and curlicues may begin as nonsense, it is these very components that give rise to unexpected beauty as we doodle our way into decorative originality.

So how does any of this get us to France? Well, I believe doodling in French is all about a dream—a dream of French style and savoir-faire that can come to play in your own backyard wherever that may be. The French exhibit a sense of decorative flourish that I find whimsical, beautiful, and lyrical all rolled into one. Why draw a line when a curve is more graceful? Why a straight edge when a scallop appears that much more charming? And when they do draw a line? Well, just look at those mansard roofs, revealing an elegance that only that type of precipitous slant affords. Their courtyards embrace symmetry, while their boulevards stretch wide in logical progression. And as with the espaliers that are trimmed and coaxed into geometrical arrangements from which curling tendrils come spilling out, this orderliness creates a steady backdrop on which flourishes can thrive. And after the flourish? Well a little embellishment of course! The French are known for that extra touch—a button, a bow, a ruffle, a garnish, a final note that signals all is well, all has been attended to, life can now proceed in harmony as no detail has been overlooked.

This is not to discount a certain hardy simplicity that can be found more often in the countryside. It is in smaller towns and villages that have held their ground throughout their long history that we find a more practical and rustic style, patterns and colors borrowed from nature, food and lines drawn from the earth. Pottery and textiles and the shapes of the houses themselves suggest a solid underpinning, a connection to quotidian endeavor that is as much a signature of French design and attitude as any of its fancier cousins. Formal gardens give way to jardins potagers, fully turreted châteaux melt into beekeeper huts, and it is the merging of these two worlds that I find fascinating and hope to capture in this book.

Each of the six chapters within revolves around a slice of French life . . . cultivating the garden, embellishing one’s home, gathering with friends at the local café, packing up a small valise and heading off to the city or nearby beach, marveling at iconic French elements, and finally coming to rest back in one’s favorite spot to reflect or dream up new adventures and desires. In the course of these events, doodling comes to play, perhaps as a diary, perhaps as a way to illustrate a story, perhaps merely a random thought or impulse of the imagination. There are no formal rules—that is the beauty of a doodle (or as the French would call it, le griffonnage). Wherever you are, whenever you like, a pencil and piece of paper is all that is needed. Use your powers of observation or use your imagination; both are equally valuable.

I generally carry a small notebook with me to catch my musings, but just as often I’ll turn to an interesting scrap of paper I’ve found on the sidewalk or the inside of a matchbook cover if I get desperate! Making use of unexpected surfaces lends an element of uniqueness and surprise to a doodle; different textures and shapes have a way of influencing where any given drawing might go. And because I like my drawings to find a home eventually, I often capture them within collages created just for them. This way, the simple act of doodling can evolve into a journey of further creative exploration.

I invite you to use this book as a guide and inspiration toward doodling possibilities. Often doodles are viewed as the subconscious bringing forth of images or of design that is not actually being looked at. I am a fan of this dreamy and random approach, but I also believe doodling can be more thoughtful and defined. It’s really up to the individual. The doodles in this book veer toward sketching only because that is what I find my hand does most naturally. I may look at something, I may not; either way I rest my mind and allow my hand to wander and circle around an idea, adjusting and fine-tuning gradually so that the shapes and lines find me as much as I find them. Eventually an image will begin to form in a loose way; I may fiddle with an eraser and then begin to darken outlines to give definition. The final doodle may be something close to its initial gestures or have expanded into more than I would have guessed. The how-to illustrations found before each drawing help break down this meandering process into manageable parts, giving you a sense of how to arrive at a final image by taking small steps and adding layers. By practicing some basic shapes and curves (and curlicues for all things French!) over and over, you will begin to get a feel for a drawing’s progression and will soon be able to incorporate the steps into the underlying structure of your own doodles.

The collages are arrived at in a similar manner. I purposefully choose specific colors and imagery to support any particular doodle; I may think about trying to convey a story or simply put items together that work with each other in a playful manner. It is through a balance of experimentation, discovery, and a dash of critical thinking that a final scheme takes hold. This process allows any given collage to have a hand in its own making. Some come easily, others become arranged in a way I couldn’t have foreseen, and a few simply need to be wrestled into submission! Ultimately, I like to keep these compositions relatively simple, allowing each element to have its own visibility rather than getting lost in a sea of imagery.

As you embark upon your own doodling destiny, I invite you to experiment to your heart’s content. At the back of this book is a specially designed section where you can practice your own drawings within ready-made collages. Try doodling randomly throughout any given day in your own notebook, or set aside time each week to open up to these pages and see what comes. There is a beauty in slowing down enough to observe your own creative process. Not every doodle needs to be important; in fact many of them are simply momentary diversions. Yet for those of us who choose to doodle in French, they can also be whimsical forays into a world we might not enter any other way. If we are not actually sitting at a zinc-topped bistro table on a tree-lined boulevard in Paris, at least we can doodle ourselves alongside one. If you cannot find the beret that you always imagined you would have by now, then reach for your pencil and create a version that makes you feel chic just by looking at it. If a baguette is calling your name and the French bakery is miles away, doodle yourself three luscious loaves (and don’t forget the crumbs).

Be simple. Be bold. Always be yourself and cultivate your dreams, and when your heart desires, by all means dream in French.

Bonne journée,