Non-linear visual journalling

Sketchbooks, "legacy" projects, and visual journalling have somehow figured in many of my conversations over the last week or so. Funny how ideas connect, collide, and enhance each other in unpredictable ways!I participated in a really wonderful and inspiring workshop on visual journalling with Judith Cassel-Mamet, sponsored by Abecedarian Gallery, over the weekend. I loved Judith's premise that a visual journal needn't be linear. The idea of working a bit on many pages simultaneously, back and forth, in the spaces (intervals) between things, in small moments, really resonated with me. Not surprisingly, working in a layered and additive manner appeals to me as a collagist.It was great fun to work rapidly and freely with mixed media approaches to the pages. I have lots of wild new thoughts about journalling and artist book possibilities.I've decided to try integrating my art idea sketchbook (existing) into an idea/visual/fun/life journal. It's all intertwined anyway. However, my junk mail journal, which has been rather dormant of late, will remain its own entity... as it has a long, storied, and independent history!Hopefully I'll have pages from the sketch-journal (or whatever I eventually decide to call it!) to post here from time to time. The experimental piece shown is a cropped portion of a multi-layered mixed media piece that I worked on during the workshop, then simply taped into my book, to await further play (or not). We'll see... happily, anything goes.

The chaos of collage composition

Took this photo of my current work in progress yesterday. It's hard to tell where the collage begins and all the intriguing bits of paper end. For scale, the wood panel I'm working on is 10 x 10 x 1"... so there are lots of little elements being considered, set aside, ripped further, reconsidered, rearranged, discarded. Everything on the board is already glued down, everything else is just jockeying for position!(Addendum: the finished piece is written up in my blog here.)

Art & design, musing no. 1

 

I've been thinking a lot about my efforts to balance emerging art/collage interests with my long-established design practice. There have been times when I felt I could walk away from design and focus completely on collage. Then I have moments, like today, when I'm mulling over how to visually re-position a business and can't imagine not having that interaction and challenge in my life. 

I'll always think like a designer. It informs everything I do. It certainly contributes significantly to who I am as an artist. 

Balance could be wildly over-rated. Heading full-tilt in the direction of what I'm most interested in at the moment may be the best approach. One creative endeavor feeds the other. At this time of hybridization and collaboration, perhaps a renaissance approach suits me best. 

And then there's the overlap. Many of my design clients also collect my artwork, while many of my artist friends ask for design advice. My card says artist/designer. Maybe it should say artist+designer... It's all connected. 

(Photo is a pattern of light through moving tree branches, cast across a wall, just another random but visually intriguing moment in my day!)

Out of clutter find simplicity... collage debris

Finishing my Rip/Tear show has been a whirlwind. My studio space is still not recovered and I'm acknowledging that I desperately need to de-clutter in preparation for new work. (Tomorrow!) Collage, by its very nature, requires a certain amount of debris to accumulate as potential materials are stockpiled... then again as pieces are considered, rejected, altered, and perhaps end up in the collage... but quite often return to the pile! Thankfully, I can close the door on the studio when it gets overwhelming and retreat to other parts of our relatively simple abode.I've read about artists who toss all the materials that were considered, but went unused, for a specific collage piece. Somehow, I can't do that. Whatever originally drew me to the imagery keeps me interested enough to salvage it for the future, unless the scraps are absolutely diminutive! And therein lies part of the problem.This quote speaks to the issue and to the artistic process and makes an appropriate mantra. “Three Rules of Work: Out of clutter find simplicity; from discord find harmony; in the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.” — Albert EinsteinDid I mention the boxes of graciously donated magazines that are waiting to be sifted on the back porch?!