Hello and a special welcome to new subscribers and followers. My name is Fiona and I live on the Isle of Arran, off the west coast of Scotland. I am a mixed media artist who has very recently retired from exhibiting and my role as a community artist on the island.
I find myself with a lot more time so it all feels a little self indulgent and, thus, takes a wee bit of getting used to. To calm my nerves and help me ease into this new phase of my life I have contemplating what I enjoy making the most. Regular readers will know about my passion for postcards but I can go much smaller than that! This thinking is well timed as one of the shops on the island has just opened a tiny gallery in the doorway to their shop which is designed for folk to take a piece free of charge or even swap. I love community ideas like that. I am in the process of making some brand new bookmarks with one being destined for the tiny gallery. For years I have printed my own bookmarks from sketchbook and art journal pages and I have loved that process and I have a lovely following over on my Etsy store.
However, now I have more time I would like to make my bookmarks as one off pieces of art in their own right. Making small often leads to larger projects but in the new era this doesn’t have to be the case. I can just make small. What fun. Last year my final exhibition was ‘a library of bookmarks’ for our island library. I made them by cutting up sketchbook and journal pages.
Making bookmarks is a joyful activity available to all of us. I obviously sell some of mine but I also gift them as well. Sometimes I will make a small batch and send them out to friends or family members so that they arrive in the post unexpectantly because I think that is a nice thing to do. We should never underestimate the power of something lovely arriving in the post out of the blue. It has the capactiy to lift folk and, I think, in the modern world that is more and more important.
As you know I am very influenced by the shifting seasons and I like to switch up my bookmarks to reflect that. I have attached four bookmarks ready to print if, like me, you love seasonal reading.
Each bookmark is created from one of my art journal pages. I hope they are useful. Do feel free to share. Let us spread the love of bookmarks! Until next time,
Fiona xx
About the author
I am a mixed media artist living on the Isle of Arran in Scotland. Here on Substack I write free content weekly focusing on seasonal creativity. I also run a paid subscription. The Stillness Studio focused on the relationship between creativity and the meditative mind. It will bring together my two teaching areas into one place and we shall wander along together working on creative tasks that speak well to the meditative mind. This, in turn, speaks well to our sense of physical and mental wellness.
These are the most beautiful bookmarks Fiona! You are a talented artist with a generous heart. I’ve never been to your Etsy shop so I’m heading that way! Thank you for the bookmarks!
Thank you so much for the beautiful bookmarks. They will be treasured.