I know...I guess I'm not much of a blogger, really. I keep thinking I'll post something, but then life just kinda gets in the way. Maybe it's because I spend so much of my internet time reading and posting on the various forums that my little 'blog just doesn't seem to warrant much attention.
I've been wandering the halls of altered art. I love some of it. I see beautiful, sometimes haunting images wrought from old junk mail, broken bits of machinery and tools, old books and little boxes. I'm amazed. But, some of it looks just like what it is -bits of old junk mail and broken stuff that belongs in the trash thoughtlessly stuck to other stuff that belongs in the trash. Of course, I realize no one makes a masterpiece everytime, and my own "failures" at any project are often a huge majority. I'd guess that I love about one finished item out of ten, and we won't talk about the stuff I don't bother to finish.
Anyway...my latest "project" is small journals handmade of cheap paper. I'm loving this!
I love it because:
1) I use up my cheap materials, of which I have so many that they've really become just clutter. I have cheap watercolors -Cotman and Talens that otherwise wouldn't be used up at all. I have old tubes of acrylics I've never opened and don't even know if they're any good. I keep finding stuff I bought but have never used that can find a real purpose on these journals.
2) While using my cheap materials on cheap paper, I'm not so afraid of making mistakes that cause the whole project to end up in the trash. That's one of my biggest hang-ups. Everyone says "It's only paper" but for me that paper is expensive!!! We have trouble just keeping our heads above water, so turning a $10.00 sheet of paper into trash is just too much for me. So this cheap stuff lets me splash and spill without the crippling fears that come over me.
3) I feel more willing to try to experiement with things that I wouldn't even attempt on something I put more time or effort into. This does lead to some disasters, though. I made a awesome drawing of my art mannequin that really turned out great. I loved it. But I used a Micron pen to define it, and accidentally covered a place that should've remained white. So, I got the brilliant idea to cover the area with a white paint thing that my Dad gave me...Yikes!...It smeared the Micron ink everywhere. I didn't even know that ink could be smeared -nothing else ever has. I tried to cover the smear with some Liquid Paper, which just made a bigger mess. Finally, I used some white watercolor paint to cover it...that mostly worked. Now, it still has a dark, smeary smudge on an otherwise pristine little drawing. But...I've decided not to stress over it. The whole point of these little journals will be to try new things, and see what works. And I'm just going to keep reminding myself that if I can make an awesome drawing once, I can do it again. It's in me somewhere, even if I do have trouble getting it out of me and on to the paper.
4) I love them because once a page is full, it really does look pretty awesome. I have a space to do things I've never done before, and right next to something else I've never done before. :) I can draw, paint, glue on stuff, play with everything and anything. A bit of string, a picture from a magazine, an old envelope from a lost letter...it all works somewhere. Or, if it doesn't, I haven't lost anything. And, I've learned something one way or the other. :)
So...that's what I've been up to. I've been buying old books from the thrift store and gathering free magazines for pictures and inspiration. I haven't used any of them yet; they're still just lying around in stacks. But I do intend to start ripping and cutting soon. For one thing, I don't want to make another huge mess of unused stuff...so I guess I need to get off my computer and start sorting and trimming.
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