My Moleskine and Parker addiction

I have a couple of brand names I'm absolutely crazy about - two of them are Moleskine Notebooks and Parker Pens. There is nothing more satisfying than jotting down notes or making sketches in one of the incredible Moleskine note books with an incredible Parker pen or pencil. The inter-action between pen and paper inspires the senses like no other for me and creativity seems to spring forth like a fountain.

Just packing all my Moleskine Notebooks in a certain order on the shelf gets my creative juices flowing and can lead to re-decoration of the whole room to display them more prominently or spark an idea for the next sketch.

A Parker Esprit pencil sketch in one of my Moleskine notebooks

I got my first Moleskine in 2005 when I commented on a family member's lovely note book (her name is Antoinette) and she duly pulled a new one out of her handbag and presented it to me as a gift. I've been hooked ever since! It goes everywhere with me and although I am also a total technology and gadget freak, nothing satisfies like putting pen to paper.

"A man's penmanship is an unfailing index of his character, moral and mental, and a criterion by which to judge his peculiarities of taste and sentiments." 

-- 4th Earl of Chesterfield, Philip Dormer Stanhope, in "Letters to His Son by the Earl of Chesterfield on the Fine Art of Becoming a Man of the World"

Moleskine is the legendary notebook used by European artists and thinkers for the past two centuries, from Van Gogh to Picasso, from Ernest Hemingway to Bruce Chatwin. The notebooks come in various colours (I prefer the black, and it's leather bound to boot) and sizes and have a bound cover with rounded corners and an elastic closure. An expandable inner pocket made of cardboard and cloth in the back of the note book contains the Moleskine history. It's such a nifty idea, I sometimes even put a couple of ten rand notes in there in case I need a cold drink on one of my walks. The acid free paper pages are thread bound. The various formats come as ruled, squared, plain, address book, sketchbook, memo pockets, info book, storyboard notebook, Japanese Album, music notebook and water colour notebook. Needless to say, I have several of each!

Some of my Moleskine sketch and note books ...

I use my Moleskine note books for various applications - sketching in pencil or ink, to-do-lists, water colour paintings, one for notes on what my students will be doing in their next art class, I use one as a Gratitude Journal (jotting my daily gratitudes), one for my inner-most thoughts (carefully hidden from prying eyes!) and a few more for whatever...

Some watercolour sketches from my Moleskine sketch books. The sketch books contain 200gsm watercolour pages - size 8" x 5" :

W&N watercolour

Black ink Parker pen sketch in Moleskine 200gsm sketch book
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W&N watercolour and acrylic in Moleskine 200gsm sketch book

As for Parker pens - fountain, ball point and pencils - these are all neatly lined up in various boxes - some cardboard, some silver with velvet lining, some clear, brightly-coloured modern plastic or metal - and sorted into categories of black, gold, stainless steel, different sizes of pencil leads, etc. (do I detect a bit of OCB here?) A new acquisition sparks un-packing and re-packing of the collection and normally leads to starting a new to-do-list (just to 'try out' the pen!) and a couple of sketches.

My love affair with Parker pens started when I was 7, when my father gave me a Stainless Steel Parker pen as a birthday present. This was followed by a request for a pen or pencil every birthday, but money wasn't full up in those days and my collection grew slowly. After college, way back in 1966, as soon as I got my first pay cheque, a Parker was at the top of the list of "must have's". It was a beautiful, plain Stainless steel Parker, which ate up a big chunk of my salary, and which was my favourite for many years, but unfortunately got stolen about 4 years ago. I wish that person as many happy writing hours as I had with it.

I found this quote on the internet : "There is a fine line between dreams and reality; it's up to you to draw it."

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Sunrise over No. 84

W&N watercolour and ink sketch in Moleskine 200gsm sketch-book

Sunrise over our smallholding in Tarlton, Gauteng, South Africa. We lived on this particular smallholding for 13 years, and many mornings, weather permitting, I would exit my garden gate and walk around the tall wall surrounding our house to catch a glimpse of the sunrise. Luckily the sunset was visible from my garden and I would often sit on my patio watching the sun setting and listen to the birds getting ready for the night.

You got this

 

"Surround yourself with supportive people"

No matter what you're going through, you don't have to do it alone. You might think you have to, heck, you might even prefer to, but if you want to come out fairly unscathed on this other side, leaning on somebody or asking for help feels so good that recovery will happen sooner than you hoped.

Ink sketch and watercolour in Moleskine 200gsm sketchbook.

