Now attached to a cupboard above my kettle, the fundamentals are perfectly positioned for a little reflection whilst the tea is brewing; right now, the notion that strikes a chord with me is to 'continue to grow and evolve.' This sense of growth and evolution is ultimately best explored through creativity; finding ways of expressing intentions into the world as well as exploring skills and techniques.
The Art Journal all Year project, which I am really beginning to enjoy, is helping me to think in new ways about textures, layers and creative intentions. As the sun shines through the living room to the table where I work, it is exciting to think of the possiblity of the course, and the challenges it is providing.
I have worked with paper and layering a lot over the last two years or so. I have always kept scrapbooks, and it felt like a natural progression to work more with collage and paper cutting - the transformation of photographs, prints and patterns into new creations helps me to physically piece together the elements of visual and literary art which I feel help me make sense of the world. The project this week was to consider both the technique of layering and mixture of textures and patterns, as well as considering the dreams associated with the year ahead, and beyond.
The process of collage, or layering papers and thoughts, often creates connections between the images and words which were unintended, at least consciously so, and those connections add depth to the initial intention. The images I was drawn to for this first page were from old copies of design magazines and an Anthropologie catalogue; one happened to include the words 'bare essentials' and the other 'barefoot luxuries' - polar notions, perhaps, but both integral to the dreams I have for the year ahead.
