So I just have to share this discovery I made in the studio the other day. I found one of the hardbound sketchbooks that I have sometimes used....I'm not actually one to make good use of a sketchbook, since I work so intuitively most of the time. This one had hardly been touched...in fact, the few pages that had been used dated back to 1997! I leafed through those initial pages and was astonished to discover this page...it's like I made it yesterday! I can't quite say why I found it so odd, except that I saw that my mark making language is so consistent....as much as I like to think I've changed and moved in other directions, there it is...I'm the same me that I always was. This is a comfort in some ways, because it's like a fingerprint...your language is always a part of you and probably always has been, even before you knew how to "speak" it. It's all there...the book page, the whimsical drawings, the intuitive marks. And on an adjacent page, a short list (always a list maker!) with these words....flight, ritual, intimacy, self, place...I might have written that list a moment ago...all those same concerns and ideas. They are big ideas...it takes a lifetime.
This is a great thing to share, Patti! It's happened to me too that I come across old notes or lists - I'm a listmaker too! - and it does seem that my concerns and what could even be called my "style" are pretty consistent! Maybe this is something we only see with the perspective of a few adult decades of living behind us. I spent most of my early years thinking I was a completely common boring creature with no distinctive qualities whatsoever! Perhaps that very dissatisfaction fueled my quest to define and expand my world and myself...and that quest ended up defining me. You're right, it takes a lifetime!
ReplyDeleteGabriella...the quest is ongoing and it seems our lives are a creative act as well! Here's to the search!
ReplyDeleteHi Patti; this is Penny from Tanglewood Threads...thanks for visiting. Your work with paper and stitch is beautiful. Going through old sketchbooks can be very inspiring can't it!
ReplyDeleteIt's like rediscovering yourself or something isn't it? A bit like no matter how far you wander, you are still you and your truth will shine thru and tell its story. Its comforting I think to realise how congruent your journey has been and continues to be. The works you make to express your essence may take different forms - but the essence, its there throughout.
ReplyDeleteYes, Fiona, it was an odd moment of rediscovering myself! And you're right, the notion of congruence on the journey is a comfort. Sometimes the discoveries are really just rediscoveries, but at a certain time and place you are able to see things differently!
ReplyDeleteHi Penny...thanks for stopping by! So enjoy your blog and appreciate your comment about my work! Sketchbooks are great tools and I think I really must become more disciplines and make it more of a regular practice, if only to keep a record of the journey.
ReplyDeleteI love my idea sketchbooks which go way back in time and the surprising thing is I seem to have come full circle. Paintings and paper mache sculptures I did years ago have suddenly materialized in my wood carvings. For some reason i hadn't really noticed until I started paging back through my idea books. It's interesting to read that you have made similar discoveries.
ReplyDeleteRobyn...it is curious how we circle and dance around ourselves throughout our lives. I suppose I would see it more in myself if I was consistent in keeping these things in a sketchbook and not on scraps of paper here and there!
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