Alias Arts

In February of 2006, Sara and I traveled through Italy leading up to attending the Winter Olympics in Torino. As we often do when we travel, we posted a note on the Wooster website saying that we’d love to meet up with local artists in Milan, Florence, and Rome.

On February 9th, when we arrived in Milan, we posted a note on the site letting people know that we’d all be meeting at the statue in the Piazza Duomo. We had no idea who – and how many – people would show up.

It turned out to be an amazing evening. Amongst the twenty-five or so people who joined us was Blu. He had traveled by train from his hometown in Bologna earlier that morning. It was the first time we had ever met Blu, and Sara and I were delighted that he had come all the way just to see us.

At the end of the night, Blu handed us a small wooden box. He told us that inside was one of his sketchbooks. He said that each week he did a new sketchbook and that he wanted us to have the one he had just completed. Sara and I were blown away by his thoughtfulness and ever since it’s been one of our favorite gifts. Not just for the wonderful drawings inside but for the intimacy of the gift itself.

The other week Blu came over for dinner and we showed a few friends the sketchbook. It occurred to us that because it’s a book in a box and not something to hang on a wall, very few people will actually get to see it. So this morning Sara and I did a short video “tour” of the book. We hope you like it as much as we do….