaburra (way before  the name became synonymous with "wacko").   

Happy Easter!

Image: ABF @ FLICKR

Featured Artist: Katherine Tyrrell

"My artwork has a strong base in drawing skills and the process of drawing is as important to me as painting.   I enjoy using dry media – principally pastels and pencils, including coloured pencils – because they enable me to find my way into a work though drawing and, if I choose, I can continue to use them produce a more finished work.  I used to very precise and spent a long time learning how to scribble and work more loosely.  I now very much enjoy what Professor Petherbridge talked about recently in her lecture 'Playing with the Provisional' – I take a line for a walk and see where it goes and don't worry so much about absolute accuracy so much as observing the way it can create something new or record a new way (my way) of seeing something seen many times before.

My sketchbooks record my progress and where I have been and what I have seen.  They include preliminary drawings and drawings which have taken some time.  I use them in drawing class, in restaurants and cafes, on the tubes, in parks and gardens and always while traveling.

What I like about my Moleskine is the quality of the sketchbook paper. The quality of the support is always as important as the media used to the overall quality of the work you do.  I like to try and always use the best if I can.  Also the size of a Moleskine makes them easy to use in places where there are a lot of other people – it's big enough to make a good record and small enough to be unobtrusive.  I mostly use a mechanical pencil in sketchbooks but I also use coloured pencil to make colour notes of my observations – and sometimes pursue more developed work."

Katherine Tyrrell
London, United Kingdom

Visit her blog, "Making a Mark"
Other sketches are here.
Visit the artist's website.
Related post: Professor Petherbridge's lecture 'Playing with the Provisional'

© 2006 KT. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission.

Discover and join the Moleskine communities at MYSPACE, FLICKR (Now 1000 members-strong!) SQUIDOO, LIVEJOURNAL & GOOGLEGROUPS.

We've opened the list to those wishing to participate in WMP2. Details are here.
The Wandering Moleskine Project is sponsored by Paperitif.com.

Special birthday greetings to my friend Norman. 4.15.06
Muriel Spark, 1918 - 2006

We're taking off early for a quiet Good Friday. Have a nice weekend everyone. Get out, have a life - and write about it! A Glorious Easter to all. We'll be back on Monday.

From drawing to masterpiece

Raphael, Preliminary study for "The Entombment of Christ"
Ashmolean Museum, Oxford

"The Entombment of Christ"
The work as completed.

LINKS 1 2

To do: Send list

"WANTED: YOUR TO-DO LISTS. Everything from garden-variety daily to-do lists to lifelong goals, pros and cons lists, holiday lists, work lists, boys/girls you have kissed, vocab lists, shit lists, movies to see, lists of any kind. Send your REAL, HANDWRITTEN LISTS..."

Above: List by Alice Waters, famed foodie and founder of Chez Panisse

TO DO BLOG

Cool project but that last line may discourage some notebook users. Heck. What's one torn page in exchange for immortality, huh? :D

"The Pencil: A History of Design and Circumstance"

My comrade John at Pencil Revolution has posted a review of Henry Petroski's  "The Pencil: A History of Design and Circumstance":

"The text is extremely engaging, even though we non-engineers might be tempted to be wary of reading a book about engineering. In my own field (philosophy), I can certainly spot a boring book.  But take my word for it: this is an exciting book for anyone who uses, likes or admires pencils. Far from being boring, it reads like an epic novel, with the protagonist and hero being the pencil, with other heroes that help the pencil along the way.

While it seems that pencils are simple objects at first glance, Professor Petroski shows that they are anything but simple, as he details the technological advances and engineering geniuses who have brought us our wooden warrior. Do you know why, for instance, Incense Cedar is the preferred wood for making quality pencils? Do you know what people used for erasers prior to rubber ones? Or just how long it took for sharpeners (as we know them) to appear on the scene? If you give The Pencil a good read, you will know all this and more.."

LINK

Sketching Paris

Photo:Mona Bismarck Foundation

"It nearly always pays to take the long route in Paris. If you have time to spare, instead of going straight to your destination, you ought to veer from the path by a street or two to see if there are any hidden treasures tucked away on the road less travelled by.

Yesterday's blue sky belied the cold that Paris has yet to shake off, so I put my Moleskine sketchbook, colored pencils and an old copy of Vogue in my bag and headed out for the afternoon. The plan was to head over to the Trocadero area for a quick spin at the Palais de Tokyo before settling into a bench at the park...."

