I've been making daily collages since January 2013 and in the last month or two I've noticed my enthusiasm is waning. Not that I'm tired of making daily art, but that it's getting harder to find inspiration. I find myself doing the same thing over again -- that's not bad in itself, unless you keep doing the same thing over again and don't find anything fresh in the process.
So as September drew to a close I started thinking about what I might do to shake up the project. The start of a new calendar quarter can be a good time to change the rules, as it was on January 1 of this year when I added the requirement to have text in every collage, and on April 1 when I changed the size from 3x5" cards to 4x6". Then last week I had the pleasure of taking a workshop with Suzi Zimmerer, my good friend and art pal, who primarily works in paper and always does great workshops that set your head spinning with possibilities.
Then we shifted gears and played with paint for a while and I was reminded that I enjoy wet processes, even though I hate getting my hands messy. We mainly did monoprints by brushing or rolling paint on plastic, drawing through it, and printing onto the paper. We also made relief plates by punching or cutting into pieces cut from foam fast-food containers.
After the workshop I decided to add a new rule for my collages in the fourth quarter: each one would include something that I have drawn, painted or printed. Here are some of the first few. Hoping they'll give me the spark to energize the last 91 days of the project.
That's an interesting turn indeed! Looking forward to the newly inspired ones. After all, you've told us frequently enough that we all know for sure you can't draw - or what was it? ;-))
ReplyDeleteyou're absolutely right -- I can't draw. But I can paint and make monoprints. Probably could draw into a pool of paint and monoprint it off onto paper (something about that intermediate step that removes some of the terror). I'll keep you posted!
ReplyDeleteGreat new direction! So often collage doesn't branch away from magazine etc images ... putting in personal marks offers a different range of options.
ReplyDeleteAs for "can't draw" - I was cheered to read recently that not all drawing is representational; using drawing for observation is only one of the possibilities - others are exploring and experimenting.