I’ve been thinking a lot about just how and why I make the things I do. I have spent many hours over the years reading about these aspects of making art and I’m going to attempt to digest some of the quotes and stances I’ve discovered that make sense to me and my practice as it seems to be changing directions once again.
I have often wondered why, for example,I basically stopped writing poetry and began doing visual art. For if you had met me fifteen or twenty years ago I would have said I really wanted to be a writer, and I had worked hard to do that,I’d taken senior level university courses, and managed to get some poems published. I read the journals to see what work they might accept. I attended workshops with writers I admired, all the stuff that lines you up for success. I still have a whole book manuscript waiting in a file. It has been sent out to various publishers to no avail. There was a creeping feeling that my time to break in was rapidly disappearing. I began to notice when reading other poets who had broken through,that what they had to say and how they said it held little interest for me. The long story short, I decided what I had to say in words was not as relevant to others as it was to me, and coupled with the effort I went to to polish and shape a poem I felt these words were costing me too much to create and none of the process was making me feel happy, appreciated ,no it was in fact becoming a chore.
I think around about the same time I began taking photos. This brought me joy, I love flowers and light and capturing a moment just so. I took some online photo courses, and joined a flicker group that was really supportive and I began making cards with my photos and then I started reading about how one could print photos onto fabric, and art quilting was taking off, so I followed and had a ball. I still do enjoy taking photos and enjoying the rare ones that come straight out of the camera but also the ones that I can alter to make better or altogether different. My Dad was also at the time tweaking photos and he told me there is no bad photo.One can always find a piece and crop it or manipulate it into something better.
So photos took me into my visual art. One of the many classes I took suggested shooting still life, arranging objects and capturing them in different lights or from different angles. But being a rebel by nature I decided it was more fun to capture a still life, in situ. So I have for years now seen something just for a second and I go to get my camera to take a shot and see if I get it in time. My husband laughs and tells a story about when we were re siding our house. He came to get some dried boards and I had my camera out.
It was fall of course… and the wind blew this leaf onto the board before I started painting… and then this one… happened just after some painting had been done…
And the journey continues, with lots of reflections I hope to share over time.