Janet & Bari’s Year of Creative Synergy

Dear Everyone ~

Janet Bouldin is an artist whose name some of you will recognize. Last month, I debuted her most recent series of watercolour postcards, Daily Domesticity and Trio of Bouquets, which you can read about here. She also illustrated the Glimpses & Whimsies of Bari Zaki Studio postcard set, which you can read about here, and the sheaflet for the More Art of the Hand-folded Envelope kit, which debuted on Valentines Day 2021. You can read about that here. Today, I want to share with you Janet’s & my sketchbook exchange over the last 12 months: our year of creative synergy.

First a bit of background: In the summer of 2019, we sent each other a postcard (sometimes two) every day. It was invigorating to build a steady stream of sending & receiving mail on a daily basis! It kept both of our creative flows flowing, and our friendship blossoming. Janet has become one of my most prolific & prized correspondents.

We have always shared with each other what’s going on in our sketchbooks. (It’s become a ritual that we now refer to simply as show & tell.) In November of 2020, I decided to “formalize” our habit, and I began drawing in a sketchbook just as I normally do, taping a few inspirations to the inside front cover, then skipping the first page and starting to draw on the second…. I then presented it to Janet to fill the next page or two, along with a fresh sketchbook for her to begin to draw in. Then each time we met, we’d swap. Most times, we’d have each filled at least two or three pages. I hadn’t counted the number of pages in each book, nor given much thought to when we’d get to the last page. It was more about the process, the exchange, and the creative connection. We used a pair of vintage books I had unbound & rebound with warm white Hahnemühle pages: Best Plays by Chekhov and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. There was something so utterly satisfying about seeing the books begin to pooch with the puckering of Janet’s watercolours and the layers of my painted paper collages.

Janet’s art practice has really taken flight since her retirement from teaching English. And she definitely hasn’t lost her knack for clear self-expression. Here are a handful of her thoughts about her drawing practice and our sketchbook exchange.

“ I have discovered that it’s easier than I expected to draw or make art every day. And that the more I draw every day, the deeper is my relaxation whilst I’m doing it, as well as more lingering effects (new ideas, more comfort), and the more I want to do it. ”

“ Thinking about the gentle nudge of the journals, remembering instead that I decided it was more of a welcome. If I didn’t know exactly which direction to turn in on a given day, the journal beckoned in a non-judgmental way and often became a stepping stone as well as a place to start or a place to end up. ”

“ As we were nearing the end of our first sketchbooks, and before we’d even decided on what the second round would contain, I realized that I can’t imagine being without this exchange. I would be bereft, I know. It’s become a wonderful, creative, supportive subtext to our deeply appreciated friendship. It’s a little magical, almost. May we fill shelves with them! ”

“ Seeing your work is inspiring, and it also inspires me to know that you’ll be seeing—without judgment, with appreciation—mine. The surprise and delight for me are never ending. ”

We’ve decided to have a theme for one of our next pair of sketchbooks: teacups. The other we will surrender to serendipity. I started the Serizawa (March) soft-cover Coptic stitch book, and Janet started the buttonhole-stitch book covered in Cambridge Imprint Starry Papers. Here is how they are shaping up. And we are mulling & musing about scanning some of our pages and making them into a set of postcards for the shop.