end of week 1

my "tortured" book became a "deconstructed" book. i was happy with the results after i let go of expectations of what the finished book "should" or "could" look like. the key is enjoying and getting into the creating process. there were techniques i didn't utilize while manipulating my paper without paint or additional images. i did use glue, acrylic medium, string, a button, and a bit of charcoal (on the embossed ship page to reveal the image and age the frame).

this was a good warm up project/week. i have fallen in love with pockets. the book project is complete without pockets, so i did a couple of sample ATCs with paper pockets. (thanks Trish)


as i worked this week, i realized some important things:

• it helps to give myself an assignment with limitations. i tend to be indecisive about which direction(s) to go when i am working. it is wonderful to say, "this is your challenge... you may only use the textbook (printed paper) with no additional images or color or objects." i did mostly follow the rules, but since i made the rules i can also break them when i have good reason to! getting focused!
  

• i am so happy to be sharing my project with other artists. thank you so much.

• i will be making ATCs to save as samples of the week's work. they are small; easily created and saved due to size (2.5" x 3.5") . this will be a good way for me to document what i have been doing and learning in addition to other projects.
  

• i like pockets and putting things in them.

just about finished -deconstructed book

i love it! i pulled it apart, glued it back together, wove pages, tied, wrapped, and now i believe it's finished. it has a nautical, explorer feel to it. "a journey into the wilderness" is one of the quotes.
i believe that i need to add a detail on the front (a button or such), but haven't found it yet. it was indeed a journey, or perhaps the prelude to the larger journey....
some more pictures...

book progressing...

,

i do like what is becoming of the tortured book. it has become a de-contructed book. all the folding and tying, etc, that i did at first in the beginning of the book was all crowded and made no sense. so i ripped it out, a piece at a time, and added it somewhere else. i am glad that i stuck with the book, even though i wasn't really liking it too much. after a couple of days not working on it, some ideas popped into my head and renewed my interest in continuing to work on it. i also just kept telling myself that i was not doing this necessarily to achieve a certain finished product, which i think was in the back of my mind when i began.
i said (to myself) "just enjoy the process. try new things, don't think about what you are doing too much. just work as the creative self guides you."

it does help me to talk to talk to myself. how about you?

i do like it

i do like the tortured book. i decided to accept it for what it is....

i am trying to mold some of the paper in the cut out frame. it's a plastic raised image of a ship, but it may not be raised enough to really impress the heavy book pages. i may need to do some rubbing over the template.

it is going to be difficult to do a project in one medium at a time. i usually like to work on something until i am stuck (sometimes that doesn't take long) and then work on something else. i need time for what i see to sink in and until i can see something i want to do or feel the inspiration to proceed. truly a challenge to push to continue to work!