Sketchbooks

In Bangkok, before Geert flew to Katmandu, he was able to purchase these large square sketchbooks in an art supplies store. He bought a few of these, some notebooks, and inks.

Geert used the old ‘face’ of the sketchbooks in a retro design for ‘Black Tea, No Sugar’. Also in a square format but a little larger. The small note book has its pages made of rice paper, and he used it for poems, and deeper reflective notes. Having been in these high mountains temporarily changed him. Geert remembers sitting up in the Annapurna Basecamp and looking at climbing expeditions who were acclimatising and hauling supplies up Annapurna 3. In this magnificent natural circus, he heard avalanches thundering down in the distance and remembered thinking that he was as significant – or insignificant – as a flake of snow.

The photographs in the book are scanned slides from that journey, taken with a modest camera. The quality of these have declined over the years but they are still telling a great story.

Nepal 1989

Trekking in Nepal was a reward – gifted to himself – for graduating his Illustration degree in 1988. He was en-route to his native the Netherlands, after having studied in Australia, and after this hike he was going to start a new life as a professional creative.

Stopping in Nepal, and hiking the Annapurna Circuit and into the Sanctuary, was an experience that he can mostly relive in detail, some 32 years later, as it made a massive impression. Following his lecturer George’s example, he only worked in black & white.