New Year, New Goals

As the new year approaches, I've been thinking about what goals I want to set for my work in the coming year (I'm going to avoid the depressing subject of personal goals, that ever-receding horizon filled with good intentions :) .

At the end of each year I like to take an afternoon and go out for a cup of coffee and just sit and think a bit about what I'd like to do in the coming year. I take my notebook and make notes and drawings, not always with the intent of accomplishing specific goals, but to spend some time daydreaming and thinking about possibilities.

Two things I'm already thinking about--

Leather. I really like making those leather journal/sketchbooks that I do for my Etsy store, so this year I'm going to have fun making more moon journals, and I just got a new book on medieval leather bindings, so I'm looking forward to working on a few new medieval-style designs.

Wood. One thing I really want to do this year is to set aside some time to make experimental books, just to explore the possibilities for book making. I'm intrigued by the idea of making books that don't have conventional texts, where instead the book itself is the text. I recently bought a couple of nice pieces of mahogany, a book on how to stitch Coptic headbands, and a severely falling-apart early nineteenth-century book of Jesuit writings in Latin. Somehow, I want to combine those things. We'll see what happens.

To all of the wonderful new friends I've met through this blog, I wish you a very happy New Year! Do you have any daydreams for the coming year?