Greetings! This has been a good week....productive on many fronts. As is so often the case, the creative process itself, when it is truly flowing, will allow the simple solutions to all manner of conundrums to bubble up to the surface. I've been wrestling for quite some time with the daily practice, as many of you know. Because I am someone who loves a routine and a rhythm to my day, I love having a daily practice that takes place in the studio. Before the holidays, I shifted gears in my daily practice and began a series of small 2x2" collages that were private....that is, they weren't meant for my Etsy shop and they weren't for sale anywhere. I've continued that practice into the new year, but the question of the MissouriBendMusings shop still hung in the air. I toyed with closing the shop, but I've met so many people through the shop and through the daily practice....so many people had written to me over the year to let me know that the practice had given them inspiration in some way. What more can any artist ask, except to touch people? I decided that, not only could I not let it go, I didn't want to let it go. So....how to incorporate a second daily practice that would end up in the marketplace, but one that would not require too much investment in time and energy in the "marketing" end. Somewhere in the process of working this week, I saw the practice as one of small works (these are 4"x4") in ink and wash. Another important aspect of the daily practice is that it should be one that allows for a sense of discovery, that the process of making becomes a vehicle for my own explorations. I think I have it....here is the first week of January....you can find them all at MissouriBendMusings.
January 1, 2013
January 2, 2013
January 3, 2013
January 4, 2013
January 5, 2013
January 6, 2013
January 7, 2013
I also found myself returning to book pages....one of my favorite themes and formats. This piece reminds me of a long lost diary page....
This is made on Japanese paper coated in beeswax....the pseudo handwriting is all hand embroidered.....fragments of earlier ink drawings are also hand stitched to the paper. Hard to capture the nuances og the warm, buttery yellow Japanese paper....it looks worn and aged...lost and found.
My weekend is Sunday and Monday, so tomorrow I go back to work at the Library....when I return here I'll tell you about the Absence series. Hope you have a great week ahead....cheers!
