Endless Possibilities in a New Year; Art Assignments

I love a fresh start- and though i know that it is true that every day IS a new day, there is something about the endless possibilities of a whole new year that inspires us to think about what we would like to create in our lives this year. (A fabulous link with lots of suggestions for goals in the new year is Daring to Live Fully). I like to start in on a new journal for the new year-i take a regular sketchbook & put images & words that appeal to me on the front & back & then cover them with contact paper- you can see that this one has the words “endless possibilities” on it. I use it to journal about everything. When i want to get specific,  I also have a journal for my gardening ideas- this one I made in a Michael deMeng workshop-“Tree of Life”:   Here’s one for things I want to do in my house. I create pockets by using packing tape and heavy paper so i can put ideas i have printed off my computer in the pockets. I love so many of the amazing visual journals that i see out there – here are just a few: Lisa Sonora Beam; Teesha Moore; Dan Eldon; etc.   I usually just write in mine, scotch tape articles or pictures that inspire me on to pages and add a few sketches of ideas. Here’s a tip that has worked for me when i see all those amazing journal techniques out there and don’t start a journal because I want to do a really “cool” journal too but don’t think i have the time or skills: first,  i try not to compare myself to others but just start simply- scotch tape & a stapler work great- i can always embellish, paint, collage, and stamp in these journals if i decide i want to as i go along. I put  a little more effort into the covers- glueing on photos or found objects like i did in the garden one. I find once I have a start that i am more apt to experiment with the pages.

Speaking of getting started on creative projects- in last weeks blog I talked about how we can become paralyzed by so many creative possibilities and I offered up a tip by Kelly Rae Roberts that can lead to getting in the studio & doing it.  This week my “Jedi Mind Trick”  is: Assignments. When Jill Berry asked me to contribute some art maps to her book: “Personal Geographies: Explorations in Mixed Media Mapmaking”  it was pretty easy to come up with ideas for each project because a specific map subject was the assignment. Within a framework there are many fun possibilities to explore. Some of the subjects in the book are: a head map, a narrative map, a cartographic reliquary, a channeled map and a  hand map. For the Hand Map  I wanted to use metal embellishing, some traditional cartography elements (cartouche, border, neat lines) & the idea of being present in the now, so I came up with: “Be Where Your Hands Are”:I am in an Art Club where we draw a word once a month & make a piece inspired by the word to share at the next meeting-having a specific subject allows for creativity without overwhelm! This month’s word is “Prescription” -I would love it if you do the assignment too and send me a photo of your piece to share with the group!!  Some ideas for coming up with assignments are: buy a book like Jill’s and do the “assignments”,or  check out Illustration Friday which assigns topics every week or create assignments for yourself.

For example, I have always been intrigued by the Muses and also love to explore new techniques- so, i have created an assignment for myself. I am going to create a head reliquary for each muse (a reliquary is a container for a material sacred object- the relic)  using a different medium on each one. I put the name of the 9 Muses plus their parents (Mnemosyne & Zeus) into a box and in another box i put techniques that I want to explore (plaster, encaustic, metal etc.). I randomly draw a name & then the technique I will use on it. Mnemosyne is the personification of memory and the first name that i drew. Synchronistically i drew “memory jug” as my technique. I had a shoe box filled with little collectibles that belonged to a friend’s mother who had died- what better representation of memory could there be? I used memory jug techniques like window caulking to stick the collectibles on Mnemosyne’s head in a pattern of similar colors. The relic- a watch which represents the memories created through the passage of our time here on earth- is seen through the window in her neck.

What will your assignment be?

~ by Deedee Hampton on January 10, 2013.