Process not Product

When I make a painting or collage, I find that if I worry about the end product, I rarely produce something I like. But if I just enjoy the process and just keep working on ideas and "what-ifs", I usually end up with something I really like; something that is nowhere near what I might have imagined the finished product to be.

I made this image (text is digital) as a reminder of one of the things I learned in the class I mentioned before, Learning How to Learn, where one of the things mentioned was to focus on the process (studying) not the product (the finished homework). It does help to reduce the anxiety that fuels procrastination.

The background is a detail of one of my favorite paintings I made a few years back. This is something I played with quite a bit, adding a number of layers of sheer and transparent colors and textures. Then on the advice of my teacher Chris Cozen, I added that lifesaving essential color, Naphthol Red Light.
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Go make art!

Ransom Note Book

On the first Saturday of each month, the La Jolla public library has a bookmaking class at the Riford branch on Draper Ave. Classes are free, but you have to sign up for them, as there is limited space. The teacher is a lovely woman named Bhavna who is part of the San Diego Book Arts. You don't need to bring anything, but a scissors, glue stick and bone folder would be good to bring if you have them. Here is the current list, since the website for the classes still has the fall information. Click on it for a larger version!

I went to the "Ransom Note" class earlier this month. The book itself is made from one large sheet of paper, folded and cut just right. Here is a tutorial about making the book structure. We went as far as Glue step 4 for this book. For the covers, we cut a piece of a heavyweight magazine cover, and glued another sheet of random small words to it - but I used an image instead - and glued that to the front and back. Then we took one or two magazines and cut out a bunch of individual words, spreading them out on the table, then making little phrases for the book.

It was fun putting the words together. It reminded me a little of the "fridge poetry" magnets.

Paper, collage.
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Go make art!

Make some Art Everyday!

It's been a long time since I posted an ATC. I have not done much art lately in spite of the fact that I am unemployed - both things contributing to depression. So I have decided to continue the 365 theme with some art every day. I am taking a bunch of classes online, and one of them is via Coursera.com, called Learning How to Learn. It has been very interesting, but I'm not going to go into it here, though I do recommend the class. For the final project, I was inspired to do some "art journaling". Here is a page I'd like to share. This quote reminds me daily that I am trying to learn new habits.

Painted background, rub-ons.
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Go make art!