Venice
This is the story of a special handmade sketchbook purchased in Venice.
In May 2007 Susan and I were in Venice with some friends for several days. It was an inspirational trip for several reasons. One of the highlights was seeing a wonderful exhibition of John Singer Sargent watercolours of Venice. Another was a visit to a small local shop called Il Mercante Veneziano that sold beautifully made sketchbooks and journals. I’m a sucker for both. I bought a small lined notebook and asked the gentleman who made the books if he would make me a bespoke leather bound sketchbook containing sheets of Amalfi watercolour paper 14″ x 10″. He said it would take a few days, but true to his word I was able to collect it for €52.
I’m so pleased to have another hand made travel Journal which my sister bought for me when she was in Venice on her honeymoon in 2000. In this journal I have an entry for the purchase of this handmade sketchbook containing a business card for Il Mercante Veneziano and details of the purchase.
Amalfi
The small note book was purchased for the specific purpose of writing ideas, text, events and dates to accompany watercolours that I would paint in the larger bespoke sketchbook containing the Amalfi paper. My initial idea was to paint a watercolour that represented each year that my wife Susan have known each other. The painting would depict a scene from a trip that would help describe the personal and business journey we’ve been on since 1990.
Relevant text relating to the subject would be handwritten alongside the painting with an appropriate Bible verse.
“Commit your works to the LORD, and your thoughts will be established”. Proverbs 16:3
I gave myself a realistic goal of painting one watercolour a week starting from 21st August 2007. One of the watercolours was of the Colosseum in Rome. I’d painted a similar version on a sheet of Amalfi paper that was given to me by a worker at the Amalfi Museum in 2003.
I was able to complete all the paintings by December 2007 but never made a start on the text. However I was able to present the book to Susan as a Christmas present that year with a handmade sketchbook. It contained 18 watercolours that represented all the years we had been together at that point.
Nineteen years later and I’m left with an incomplete project, another nineteen paintings to do and an ongoing story to tell. I’ve decided to bring this to completion by writing a blog post about each painting in the first handmade sketchbook from Venice. Some of the blog content will go into the first sketchbook. I’m also going to make my own handmade sketchbook containing watercolour paper. I’m intending to paint a watercolour in this one for each year from 2008 to 2026 describing our journey.