A Record of Attention
Years ago I went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York because I wanted to see the John Singer Sargent paintings.
I spent two entire days there and was definitely captivated by the Sargents, but some of my biggest takeaways came from the museum bookstore.
Not only did I discover Strapless, a book I've recommended again and again to friends and colleagues, but I also found a small book that quietly changed my artistic practice.
It was Drawn on the Way by Sarah Nisbett.
The premise was wonderfully simple: carry a sketchbook and pen with you and draw whatever you happen to see, whenever you have a few minutes available.
Not masterpieces.
Not portfolio pieces.
Just observations.
In some ways it reminded me of the drawings I used to fill notebooks and margins with during school, something I had somehow stopped doing as an adult.
Reading the book gave me permission to return to that practice.
I bought a few inexpensive pocket sketchbooks, tucked one into my bag alongside a pen, and began.
The practice fit naturally with the way I was already using photography as a way of paying attention to and studying the world around me.
I first really up this into practice on a train ride to Virginia. I drew whatever happened to be nearby: my foot, someone else's hand holding a phone, an advertisement for a park production of Hamlet.
Later there were potted plants, strawberries, chairs, leaves, coffee cups, and countless other small observations that caught my attention long enough to deserve a few minutes of drawing.
Eventually those little sketchbooks became the basis for a drawing game I invented to entertain my children in restaurants, waiting rooms, and while traveling together.
I still have those little booklets.
Looking back through them now, it isn't the imperfect or unfinished drawings that stand out to me most.
I remember where I was.
I remember what I was waiting for.
I remember who I was with.
Those small booklets became something more than sketchbooks.
They became a record of attention, evidence of a practice of noticing and the memories that practice preserved.
Resources Mentioned:
Drawn on the Way by Sarah Nesbitt
Pocket sketchbooks
Fountain pen
Continue Exploring:
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Related Gallery · Everyday Gallery
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