In the last few days, I was off into the city to see Henri Matisse' exhibition. It was a brilliant - and massive - showing of all of his drawings and some of his paintings. However, I have found that I buy bookmarks whenever I go into the city; no matter what I see. I love these things.
I have bookmarks from all over the world; when I never used to. And how my large collection started out is a cool story and a very arty one too. I had a great idea for a piece of work concerning books and art but I needed bookmarks... so I dug up all of my bookmark; all 10 of them. I needed more. So, I jumped onto Bookcrossing and requested the most unusual request to my friends on there: I needed their old bookmarks, their unused bookmarks, the bookmarks that have never been used and would love to travel to a faraway country. Over the next three or four months, I received hundreds of envelopes and parcels chock full of bookmarks! And I also worked on getting them into some kind of order. Six months or so after I had requested the bookmarks, I had worked really hard on the piece of artwork - and finished it... put on the perspex and then I fixed it up and photographed it; ready to show my friends on Bookcrossing. They were impressed with what had happened to their bookmarks. And the best thing was that I had plenty left over as gifts. I now have a large collection of them which I used whenever I need to.
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| From the Andy Warhole Exhibition in 2010 |
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| From Leonardo Da Vinci Exhibition at Southbank 2010 |
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| The remaining bookmarks from my 2008 bookmark request on Bookcrossing. |
However, I do buy more when I go to an exhibition in the city. I bought some at the Andy Warhole Exhibition in 2010; as well as a few other little things. Then, I bought some at the Leonardo Da Vinci Exhibition when it visited Brisbane (and what an exhibition that was!). And this year, I bought more bookmarks at the Henri Matisse Exhibition. And I buy these bookmarks as souvenirs to remember their visits; as most of the time, the other things in the gift stores are far too expensive.
So, when you go out to these kinds of things, do you buy bookmarks as souvenirs? Or is it other things that catch your eye? Do you purchase souvenir buttons or maybe a pen (and you've got hundreds of pens compared to my bookmarks). Until my next post, happy reading! 
I buy bookmarks on occasion when I've attend certain museums. I also grab the freebie bookmarks made by bookstores when I purchase books from their store.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I collect postcards the most and have been doing so since I was about 8 or 10 years old. Everywhere I visit I pick up postcards. I've received postcards from family and friends who have visited far off places as well. Postcards are fun, inexpensive souvenirs that don't take up much space and are great reminders of the places you've been.
Postcards are always fun. Mum and Dad send me postcards when they go on holidays - even for a weekend - and I enjoy it when they arrive in my PO Box.
DeleteHowever, I do love picking up free ones from bookstores as well. The ones I buy from art exhibitions are unique and I rarely give them away; so I get in and use them. As you can see from the Andy Warhole ones, I've used them a fair bit but I do love them. :D