Sadness

7/20/2011 05:17:00 PM Posted In , , Edit This 18 Comments »
I can't tell you how sad I am that Border's Books is being liquidated.  We've been going to their bookstores for decades - mostly to their flagship store in Ann Arbor.  We've watched with dismay as they made changes in their inventory.  It used to be that when you went into the store there were thousands and thousands of books covering all manner of subjects.  Browsing was such a pleasure, and we always left with several books apiece.  In spite of the changes (most of them not for the better as customers, but we understood them from a business point of view) we continued to be loyal customers.... which won't stop until our store is closed.

I was in one of their stores yesterday and bought a couple of books.  One of them is called Keys to Drawing With Imagination by Bert Dodson.  I was fascinated by the cover - such an unusual view with great, wonderful, detail.  It's a hardcover with a spiral binding, so it lays flat.  It contains the work of many artists, and is a series of exercises designed to help improve one's drawing skills starting from the ground up.  I decided to start at the beginning and work my way thru.  The first exercise is called Doodling and Noodling.  The doodle is just a continuous line that ends where it started.  The noodle is adding things to it.  So, here is my first lesson - some of my additions were the ones suggested in the book, but not all of them.  It's similar to Zen Tangling, except instead of using a variety of patterns, only one is used. 

I included a picture of the cover so you could get an idea of what drew me to this book!


                                                      

18 comments:

Vicki Holdwick said...

Hi Nancy,

That looks like fun and that book looks familiar. I wonder if I've borrowed it from the library.

xoxo

Julie Jordan Scott said...

When the Borders closed here in Bakersfield, I got a lot of good stuff for inexpensive prices and my friend got awesome shelves. He has quite a library and it looks so professional now.

I love books ~ always sad to see bookstores close.

Carolyn said...

This is such sad news.

Carolyn said...

The computer interrupted this post - at least I like to blame the computer but I probably had something to do with it...
I have such fond memories of browsing for new books with my kids in Borders. Several years ago the ones near us closed - I had my fingers crossed they'd pull through. It does look like you found a great book!

Deborah said...

I like the doodling and noodling, looks like lots of fun.

Cathy Holtom said...

The cover & title would have caught my attention too!

Sandra said...

I agree. It's sad to see that Border's will be closing.

Shirley said...

I've had that book on my shelf for a long time and you inspired me to get it down and start to play. I am still bogged down in his other drawing book, but it is time to move on with both. This will be a great project for the Fall.

Anonymous said...

Also sad that Borders has gone. A bookish friend and I used to meet at one of their big stores, have a coffee and a chat, and then spend ages browsing and buying way too much. The book you found looks really interesting - not come across that one before, but will look out for it now :)
Sue

Joan said...

Oh so sad when any book store closes...there are several in our city, one less than 3 mi. from my house.
Directly across the street is a B&N book store where I meet with my friends to browse the books, mags, and knit in the Starbucks coffee shop inside. So we still have a bookstore in the neighborhood, let's just hope they don't close their doors.

I've loved books my entire life, an avid reader. So this is very sad news indeed.

Dan Kent said...

I walked into a Borders yesterday, and immediately was struck by the calm atmosphere, and the feel of books all around me. It is a shame that things must change, sometimes..I saw a book there I am interested in. So I wrote down the title so I could check prices online. This is the problem, I think.

kazumiwannabe said...

Losing a good book store is a sad thing, in my book too! Where I live there's no big book store, only small ones - I have to drive two hours to find a big one. I have amazon.fr but it's not the same as touching and browsing through books.
The art book you bought sounds cool, and your zentangles look great!

Alex said...

Yeah I read about Borders some day ago, and eventhough I don't go there often(there isn't any branch here where I live), but there was one in Malaysia where I used to go and hunt for rare titles.
The drawings are so cool nancy, love the fluid style and patterns.
Thanks for your comments =)

carol l mckenna said...

Very creative and playful drawings ~ fun!

Hope you will come visit my blogs (following from Creative Everyday) ~ A Creative Harbor and Share the Creative Journey, thanks ^_^

Kat W said...

Borders closed here in the UK last year - it was sad to see empty abandoned shops when we visited London.

This book sounds very good - thanks for the recommendation.

Kat :-)

Clare said...

And they say, 'Don't judge a book by it's cover'! Just as well you did. Love your doodle, noodle exercises. Australian Borders are all closing too.

Sara Light-Waller said...

Drawing with Imagination is a great book! I use it periodically whenever I'm feeling stuck. The exercises in it always make me feel free and happy. In fact, if I had more time, I would do them much more frequently. :-) But I am sad about Borders too. I'll miss them.

Self Sagacity said...

Passionate about this too. I thought these stores are economy proof, I guess it's the electronic age. People don't like to carry around a book.