April 24

Here is the finished piece. Done. You can click on an image to see it a little larger.

more cutting and boldness

I haven't posted in a few days as my activity has been spotty. I have tried to make a small foray into the studio each day, but it's been in 20 minute increments here and there. I did these three over the course of four or five days (nights really). 

I love how the patterns interact and push your perception, but I feel myself getting cautious again and not wanting to do it "wrong". I need to be bold as I was when I made the "pulsing heart" (thanks Ann VZ who coined it) collage. Help me be bold! I am approaching a deadline and that is making me doubly cautious, so hopefully if I can squeeze a longer time in the studio I can push a little harder at these and not go for the easiest option.

April 12 + 13

Started: Larger pages of cut pattern. It takes so long. Much podcast listening to be done!

April 11

Listening to podcasts again. This time 'On Being' from NPR. Around midnight I was almost cutting off my fingers as I worked on this. Many more hours to go.

April 10

I managed it. They're odd and circular. I do like the size of these (about 3 inches in diameter) and I like how you have to peer at them and be close to them to really 'see' them. I'm interested in cutting the boundaries that the paper gives me.

I'm not making anything tonight but I am setting myself a challenge of cutting three very different and detailed patterns from paper to use as an overlaying pattern (as in the second image in the previous post).

April 10

Here are two pieces from last month that are more successful. My work has tended to be very linear and architectural and so I'm trying to bring some organic forms into play as well as not be so controlled in my mark making. Let gooooo a little.

Today my goal is to make 10 tiny collages on the fly! eek

April 9

I blogged. I didn't make. oops.

April 7 and 8

Easter weekend! Didn't get any drawing or collaging done, but I did take a lot of photos. Here are a few of the best. I was really looking at texture, contrast and balance.

You can find me on the Instagram App as jojow_h. Please come and join me as it would be so fun to be sharing these with you in real time. Just photos and likes and comments. Plus there is a camera built into the app so no uploading.

April 5 and 6

The park down the street from us, that we have been going to for 5 years is falling into disrepair, and so instead of fixing it the Park District just ripped down some of the structures. hhmm. There is also a vacant lot next to the park and the neighbors have been plotting, and politic-ing to get the land made into a communal garden space, or just expand the park.

Last week we found out that the land has been put up for sale. Here come the neighbors rallying together to stop the sale! I was asked to do some sort of logo for "the cause". Here are some rough sketches. I need some feedback.

I've kept the images simple and child-like as the parks are for our children. I've anchored the image around "neighborhood", and the fact that the park is next to the river.

this one is collaged using crayon scribbles on paper.

This one is inspired by Scandinavian drawings using pattern within the elements of the drawing. I have a lot more like this, but haven't taken any photos of them yet.

Let me know what you think.

April 4

So on the 4th I did make some work. Kind of odd and ugly but everything I'm making is in that same vein. I feel like it's working towards something that's on the tip of my brain / tongue.

The first drawing was so cluttered and so I uncluttered it (below) and I ended up prefering the first layered, chaotic, strange, and awkward one.

I didnt make this but I wish I had

This is a collage made by Hollie Chastain called 'Adalyn's Party Trick'. I do think it should be more aptly titled 'multi-tasking mother'. I do love how she has magic coming from her finger-tips.

April 3

11:30pm. So extremely tired. Could only manage some prep work for a future collage. Here it is next to my palette. Falling asleep as I write.

April 2

I stayed up way too late making these while listening to an interesting podcast called "Things you didn't learn in history class". You can find it at howstuffworks.com. Each 20 minute episode is on a different event or person. I think I listened to twelve of them!

April 1

My making is rusty. My brain feels slow. My decisions are clunky. My ideas are all stuck together.

It's not what I want it to be. I don't know where it's going. I have reservations about all my choices.

Hopefully there will be changes.

Judgement

I had two hours of time in the studio yesterday listening to Arcade Fire and cranking out two small collages. I now have to work on not judging them as down-right ugly and just move on to the next ones. This month is for getting my hands back in the process and not for being critical of every move. I think I prefer the piles of paper to the finished collages.