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Plant and care for trees

It's the end of another year and even after living here at the coast (KwaZulu Natal, South Africa) for the past 3 years, I'm still longing for my Highveld trees. Blue gums, Black Wattles, Cussonia, Celtis, Karee, Jacaranda and even the Syringa -- none of which can be seen along the coast. But they are etched deep into my memory and I will be digging deep every now and then when the longing gets very strong.

"Plant and care for Trees" - W&N watercolour in Moleskine 200gsm watercolour sketch-book

Trees combat climate change. Trees clean the air. Trees provide oxygen. Trees help prevent water pollution. Trees provide a canopy and habitat for wildlife. Trees help prevent soil erosion.

How many more reasons do you need?

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Bushveld tranquility

Artline200 Fine-point Black ink pen and W&N watercolour in my Moleskine 200gsm Nature Journal

Since moving to the North Coast of KZN from Gauteng, I have these flash-backs of bushveld life. I try not to live in the past, but let's face it, spending 70 years of your life in a bushveld area is not to be sneezed at. I really do miss fields of waving savannah, Highveld trees and all the animals and insects that make their home there. 

The sketch above is a memory of long summer days spent fishing with my father when I was a kid and just generally revelling in a summer in the Bushveld.

The Limpopo river, the second largest river in Africa, flows in a great arc, first zig-zagging north and then north-east, then turning east and finally south-east. Then it serves as a border for about 640 kilometers (398 mi), separating South Africa to the south-east from Botswana to the north-west and Zimbabwe to the north. There are several rapids as the river falls off Southern Africa’s inland escarpment. In fact where the Marico River and the Crocodile River join the name changes to Limpopo River. The waters of the Limpopo flow sluggishly, with considerable silt content. Rainfall is seasonal and unreliable: in dry years, the upper parts of the river flow for 40 days or less.
- Info Wikipedia

Echeveria imbricata

Ink sketch and watercolour in Moleskine Watercolour sketch-book – 8″ × 5″

I’m absolutely mad about Echeverias and have a small section in my garden set aside just for them. My collection started off in the late 70’s when my father gave me three rosettes in a pot, which I transplanted into a rockery and soon they covered the whole area. Since then I have given away hundreds to friends, the geese got out of the pond area and made a hearty meal of them and they’ve survived many of the severe frosts we get in our area.

Autumn reds

Black ink sketch with colour wash in Moleskine 200gsm watercolour sketch-book

Autumn – The colourful month of May filled with red daisies and orange leaves.

Spring splendour

Black ink sketch with colourwash in Moleskine 200gsm watercolour sketch-book

It is somehow extremely satisfying doodling with ink and colour!

Spring is always a celebration of new light green leaves on the Celtis africana (Stinkwood tree) and sunny Euryops daisies.

Daisy love in Spring

Watercolour in my Moleskine 200gsm watercolour paper Nature Journal 

FLOWERS ARE ONE OF THE GREATEST INSPIRATIONS FROM NATURE!

Every Spring I revel in the masses of daisies that appear in one corner of my garden – no matter how cold the Winter has been, they’re the first to welcome the warmer weather with their beautiful colours!

Summer Cosmos

Black ink sketch and colour wash in Moleskine 200gsm watercolour sketch-book.

Summer goes hand in hand with fields of Cosmos flowers every November to March, covering the landscape in pinks, cerises and purples.

A scene at my pond

W&N watercolour in Moleskine 200gsm watercolour sketchbook

I have this bit of Celtis forest (Celtis africana - White Stinkwood) at my wildlife pond and it's my favourite pastime to sit under the thatch umbrella and sketch part of the scenery. A few weeks ago the bare trees were just beginning to sport green leaves. This is also the area where Torti, my Leopard Tortoise, used to live before I relocated her to her new home at the Krugersdorp Game Reserve.

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Short-cut through Spring Farm

 W&N watercolour in Moleskine 200gsm watercolour sketch-book

Often, when I go to Magaliesburg (Gauteng, South Africa), I take this short-cut through Spring Farm past the little dam. It’s a gravel road, forcing one to travel slower and take in the scenery and I often have tortoises, hedgehogs, guinea fowl and small buck crossing my path. I much prefer it to the quicker route along the main tar road.

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Autumn - wonderful time of the year!

A small W&N watercolour in Moleskine 200gsm watercolour sketch-book

Autumn (fall) in South Africa (mid-February to April) offers the best weather of the year. Very little rain falls over the whole country, and it is warm but not too hot, getting colder as the season progresses. In Gauteng, autumn is fantastic, with hot sunny days, blue skies and warm, balmy nights.

