Ledger Pages

I've got it....the answer to the vague question I wrote about early in the week. The notion that change was in the air, that the dailies were about to take some kind of turn, but I wasn't sure what that was. I'm always amazed how these ideas float to the surface, as if held underwater and yet by their own will, they slowly rise to the surface as if searching for air. One minute, still just a shadow barely visible beneath the surface and then...the gentle moment of breakthrough and the first breath where the idea is able to speak of its own accord: ledger pages.

It happened this morning as I was drinking my tea on the deck, vowing that I wasn't going to push myself too hard today on my day off. Once the breakthrough occurred, I realized all the little notions that had come together to help it to the surface. In the post last Monday I had talked about the need for a daily practice that honored the day, that marked its passage, that left a trace. And then there was the struggle of art vs. product and the need to make something visual, but not wanting to be too concerned about the weight of making "art" and yet, there is an Etsy shop dedicated these daily ventures
and so they must be something that communicates in some form, that might make a connection with someone who will want to invest a small sum to have it. And then there was Diana Behl, the artist featured in the Inspirations a few days ago.....and my favorite piece of hers always lurking in the recesses of my mind, and which I really must have....

Diana Behl

The ledger page represents an accounting, a balance sheet of the day....a record of the pluses and minuses, the events and non-events of a given day's business. In this case the practice of creating daily ledger pages builds a metaphoric record of the accumulation of my own history and the quiet passage of time.

Part of the problem of late is my inability to be able to set aside time each day to work on the drawings. I come home from work with my energy pretty well spent and mostly just want to sit with a glass of wine on the deck or front porch to unwind. I understand now that the daily ledger sheets will have to be made early in the morning and perhaps become an intuitive unveiling of the previous day. We're already getting up at 6:20 in the morning to do yoga (with our neighbor Sue and our favorite yoga DVDs with Jason Crandell or Rod Stryker) at 6:45. So, I'll just get up earlier and start with a ledger drawing to set the tone for the day. It clearly isn't working in the evening. This will take me back to my days years ago of rising early to do the morning pages exercise in the Artist's Way. You don't think you can get up a moment earlier, but you do and turns out your day unfolds with more energy and balance for having started with that practice of writing....in my case it will be something happening on a ledger page. Of course, I couldn't wait to get started, so I printed a couple pages from some online templates and spent a little time in the studio playing this morning. I think that when I list these in my shop, they will be featured more like a letter and I will mail them in a related hand-drawn envelope, rather than as a work of art to be framed. Still playing with that idea...

August 3, 2012

detail 1

detail 2

detail 3

Clearly the idea of the ledger drawings for the daily practice is informed by this latest body of work, Notes from the Ancestors. I have two new ones to show you, although they photographed poorly. The tones are much warmer in the actual pieces, as the beeswax gives the paper the color of butter, which is not so evident here. I'll have to rephotograph them before I post them on my website.

Notes from the Ancestors no.3

Notes from the Ancestors no.4

Enjoy your day, keep your eyes open.....you never know where your inspiration will be coming from.

Thanks for taking part in the saga of my "dailies"....see you in a few days!

What I Make and What I Made

Yet another week has come and gone and despite my efforts to account for the time, the hours have slipped through my fingers once again.  I've been in the studio, here and there, off and on, but always a bit agitated, restless and maybe this is why.  Not only are there so many things vying for my attention, but my attention is caught and twisted around so many things I've seen lately, like yarn caught and knotted, that I can't quite disentangle.  I think I've almost got it though.  As you may have noticed from the sidebar on this blog, I follow a lot of other blogs, which I try very hard to keep up with each day in Google Reader...sitting down with the last of my tea from breakfast or making another pot if there are a lot of posts.  I keep a little noteboook at the desk for jotting down sparks of ideas or blogs where I see something touching, striking or inspiring.  The notebook and my head are kind of full this week....a lot of notes in the notebook and my head is swimming with ideas and inspiration....just off the top of my head, there's another fabulous post by Robyn Gordon over at Art Propelled filled with artworks based on letters, Jackie's blog at Stitchworks featured a great book she made out of recycled envelopes, Terry Jarrad-Dimond at Studio 24-7 had an interview with an amazing artist, Jette Clover, whose work in collage melted my heart.  Then there was Fiona Dempster with the new work she featured at Paper Ponderings and Carrie Holder who is betwixt and between right now, but is making some delightful things with her discarded yarns and fabric bits....all of inspiring, all of it swimming around in my head, driving me to distraction.  I want to have made all of those things I mentioned.  And I want to let them inspire me, which they will over time, but it can't be rushed, because I can't make the work that any of those amazing people make....none of us can make any work other than our own.   Let me rephrase that, in light of Fiona's recent post, which echoes my own thoughts and experience on the flow of creative process. None of us can honestly make any work except the work that wants to be made with the energy we are willing to give it.  When we let go, when we are "in the flow" these pieces make themselves....I think they somehow want to be made and if we can just let go of the struggle, they practically take care of themselves, almost speaking directly to us...."now put this here, wait on that, when the time comes...add this."  You're given just enough to see your next footsteps, because that's all you need...things can't become too precious or you lose the flow.  That's my experience, but only when I'm not trying to make the work that inspires me, which is where I've been all week.  Right now though, as you faithful friends well know, I am making book pages, as if torn from make-believe books, and meditation pages....that's who I am and that's what wants to be made right now and I'll have to just be patient and watch, because the work will evolve, it always does, but it will be slow and it will be in small increments.  Here's what I've finished this week.  Thanks so much for the inspiration everyone....you all are my "breath of fresh air"...

Page From A Book Long Lost

Page From The Book Of Dreams Come True

...have a great weekend.  We are planning to rearrange the rooms in our house...that is, we plan to move furniture (not so much fun) around and repurpose the rooms (fun)!  I'll report in on Monday, exhausted but hopefully happy!