11/8/2017 0 Comments From Top to Bottom and backTo follow up from my last post; every year around this time I take some time to reflect on the previous year and to look forward to what I want in the coming year. I've got my goal; creating a body of art work for exhibition. Setting the goal is easy. Execution on the other hand is daunting and involves a lot of work. As an art teacher I dabble a lot. I have a large tool box filled with art techniques and skills that I require so that I can pass those tools on to my students. They are handy to have for my own practice as well. I can approach a problem and reach a solution by using more than one direction. It's brilliant to use those skills and gratifying (it's one of the reasons that momentum art and creativity is so important in education). The down side (and I don't like to admit that there is a downside) is that all those skills and techniques can create a bit of creators block. I have a degree in Fine Art. I majored in photography but I am not a photographer. I have a background in Printmaking but I'm not a printmaker. I love to draw and paint but I am not a painter or an illustrator. I enjoy creating collage works and assemblage works but I am not a mixed media or sculptural artist. Contrary to all of those statements I am all of those things as well. I am an artist. I make art with photography, paint, assemblage, paper, pen, pencil and a few other media as well. I am an artist. I make art. So if I am an artist and I make art I must also have a voice. Something to say; to share with my audience. Just like with writing we require some guidelines, some learning, some limitations and some specifics. the one thing I didn't list above is that I love to make books. Over the course of the last year about half of my personal practice has revolved around journalling and bookmaking. While I was in art school I made my first book as a final project for a printmaking class. I had never made a book before. I had no knowledge of how to make a book beyond the single book offered in the college library and the final project did have some great intaglio prints on it's pages it was cumbersome and didn't open properly or lay flat. In my first year at Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design I took a bookmaking course with Author Celia King. It was a revelation. The class covered the basics of a number of book making styles and I created a number of great little art books. I loved making books. Loved it. it's been a part of my practice for some time and I often boundaries the notes for that class when creating. As much as I love it I've never made it the prime focus of my practice. It's a personality quirk of sorts. I will circle around the things I like on the edge for a time before fully revisit. Even though I have a passion for bookmaking, but bookmaking hasn't been a focus for my practice. I will be creating in an artist in residency program in the new year where the goal will be to create a body of art books for exhibition sometime n 2018 or 2019. It's a pretty daunting goal for me and when the idea presented itself I knew I had to jump at it; that I could do it but now how I would do it. Five years ago I would have backed away and delayed. Five years ago I didn't have some of the tools I currently tote around in my artist's toolbox; didn't have the organizational skills or the time to commit. In five years I've gained a little more time and have planned and executed hundreds of classes and workshops. Sitting down to plan how to meet my goal within a committing program is still daunting but totally doable and I have an idea of how to break things down in order to succeed. None of these steps are set in stone but they are a good place to start. 1. I will create a zine a week on any topic spending no more than 20 to 30 minutes on the creation during the scheduled studio time used for my residency. I will create a small run for free distribution. 2. I will practice making different book types, creating blank journal prototypes for finished art book works. 3. I will create collections of themed artworks in various media to be bound into final residency works. These will be exhibited in a gallery setting to be announced in the future. 4. I will teach 2 book making classes free to the public and 1 more intensive class that will have a registration fee. 5. I will spend three dedicated studio hours per week focused on the above goals as well as any extra time I find available. 6. I will document the progress and process of my work My residency program begins in the new year but I'll begin the steps listed above before then to get the learning going and keep it moving. Planning a project like this often requires that you start the project with the end in mind. I know what I need to accomplish. I have the steps down to get there. I also have a support system in the form of my peers and family to help keep me on track.
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