Cree A.
Visit her blog

Hebrew Calligraphy

"The Letter Aleph has 3 distinct parts and 10 laws concerning its form. There is an upper Yud, a lower Yud, and a body that is similar to a Vov. There should be a clear connection from the body of the Aleph to the Yuds but none of the faces of the Yuds are allowed to touch its body. The face of the upper Yud should be slightly angled upward. The very bottom end of the Vov part should be slightly turned upwards. The size of the Aleph should be 3X3 kulmusim.

Note: The word Kulmus(im) means the width of the tip of the quill....


...A Sofer must spend a long time learning the laws of how to write the letters. There are certain errors in writing which cannot be corrected, nor can they be detected by looking at the writing. For this reason, a Sofer must be God fearing and pious, as no one but he knows if an error was made..."

Temple San Jose

LINK

End of the Journey

Heart-breaking, awe-inspiring images by Edward Burtynsky of salvaged ships in Chittagong, Bagladesh.

Shipbreaking.

LINK

[Thanks JC!]

Jefferson Moses' Diaries

"The diary was presented to Jefferson Moses by his father when he was home on furlough in September,   1863. His initial entries were irregular but starting on October 16, he seldom   missed a day until his discharge in June, 1865. There were actually two diaries   as he filled the first one in March, 1864. His father sent him the second diary.

Each diary   is about 3"x5" in size. He completed it in pencil. There were pockets   in the diary where he kept loose items including poems and practical instructions   for treating illness and battle wounds..."

"The memoirs, diary, and life of Private Jefferson Moses, Company G, 93rd Illinois Volunteers"

LINK

[Thanks to Doug O'Brien]

The Notebooks of Tommy Kane

Visit tommykane.com
Check out his Moleskine here and here.

Sightings: 5 Takes

Tony of "5 Takes" is spotted using a Moleskine in a recent Pacific Rim "Sydney" episode.   

5 Takes
The Travel Channel

LINK

[Thanks Beth!]

Le Carnet Légendaire

"So, there I was in Mainz trying my best to understand Italian. The Italian speaker was trying his best to speak English. After glancing at my notebook he was trying to tell me something about one of his design projects. He was gesturing wildly, even for an Italian, and I was scrunching up my face in various expressions of "Quoi?".

Finally, I placed my little notebook and a pen in front of him. He drew an animal: a mole next to a molehill. And then he named the mole Chatwin..."

Patricia
Visit her blog, "C'est intéressant"

Paperitif is now open for business

Paperitif.com
"Written....and stirred"

SHOP!

Kody's Moleskine + iPod Hack

My name is Kody Chamberlain, and I'm a professional comic book artist and graphic designer. I'm also a very loyal Moleskine and iPod user. When I head for the door at the end of the day, I always grab my iPod and my Moleskine. So I decided to figure out a way to combine the two into a single handy case.

With that in mind, I developed 'Kody's Moleskine iPod Hack'. If you're a fan of the Moleskine and the iPod, this hack is worth the effort.

Visit kodychaberlain.com

Greetings to our friends in Spartanburg, SC., Nordhofen, Taupo, Curtea De Arges, Kobe, Ibiza, Junikowo, Carrum Downs, Bombay, Beiqiao, Covington, KY., Canelas, Palestinian Territory, Venezuela, Snellegem, Torino, Monte Pio, Doha, Plaines Wilhems, Barcelona, Kaliningrad, Beirut, Macau, Madras, Coatzacoalcos, Fort McMurray, Bursa, Anguilla and Kifisi.

The Chymistry of Isaac Newton

"To make excellent Ink.

RECIPE 1/2lb of Galls cut in pieces or grosly
beaten, 1/4 POUND SYMBOL of Gumm Arabick cut or
broken. Put 'em into a Quart of strong
beer or Ale. Let 'em stand a month
stopt up, stirring them now & then. At
the. end of the moneth put in OUNCE SIGN1 or
OUNCE SIGN1 1/2 of copperas (Too much copperas
makes the ink apt to turn yellow.) Stir
it & use it. Stop it up for some
time with a paper prickt full of
holes & let it stand in the sunn.
When you take out ink put in so
much strong beer & it will endure
many years. Water makes it apt to
mold. Wine does not. The air also
if it stand open inclines it to mold.
With this Ink new made I wrote this."

