Artist Kathleen Jacobs uses Kolo photo albums as mini portfolios to show her work:

I like the small Kolo photo albums for presenting samples of my artwork, and use them to promote my art for possible shows in public spaces like universities and museums, or private galleries, or for private art collections.

The pictures in these small books are shrunken down photocopies of my work. I put just a few in each album as a representation of my art. I group them into categories by subject matter or the medium, so for example I’ll make a book showing some of my landscapes, or figures, another showing oil paintings, another of my watercolors, etc.

The content really depends on the recipient. Sometimes in one book I’ll put a photo of some of my working sketches alongside a photo of the finished piece, to show the progression and my process -- that I work from life (as opposed to working from photographs).

The cloth albums are beautiful, and I really like using the Kolo Noci photo album – it’s just the right size for a project like this. Often I’ll leave behind three or so different books, to give the recipient an idea of my range.

I use the paper Kolo Vineyard album when I’m mailing books to people. They look nice but they’re inexpensive and lightweight for mailing, so I don’t need to worry if those get returned to me.

Many artists today mail off digital images of their work on CDs. Certainly I can see the advantages of that, but there is something about presenting these small books that I feel is special. It’s a more personal and tactile experience, something that people can hold in their hands. I think it has more emotional impact than digital.

These mini portfolios are concise, easy to show several examples at once, and it’s a nice presentation. I think this way I can give the recipient a feel for what my work is like, and hopefully pique their interest in seeing my original paintings.

There’s more about Kathleen Jacobs and a few examples of her paintings at Easthampton City Arts.

More images of her mini art portfolios are here.