I finished my tiny sketchbook the morning of the 14th February – St Valentine’s Day, though instead of a bunch of red roses I was gifted with a paint and varnish scraper.

I drove into town to post my book off to New York that afternoon. I was relieved it fit back into the tiny envelope it came in, as the eco printing process swells the paper. For once, I wasn’t racing right up to the deadline; there was still a whole 24 hours remaining.

There were themes to choose from in undertaking this project. I chose Tiny Maps (well, I would, wouldn’t I?) And I called the sketchbook, Tiny Maps of  Trees. Appropriate, as the eco prints were of leaves and as in the leaf, so in the tree.

Which is an adulteration of a quote As it is above, so it is below; or:  As above, so below, derived from a passage in the Emerald Tablet (attributed to Hermes Trismegistus or Pseudo-Apollonius of Tyana). I’ve already written about my friend Hermes. It’s near the end of the blog post so you can skid past the first bit about the ghost-infested fridge.

I’ve added a description of Tiny Maps of Trees to my personal page at The Sketchbook Project.  Here’s the final paragraph:

Just as there are no two leaves alike, there are no two people alike; under pressure, one individual will react differently to another. So the leaf is also a metaphor. My ‘Little Maps of Trees’ can also stand for ‘Little Maps of People’. A tree cannot stay healthy without its specific, individual leaves; society cannot stay healthy without its specific, individual people.

I’ve made a slideshow of Tiny Maps of Trees.  It’s on my art web site:  www.annisikartworks.com

Make yourself a nice cup of tea or coffee and a chocolate biscuit or twenty and enjoy.