working in series

Sometimes I get on a roll when I'm making backgrounds.

January 2nd & 3rd were snow days here in Massachusetts, and I sat down with dozens of blank cards, my gelli plate, and a palette of blue, black and white paint.

Hours passed, and the wet mono-printed cards blanketed every surface of my studio, while the snow worked that same magic outdoors.

The first dozen were emblazoned with bold "2014" stamps, and then I ran out of steam.  I've never been much for a holiday theme.

It took several more snowy weekends, but I feel like I really hit my stride with this series, and I'm glad I had so many backgrounds to work with.

Liberal use of circles stamped on tissue paper, handwriting on transparencies, and found text from my magical box of words.

Show up.

Do the work.

Watch what unfolds.

2013 in review

At the beginning of January I did some of the customary “looking back, looking forward” kinds of exercises.  Reflecting on 2013, I felt it was kind of a lack-luster year.  Don't get me wrong, I know I am fortunate.  It was a year without significant strife or pain and we were healthy, comfortable, and generally content.  Yet I didn’t feel I could account for the year.  What did I accomplish?  What did I have to show for it?  Had my burning drive to create been reduced to an ember?

Yesterday, I read Tammy’s impressive “list of creative stuff from 2013” and it reminded me of a few things I did last year, and got me wondering about all the other things I may have forgotten.  I sat down in the pre-dawn hours today and began to compile my own list.  

In 2013 I.....

• Wrote 84 blog posts for I Am Rushmore
• Hosted 45 different swaps on “Mail Me Some Art” 
   
  (did you catch that?  I logged, photographed, posted, sorted, and mailed 2,547 pieces from 125 different artists all over the world!)

• Had a postcard included in an article about mail art in Featuring Magazine
   
  
  
  
  
• Sold my first painting
   
  
  
  
  
• Visited the postal museum in Washington DC
   
  
  
  
  
• Took a 10 week collage class with local artist, friend and inspiration, Catherine Weber
   
  
   
  
  
• Won Tammy’s Gaudiest Journal Page contest
   
  
  
  
  
• Spoke to a group of women about my artistic journey
• Hosted three different art dates at my house
• Sold two hand-bound journals (for a cause)
  
  
  
   
  
  
  
  
• Read 32 books
• Created several commissioned pieces of art for my sister’s house
  
  
   
  
  
  
  
• Won a spot in Jane Davies’ on-line Extreme Composition class, learned a ton, created an impressive body of work in doing all the exercises, and actually participated in the class blog/discussion
  
  
  
    
  
  
  
  
• Completed my third Index-Card-a-Day challenge
   
  
  

• Lit a painting on fire
• Bought a gelli plate, and did an extensive side by side comparison of the homemade gelatin plate vs. the commercial plate, and blogged about it.  (a post that continues to get comments and questions many months later)
• Participated in this collaborative project
   
  
  
  
  
• And this collaborative project  

  

 

 

• And this one
   
  
  
  
  
• Created 322 collages, which was not quite the 365 I set out to create, but they accomplished my goal of giving me focus and practice throughout the year.
  
  
  
   
  
  
  
  
• Completed 52 swaps on Swap-bot.  (This might have been the most surprising number of all to me.  I feel like I’ve pulled way back from swap-bot, but there are a few groups there that I belong to, filled with talented friends like Steph, Mandy, Carroll and Gina, and I keep getting sucked in by their good ideas!)
   
  
  
  
  
• Lit a painting on fire
• Had three different weekend getaways with women friends
• Sent sock narwhals “naked” through the mail.
   
  
  
  
  
• Saw 41 movies
• Filmed my first goofy video for MMSA
• Carved a bunch of new stamps for myself and others
    
  
  
• Bought a cheap stencil carving tool and learned to use it
    
  
  
  
  
• Submitted this mail art/book for “Ex PostalFacto”
   
  
  
  
  
• Bought a plane ticket for San Francisco so that I could attend “Ex Postal Facto” and meet some of my favorite artist friends in person in February 2014.
• Started learning encaustic techniques
  

  
  

  

And you know why I know all this?

• I maintained a weekly journaling/documentation practice for the whole year.

Whew!  This is way more than I thought.  It appears the only thing that has changed about my productivity is my perception.  Perhaps because I am so much more comfortable with myself as an artist I almost take it for granted.

This list shows me I'm not really cutting back on art, I am just not experiencing that same  heightened level of emotion as when I was first starting out.  This isn't all bad. The learning curve is not as steep or frustrating.  Fear and dread have (mostly) taken a back seat.   I am more willing to take risks now.
Ok - I see it now - this is progress.

 I also see, from my list of books and movies and outings with friends, that 2013 may have restored some balance for me.  When I "found" art in early 2011, I totally immersed myself.  Obsession is not too strong a word.  I barely read, or cooked, or slept, or went out.  Every spare moment was spent with paint on my hands. It was glorious, and it’s that glittery memory that made me falsely think this was a lack-luster year.  I’m delighted to have books, films, music, food, exercise and other human beings surfacing in my life again, and as this list  has made clear, my creative output hasn’t exactly suffered by allowing them in.
Last year is looking better and better.

 How about you?
Have you made a list of your 2013 accomplishments?
I highly recommend it.
(If you're not convinced, read Hanna's 10 compelling reasons you should.)

I wonder what will be on my list for 2014?
Writing this list will be accomplishment #1.

Plus I might turn this into a t-shirt:

Finding my way back

The longer I'm away, the longer it takes to come back.

 So many thoughts.

 So many images.

So many ideas.

So many feelings.

 

 

Gaping silence behind me.

How to fill the void?

Where to begin?

What to reveal?

Do I have anything to say?

Do I have too much to say?

 How can I get out of my head,

and rejoin the conversation?

 

Just start.

Today.