Introducing Flying Books
In the beginning, there is always a small blank notebook.
To become a sketchbook, it fills with drawings, painting, collage, writing and miscellaneous flat things.
To become a Flying Book, it is shared around. Passing from person to person, the book fills up page by page.
There are over a hundred Flying Books at present - some are full, others ongoing, some have just started.
Since 2005 when the first of these books was begun, several hundred people of all ages – artists and non-artists – have joined in the project.
Each sketchbook has a different theme, some of which you can see here:
- Book of Insects
- Book of How Things Work
- Book of Grey Areas
- Book of Hands
- Book of Red
- Book of Seeds
- Book of Death
- Book of Circles
- Book of Growing Things
- Book of Mistakes
- Book of Walls
- Book of Sounds
- Book of Words
- Book of Cities
- Book of War
They are packed up into Flying Book Cases and often on the road, although their origins are in Brighton; the project was set up by Clare Nias, artist and art tutor.
The Flying Books project grew out of courses and workshops run by Clare Nias on the theme of Sketchbooks.
Events linked to Flying Books and involving shared sketchbooks include:
The Brunswick Festival Community Sketchbook
Brighton Car Boot Sketchbook
Cornerstone Community Centre: classes and workshops
Phoenix Arts classes and workshops
Red Herring Open Studios
City College Brighton and Hove Connaught Centre
Brighton Festival Open Houses
The Sussex Beacon
‘Take a Walk in My Shoes’: a project for looked after children
Friends Centre Adult Ed Courses and Workshops
The Big Draw 2010: West Sussex
To find out about Flying Book project events, courses and workshops, email Clare on cn@cnias.co.uk