The Chymistry of Issac Newton
Portsmouth Collection

Visit

Direct page link to Folio 13r (above)

[Thanks Chris!/ via Boing Boing]

How Steve Rubel Works

Marketing strategist and PR blogger Steve Rubel recently posted his take on Fortune magazine's "How I Work Series":

" On an average weekday I get anywhere from 150 - 200 emails. They are split equally between Gmail and my corporate email accounts. I have a Blackberry that receives email from both accounts. I also use my Blackberry to check RSS feeds and to update my lists in Backpack. Writely doesn't have a mobile version yet so I can't access my notes on the go. However, they have an email-to-document feature which I use a lot. I write up notes after meetings and email them into Writely. I go over these notes when I conduct my GTD Weekly Review. Other than a thin Moleskine Cahier notebook, which I use in meetings, I don't use paper...."

"How I Work"
By Steve Rubel
Visit his blog, "Micropersuasion"

Related link: "How I Work" series on FORTUNE

Moleskine Reporter Featured In "Hustle"

"The Moleskine Pocket Reporter was featured in this week's episode of "Hustle", a popular UK television show where a gang of grifters con unsuspecting wealthy low-lifes. In this week's episode, the Hustle crew wanted to take down a sleezy editor and his lead reporter. To do so, one of the characters, Danny Blue (Marc Warren ) poses as a reporter. Throughout the episode, Danny is seen with a Moleskine Reporter. There's even a few shots where you can make out the embossing!"

Michael T. Ashby
TV.com Editor for "Hustle"

[Thanks Michael!]

AFK*: "Through Colors"

I was at the Smith Museum of Stained Glass Windows in Chicago's Navy Pier recently and took these photos:

 "Through Colors"

Images from the Smith Museum of Stained Glass Windows
Navy Pier, Chicago

 

View the FLICKR photo set
Museum link
Photos: © 2006 ABF All Rights Reserved

*Away From Keyboard

An acronym used in online chat, e-mail, and newsgroup postings. Also the name for this section of photos from weekend trips, meetups, safaris and other pixel moments from friends of Moleskinerie.com. To be featured, send us your images with captions.

Featured Artist: Cully

"Sketching as an activity has come and gone from my life several times
over the years. It seems when I am busiest, and most productive in my
professional art life, my sketching and private art also expands. (Or
perhaps it's the other way around.) The last time I had a serious
sketch habit was in art school, as an undergraduate. I studied
illustration there, but it was the figure drawing classes that really
got my creative juices flowing. I graduated from the School of Visual
Arts a few years ago, but soon found my focus switching from
illustration to theatre. I went back to school to get a masters degree
in theatrical design, but I no longer had much of a reason to draw the
human figure. Most of my art then and since has focused on architecture
and scenery. I missed figure drawing. I missed the challenge of trying
to capture a model. Her gesture, her expression, her personality. After
a while I really felt that I was lacking something important in my
work.

The old masters tell you that figure drawing is the basis for
everything that an artist does, and that all art is contained there. I
started looking for opportunities to draw people again. It didn't take
me long to realize that the subways offered me a perfect opportunity. I
spend an average of an hour a day on the train, and there's always an
interesting face close at hand. I started carrying a sketchbook and
trying to capture a little bit of something. It was actually a month or
more before I was brave enough to pull the book out of my bag. Very
quickly a few things established themselves: I didn't like sketching in
pencil on the train, and I needed a smaller book that was less
obtrusive. After some trial and error that led me to my current combo
of a ballpoint pen, and a 3x5 Moleskine. It took me a little while to
adjust to the rocking of the train, and to learn how to pick a model
that wasn't getting off in one or two more stops. Now I do an average
of 3 to 5 drawings a week on the train and I'm close to filling my
third Moleskine with subway sketches. It's been the perfect compliment
to my professional work and has helped me relearn some of my drawing
basics.

Cully

View his works on FLICKR.
Visit his website, "Child of Atom"

© 2006 All Rights Reserved. Used with permission.
...

Discover and join the Moleskine communities at MYSPACE, FLICKR, ORKUT, SQUIDOO, LIVEJOURNAL & GOOGLEGROUPS.
...

JC in Vienna shares this quote:

"Each of us has a private world, and the only difference between the reader and the writer is that the writer has the ability to describe and dramatize that private world. As a writer, I write to see. If I knew how it would end, I wouldn't write. It's a process of discovery."

- John McGahern
...
Kudos to Arnault, Carlos and the rest of the WorkingUnit crew for the successful  "My Moleskine" exhibition in Kansai, Japan.

Have a nice weekend everyone. Get out, have a life - and write about it! Be back on Monday.