Sows ears and silk purses

Some of the sketchbooks I've filled over the years have become treasures. Turning the pages is almost like looking through an old photo album with each page, doodle or drawing evoking memories and reminding me of where I once was. Occasionally I peruse these sketchbooks and find inspiration for my current or future work. Of course, there are also sketchbooks that hold very little in the way of inspiration or pleasant memories. Let's face it. All artists go through dry, uninspired, rusty, dusty spells and the sketchbooks from those periods are usually less satisfying, (embarrassing almost) and thus filed away on a bookshelf. But, I believe it's good to peruse those less satisfying doodles as well, if nothing else than to remind myself that if I keep at it, I will reach the other side of that dry spell. I've been mostly dissatisfied with the content of my current sketchbook and have just a few blank pages left. The easiest course would be to fill the last page and place sketch journal on the far reaches of my bookshelf and start anew with a fresh sketch journal. However, my dissatisfaction has been so great, so compelling, I decided to take a different tack. Instead I'm trying to turn this less than satisfying sketchbook into one of my treasures. I've been drawing on the backsides of some pages and drawing on top of incomplete and/or embarrassing doodles. Some of the results I've found intriguing. In particular the "conjoined" sketches. I've always been drawn to multiples and there is something fascinating to me about these women/girls who are now living their lives on top of, entwined with, inside of, each other. This has been a good exercise and each day this once dissatisfying sketchbook is looking more like one of my treasures.

Conjoined 4

Conjoined 5