A bright, shiny new year
I love New Year's Day - the whole bright, shiny new year is stretched out ahead of me. It holds only possibility and potential in it - no mistakes, no problems, no disappoint, no disillusion. This is going to be a good year, a year full of hope and of change. My only resolution is to make time to create more art. I do have a formidable list of goals and will be working hard to realize them.
Last year I started off with the best of intentions to create one small piece of art each week. I got waylaid in the early part of the year when deadlines, working full time, business trips and life in general got in the way and I missed a number of weeks. This year I will continue that project (6" square work mounted on canvas using the prompts from Illustration Friday) and strive to do better. I really enjoy the format of IF and love the community.
I also decided the new year needed a new project and I cast about for inspiration in early December. I remembered that I had bought a few packs of Lotería cards from Judy Gula in Houston this year and thought they would made a good basis for a journaling project. The Lotería cards are used to play a game like Bingo and each of the 54 have different pictures and labels on them. I'm going to make 5" square fabric collages with them, using either the card itself or something about the card as inspiration. The iconic Mexican nature of the images and their overall kitschiness appeal to me.
The first card is El Gallo (the rooster). I have trouble with the Every Day thing, so I'm shooting for Nearly Every Day. I also need rules (well, self-imposed rules anyway, -- outside rules, not so much) so each piece will start with a square of wool felt and have some hand stitching on it.
So, who else is journaling on a regular or semi-regular basis in 2009?
9 comments:
I would love to try the journaling thing this year, but I think once a week is a more realistic goal. You don't have a link to "Illustration Friday" is that an online group that is open to the public?
oh yea, I too, love the loteria cards and have incorporated them in my work. (did you know there's a commerical fabric with loteria cards all over it too.) Anyway, love your first 'card' and I find it fascinating and brave of you to combine the Asian chop with the Mexican card. I look forward to more of this series!
Well good for you for trying, even if it didn't work last year, maybe this will be better. I had a pretty good creative year in the summer, but spring and fall were pretty occupied with other business so, didn't do as much as I wanted art wise either.
I haven't done an IF in ages, but lately some of the topics have been a little to obscure for me. One of these days one will hit me just right -- I love that group and process too. thantks for sharing and posting on FB.
In mid-December I committed myself to doing a collage in my sketchbook every morning, first thing. Paper, fabric, paint, stamps, whatever. I'm loving it, it's a terrific way to get my creative day started and so far I haven't missed a day.
I'm also following Jeanne Williamson's lead in doing a 9x9" quilt every week, am working on 1/52 right now. I'll be posting those, along with all my other work, on my blog, http://constancerosedesigns.blogspot.com
This week's piece incorporates an exercise from your book -- I took a photograph of figs and created that picture with fabric.
very cool! looking forward to watching these develop...
Very Cool!
Happy New Year and Artful Blessings,
Kathryn
I'm always so impressed with your stitching, looks to me like you're off to a wonderful start on your new project. Happy New Year!
Thanks for the link to IF
Happy New Year! I try to journal every day, whether it's a few hurried words or several pages of hand drawn faces, letters or words...I like your idea about "nearly Every day" art work...that works for me too! I wrote about how I felt this would be a great year in my Jan.1 post. And I do,...feel like this is going to be an awesome year!
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