Sunday Sketchbook

Happy Sunday morning from the Promises Promises studio, each week I’m sharing a few things from my sketchbook that have interested and inspired me. This week I’ve chosen a free online archive, some ideas on how to sort the world out and my latest inspiring instagram find.

Isamu Noguchi Archive

This stunning playground design is by twentieth century Japanese American artist Isamu Noguchi, if you’d like to see more of his work, his estate has digitised his archive and it’s all available to view online for free. Check out the archive here the link is set to land one of my favourites!

Alternative Hedonism

My work always reflects what is going on in my life so my sketch book is always full of ideas as well as visual references. Kate Soper’s book Post Growth Living: For an alternative hedonism outlines how changing what we value could help create a happier, more equal and environmentally sound future. Find the book here or read how her theory relates to the fallout from Covid 19 here.

Imagined Realities

I’ve always found maps incredibly interesting, there’s something about the messiness of the world reimagined and reformed onto paper that says a lot about human nature. If like me, you’ve been walking a lot in the past year you may have become familiar with the contours and footpaths of the ordinance survey map, trying and sometimes failing to match them up with what’s in front of you. The instagram account act of mapping calls itself a ‘platform for imagined realities’ check out their archive of contemporary mapping here.

From The Studio

This week in the studio I’ve been experimenting making props for my photoshoots. This is a jesmonite cast of a piece of wood, the texture came out so well! I’ve been experimenting with acid dipping the stone rather than sanding it so interesting textures may well be a feature of the new collection too!