Phase 7 - look for patterns (then do something)

Happy Tax Day (haha?) It's been a little bit of a transition coming back to Earth after the 'art-heaven' of VCCA. Some good news - Big Collage fits on my wall at home - with about an inch to spare on either side! This is great because I can put it back up and continue to work on it (or at least think about it and be confident that it's finished before putting it away.)

to be cut out for collage

Making Big Collage at VCCA was really helpful in terms of pushing the limits of my art-productivity. In terms of Phase 7 - seeing patterns (and doing something about it), I think this piecemeal way of building a big thing out of little things and looking at them on the screen as I go to make changes was a good fit for me. I've started to put this into practice at home, and this week I made these - the left one 18 x 24" and is for a collage; the right one is a finished drawing on gray paper for a friend, 8.5 x 11").

finished drawing for a friend

Making Big Collage inspired me to try to focus and be more ambitious in art-making at home.

I gave it my all and, on the one hand, it seems like I produced these really quickly. On the other hand, I've been trying to sort and organize my photos from the past 6 months (digital spring cleaning.) Grouping like photos and assigning any group for more than 10 its own folder (then backing up and deleting unnecessaries) has helped me see patterns of what I notice/see.

Of course, there's a folder for "cookies" and one for "cute kitty photos," and "home improvement," but when it comes to birds, I was a little surprised. I needed sub-folders ("owls," "taxidermy", "wing anatomy," etc.) In total, there are more than 200 bird photos from the last 6 months. I don't feel like I took quite that many, but on the other hand, I see birds everywhere (at the jobs, on walks, in art), and there have been a few magical "art field trips"(to the zoo (x2) and the natural history museum). It leaves me wondering if ambitious work (for some) requires a degree of artistic obsession or if the tendency to see/notice develops out of making the artwork? Hmmmmm.

Other good art-news this week - I was accepted as a member of the National Association of Women Artists! (:D)