A Little Peek from Margaret...

of my artwork in Nina Johansson's book "Multitudes.

(click on images to enlarge)

A bit of zen like freedom...

A bit of calligraphy and color play...

...and a bit of the ancient southwest desert...
a step back in time to one of the first art exchanges ever! LOL :)

An artistic array of marks, colors, styles, and charm
fills Nina's little Maruman
"Multitude."
I don't want to let her go...
as that will finalize of my portion of our Maruman exchange.
But professionalism calls...and Multitude flies again.
I now will wait like the rest of our faithful fans
until
the last three books cross the deep blues seas
and safely arrive home.

"The Big Reveal..."

Of my COMPLETED Maruman sketchbook

"Journey" (Click on images to enlarge...)

I cannot wait until the rest of the Maruman sketchbooks
are completed and safely return home to their respective owners...
What joy and excitement they will bring!

Thank you Anita, and Nina, and Jennifer
for sharing your talent and your little corner of the world with me.
Personally...
this has just been the most wonderful,
liberating...
endearing and imaginative
artistic experience ever!

“Every production of an artist
should be the expression of an adventure of his soul.”
~William Somerset Maugham

PHOTO#1...ARTISTS' CREDITS:
Pages 1-6...Margaret Storer-Roche (Me)...Arizona U.S.A.
Pages 6-15...Nina Johansson...Sweden
Pages 16-20...Jennifer Lawson...Maine, U.S.A

PHOTO #2...ARTISTS' CREDITS:
Pages 21-22...Margaret Storer-Roche
Pages 22-26...Jennifer Lawson
Pages 27-35...Anita Davies...U.K.
Pages 36-37...Signature stamp "petals" of all 4 Artists
Pages 38-40...Margaret Storer Roche :)

"Anita's Artistic Gift..."

...in my book Journey!

What a delight to at last open my own book

and find all this beauty inside!

Thank You Anita!
(Click on images to enlarge)

"The greatest gift is a portion of thyself."
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

P.S.

I was so secretly hoping that Anita would paint one of her famous

English roses in my book...and she did! WooHoo!

She never disappoints! :)

Margaret´s pages in Transitions

These are Margaret´s beautiful pages in Jennifer´s book Transitions. It landed safely in Stockholm a week ago. I thought I´d photograph these pages, since scanning doesn´t quite give the whole width of the images that belong together, but Stockholm´s been gray and rainy, and I´ve been coming home later than usual from work, which means LIGHT for photographing has become an issue. Lamps just don´t do it. I gave up tonight, and scanned the pages paired up in twos instead. I hope you can imagine how they belong together.







Below, Margaret lets her drawing continue from Anita´s. This is what is so great about this project, you get to intertwine your drawings with the other participant´s artwork where you think it fits, and to me that´s incredibly inspiring.



As I´m sure you can imagine, flipping through this book is quite spectacular, and knowing that the pages left in it are for me to fill is a bit scary...

Journey's Last Journey

She's on her way home Margaret!

Nina's entries in Anita's Maruman

I haven't found any time to scan (as you know it is time consuming) Nina's beautiful pages in Anita's Maruman "A Taste of Home". I quickly took these photos, which are a little out of focus—sorry Nina.


Nina's painting of Stockholm which follows both Anita's and Margaret's pages.

Her sneakers and lamp follow, which leave me a few pages on this side for my taste of home...


Nina's living room which is followed by the books below and connects to Anita's teddy bear and her books which connects to Margaret's books and then it's my turn.


After I finish my pages it will go home to Anita.

I hope to scan these beautiful images after Thursday's move.

What A Journey

Yesterday morning I started a journey into Margaret's maruman.





As I went about my day; taking my eldest to cricket, washing 4 loads, taking a walk with Harry, cooking etc... Margaret's little book kept calling to me, like a magnet it drew me and before I knew it I had completed my pages.

Just the small section on the sign off page to complete and journey will be, once again, flying through the air.

I had such a great day with her!

Jennifer's Entries In Journey

How selfish of me to keep these beautiful paintings to myself for so long, sorry for the delay.
I shall delay no longer....These are Jennifer's entries into Margaret's maruman 'Journey'...

Mmmmmmm!

"DEPARTURE...!!!"

Jennifer's little Maruman, "Transistions", and I landed at Sky Harbor International airport in Arizona early this morning returning from northern Illinois and a month of midwest "adventure". Hence, after having endured a thorough photo/scanning session this evening, she and I both are looking forward to a well deserved rest tonight!

But...come the morning..."Transistions" will depart, yet again. This time she will be flying solo to visit a bit with Nina in Sweden before she finally, finally heads home to Jennifer. This little traveller certainly will have many "miles" of creative experiences tucked between her pages! The wonders she will have seen...Lucky, lucky book!

Below, are three little peeks of my 10 pages in Jennifer's book...

"Transitions", you have personally taught me a great deal...It has been a rewarding adventure exploring my imagination with you by my side!
Bon Voyage! :)

"ARRIVAL...!!!"

TODAY...HERE IN ARIZONA...
of Nina's gorgeous Maruman "Multitude"!
And do I ever mean GORGEOUS!!!

Here are full views of the pages added by Anita...
Now,
why not grab a quick "cuppa somethin'"...get super comfy...and
be prepared for great joy!
You can click on each image to enhance your viewing pleasure.

I wish each of you could hold one of these books in person...
to be able to soulfully breathe in the spirit of each artist...
to sense a bond of kinship with each
by simply cradling their imagination in your very own hands.
It is truly blissful and inspiring...and definitely humbling!

So, that being said...are you ready?

Okay...
Presenting...the "artistic brilliance" that is Anita...Ahhhh!

A taste of home leaving town

A peak of my pages in Anita´s Maruman, A taste of home. I´ve had fun with it. The book is going to USA now, to see a new home.

Journey is off to the Fens

Margaret's Maruman sketch book, "Journey ", has spent the past two weeks here in Maine. I have finished my entries and it is ready to go to Anita in the Fens, its last stop before returning home to Margaret in Arizona.



My first sailing experience. A week cruising downeast through the Penobscot Bay.

Late summer bouquet at the local farm stand near the beach. It's pick our own and as much as you can carry for $5.00 using a good old-fashioned honor system of cash placed in a slot. If you don't have enough money you come back later and pay what you owe. It's wonderful to know that this trust and good will still exist in the world.

My Multitude Peeks

I finished my pages in Nina's beautiful book 'Multitudes' some time ago, approaching it much like I did Jennifer's...by the seat of my pants and on the spur of the moment. I like the looseness and electricity that comes with no planning, it's daring and spontaneous...Exciting!
I'm holding off sending the book forward to Margaret until the end of the month, at her request, but thought I'd post some teasers for you now.

A long journey to Maine

Margaret's Maruman called "Journey" just arrived from Nina in Sweden. It was very fun to open the package and see such distinct and unique artistic styles and the different geographic locations that influence their work. Below are Nina's pages depicting her own journey this summer.






Now I have to get to work because this book has not finished it's journey.

A Taste of Home and Journey

An update from both "A Taste of Home" (Anita´s book) and "Journey".

These are the images that Margaret has made in Anita´s book, "A Taste of Home". I am afraid the circumstances around taking these photos weren´t the best to show the fantastic colours in these pages, but I didn´t want to keep you waiting any longer, so I decided NOT to wait until tomorrow or the day after to have the opportunity to photograph in daylight. I think you can still get a good glimpse here.






And then a sneak preview of my work in Margaret´s "Journey". This book went on a journey with me, 700 kilometers north in Sweden and then back to Stockholm again.

"Journey" is now on it´s way to Jennifer in the US!