Move things around, turn them upside down, pull out your crayons and be mindless with them, cut and tear things up, open a book you like and see what jumps out at you (like this one, by Katherine Dunne). In other words, just mess around. That's what I do when I don't feel like working, but I want to do something, or when I feel a little jaded and need to shake myself up.
I think that's what people do with their art journals, but that's not what I'm talking about. (I don't have the temperament for a journal -- I've tried and it just doesn't work for me).
I want to be able to grab a piece of paper of any size or staple a bunch of telephone book pages together to make a background, bring out my crayons (I have a mixture of Sennelier and Sakura that I've had for at least 10 years, and they are still going strong) and make something silly.
Where did the word mustard come from? What does it have to do with anything? The yellow crayon made me think of mustard, so I wrote it down. Later on I added "cut the", to finish off the expression. I did say I was making something silly!
Simplicity is the removal of the useless and the unnecessary--source unknown
I am trying to be more 'free' in my approach to my art but just completely letting go for me, usually ends up looking a mess. Yours has turned out beautifully.
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ReplyDeleteyou know what, i think art journals sorta *used* to be like that, but it seems like people are making them much more polished now-a-days. i feel that we must resist this urge towards perfection!! it's important! i get a little bit of a heavy heart when i look at art journaling blogs and see so many people trying to do art like others do... and trying to make their journals into something other than a place for free and honest expression.
yours in keeping it loose...
xoxo
Great post and love this piece. Very fun!
ReplyDeleteI love that book by Katherine Dunn. It's a favorite. Your exercise to shake it up a bit is perfect advice. And she turned out fun...how about that?
ReplyDeleteNice post. we need to be reminded to have some fun during this never ending winter. Thinking Spring!
ReplyDeleteGosh, I wish there was a way I could share this on Facebook. I have a gadget for that on my blog. Anyway, a little bow of thanks.
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