Today #6

So today went rather well. I managed to get a couple of new pieces done and I have many plans. I am going to spend the weekend working on putting the plans into action and doing the website work I should have been doing today!

I think the project I want to try next is patchwork collages. I'm going to make some tessellating stencils and play around with them. Arrows, stars etc.
Will keep you posted. Now it's tea time...it's been a long day!

Vick.

Today #5

And the reason for doing all of this - I've been trying desperately to distract myself from sitting and staring at the phone all day waiting for a very important phone call. After eighteen months my flat has been sold. And I am entirely and completely freaked out about it. I normally leave personal things off the blog but this is going to have a pretty big impact on my work and so there we go.

Now. Back to work.

I am playing with blue at the moment. To organise my collage materials I generally divide them my main colour unless they are very multicoloured. I keep them in colour coded folders so that I can usually find what I am looking for pretty quickly. Now my desk is very messy - creatively messy.

And yes, more coffee cups!I'm just finishing off some brain storms...I'm thinking about patchwork quilt patterns, constellations, math/geometric shapes and ancient greek myths.

Vick.

Today #4

A slight delay as the real world fought its way back into my little studio sanctuary. And then lunch.
But back to work now with some backgrounds set up. I think it might be time to brainstorm.

In the long gap I made an A4 collage based on a photograph that I took outside the Free Library of Philadelphia a couple of years back. Starting with some text. If you can't see clearly enough these are sections of text taken from gravestones - one of my favourite materials.

And then added some vintage postage stamps onto the top.

So that eventually it looked a little bit like that.

It fits into the series that I have already started on Etsy. I'll take a picture of it in a frame when the light is better. Still no sunshine over here! Back to brainstorming.

Vick.

Today #3

So I've been playing around with backgrounds. I generally use one of four types of background.

1. A photograph

Photographs can be either old ones that I look with my lovely Nikon FE (yes I still use it, and love it) but haven't made it into albums. Or they can be printed ones. The cards are usually real photos and the collages (because they are larger) and mostly printed.

2. Text from a book

Choosing the book is a long, complicated business. Probably need a whole post on that alone, so I won't go into it. Copyright, font, page size, content, cost. Many factors. I cut or tear the sections that I want and then stick them onto a plain background, which I guess is really a blank paper background. Speaking of which...

3. Blank paper

Either entirely blank or with a basic design sketched out so that I can work around it and see where I want things to end up. I also think I managed the most boring photo ever taken there but really how exciting can a blank piece of paper get? (Honestly - any ideas?)

4. Maps

This is even more complicated than the books as copyright is much harder with maps. But I do just adore atlases and so occasionally I use them, but carefully. Plus you can have great fun with them - moving things around and sticking things in certain places. The geo-politics geek in me comes out whenever I get to do that. 

Now. I have to go and stick some things down for backgrounds. Spray glue not allowed in the studio - need a door to open!

Vick.

Today #2

So. I seem to have chosen a dark and overcast day to do this which means my pictures are not as good as I would like them to be. Even if I don't get a finished piece, or a set of ideas out of today I have already done something useful. When I sell pieces, either cards or art, on Etsy I like to include a picture of the materials that have gone into the piece. It shows a little of the process and helps to let people know that I work with printed materials rather than digital collage.

This is something that I have been working on for a couple of weeks now but haven't posted because I wanted some feedback first. I have mentioned several times before that I started making collages when I wanted a way of combining my poetry with my scrap-books and I thought I would have another go at it now I have been working more on collage and know a bit more what I am doing.

This is the 'finished' product. I am working in very small sizes at the moment so that I can see if I like what it looks like. I've also got some new backgrounds for the words so that I'm not printing straight onto plain white paper. I would really like this to tie into my 3RW poems so I can start using the poems I have written with my random-word contributions in my artwork.

But one step at a time! And now that step is coffee...

Vick.

Today #1

Today I had a plan. I was going to research four websites that I am interested in using to display artworks and cards. I woke up pretty early after a reasonably late night and started looking at said websites. I was pretty much in awe of the other artists I found there and realised that after looking at them I wanted to spend the day doing something creative instead.

One of the Etsy labs recordings was with a non-hippie version (her words!) of a life coach called Michelle Ward who said that it was important to do the business things when you wanted and the creative side when you felt that was important as well.

So today I decided to clear all the bills, receipts, taxes, research books and other rubbish from my desk and fill it with creative things to try and play again and maybe find a direction for my new collection.

I have a series of larger art pieces that have no coherence and I want to know if any of these can be starting points for larger collections or whether I should maybe do a things-I-made-without-thinking collection and see what I end up with in a year. A whole bunch of pieces of art that I make in between the organised collections.

I announced on Twitter that I was going to be playing with art today and said I might include pictures. At that point I thought it might be fun to blog as I went along.

One of the great things about selling online is that people can either see your work and like it and decide to buy it (or not!) or they can dig around deeper and find out more about you as an artist. It just doesn't work like that at craft fairs or art shops. It's a very different way of buying and selling.

So this is a nice thing to have if anyone wants to see how I start ideas for collections. I have a whole bunch of thoughts and scrabble around. Honestly I have no idea what I will end up with at the end of the day. This could very easily be a waste of time with nothing to show for it at the end of the day.

More soon!

Vick.