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No. 52

The 52nd sketch in one my Moleskine 200gsm sketch-book - 8" x 5" (21cm x 12cm).

I have several Moleskine watercolour sketchbooks in this size and then I have a few that are A4 size (12" x 8") - the 200gsm paper is lovely to work with and doesn't bleed through to the back at all.

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No. 53

The 53rd sketch in my Moleskine 200gsm sketch-book - 8" x 5" (21cm x 12cm).

I just love these small Moleskine watercolour sketch-books. They have lovely 200gsm paper and are so easy to pack and are great for pencil, pen or watercolours.

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Winter in Summer

“When you are older, you realise that everything else is just nothing compared to painting and drawing.”
— David Hockney

W&N watercolour in my Moleskine 200gsm nature sketchbook

Just as we thought winter had finally ended, we had freezing weather come up from the Cape with temperatures dropping to 12℃. That was on Saturday. Today it's starting to return to normal with beautiful sunshine and no wind. Nature certainly can be unpredictable...

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Country Diary - Pay it Forward

A daily practice of sketching and painting gives you a chance to exercise the big three P's - practice, practice, practice!

Ink, wash and collage in my Moleskine 200gsm "Country Diary"

When we open ourselves to the natural world, we escape the fast-paced bustle of our daily lives. That experience, not only reduces our stress, it also grounds us, reaffirming our connection to the Earth and all its creatures.

We need the tonic of wildness… We can never have enough of nature… We need to witness our own limits transgressed, and some life pasturing freely where we never wander.
- Henry David Thoreau

This is the third in the series Country Diary, which consists of paintings, sketches and collages depicting nature, rural and farm life.

Burning Desire

“When you discover your mission, you will feel its demand. It will fill you with enthusiasm and a burning desire to get to work on it.”
- W. Clement Stone (American best selling Author - 1902-2002)

A daily practice of sketching and painting gives you a chance to exercise the big three P's - practice, practice, practice!

W&N Watercolour in Moleskine 200gsm Folio watercolour sketch-book - 12" x 8"

Sometimes my work is inspired by a sight or sound, sometimes by a few words. Here I was testing out how the colours flow on my new Moleskine sketch-book's paper and it turned into a bit of an abstract exercise. I very rarely do abstracts, even in acrylics or oils, but I might just try a few more!

Country Diary - Buyers' Corner

“Art is not a thing; it is a way.”
- Elbert Hubbard

Ink and wash and collage in my Moleskine 200gsm "Country Diary"

I started a Country Diary a while ago, which consists of paintings, sketches and collages depicting nature, rural and farm life. This is my first entry and I'll be posting a couple of them here, and it was a nice break from my regular landscapes and sketching. I'd forgotten how wonderful it feels to play again! This is one of my roosters, Artemis, and he actually makes quite a willing sketch subject, not minding standing quietly close-by as I sit and sketch in the garden.

I sometimes think I'd rather crow

And be a rooster than to roost

And be a crow. But I don't know.

A rooster he can roost also,

Which doesn't seem fair when crows can't crow.

Which may help some. But I don't know.

Crows should be glad of one thing, though;

Nobody thinks of eating crow,

While roosters they are good enough

For anyone unless they're tough.

There are lots of tough old roosters, though.

And anyway a crow can't crow,

So maybe roosters stand more show.

It looks that way. But I don't know.

~Unknown

Quacking and Squawking overhead

You cannot prevent the birds of sorrow from flying over your head, but you can prevent them from building nests in your hair.
- Chinese Proverb

A daily practice of sketching and painting gives you a chance to exercise the big three P's - practice, practice, practice!


Duck sketches in Moleskine Watercolour sketchbook 8" x 5.5"

As I was filling the bird feeders yesterday morning, I heard a terrible raucous and as I looked up, six ducks came flying over, quacking and chatting, sounding like a busy freeway in the sky. I managed to identify some South African Shell ducks and some Mallards. Peculiar that they were all flying together, but given the Mallard's tendency to mate with anything and anyone, it's probably not that surprising. But there again, what I thought was the Shell ducks might have been female Mallards.


Duck sketches in Moleskine Watercolour sketchbook 8" x 5.5"

This is done in my Moleskine Watercolour Sketchbook, which, when opened, is too long for the scanner to cover both pages, therefore the two pictures.