A View toward 2006

Several weeks ago (was it that long already), I commented that some work initially excited me, but that it didn’t “fit” my vision of work for the near future, and was purely copying, so I kept the note on an image I liked but let the rest go.

Since we are fast approaching 2006, I thought I’d share some of my work plans for this year. It’s like the idea that if make our New Year’s Resolution public, we are more likely to keep it. So here goes:

-I loved the small amount of playing I did last summer with watercolor painting on fabric. I would like to do more, maybe in a more traditional form. So I’ve signed up for a watercolor class that will begin in early January (if it fills). Then I will encorporate more painted images in my work. Actually, I’m going to be seeking out a watercolor class anywhere…

-I am completely fascinated with how colors blend and mix. That’s what I was playing with in October by stitching pieces.. and I will work more on blending stitches to “mix” colors.

-I love texture in pieces brought about my dense machine and hand stitching, weaving, embroidery and encrustation. I will seek out places to use this for emphasis. (practice more to develop my own “stitch vocabulary” first.)

-I love the appearance of text or messages in work.. but hate having words interfere with someone’s own interpretation of a piece. And there’s sometimes that little problem with copyright. I know I could scribble and get some sense of text… but for a couple years I’ve been playing with emotigraphs (drawing emotions as pictures) and private alphabets. I’m almost done designing a private alphabet (no, not simply a font, it’s a phonetic alphabet) that I’ve been thinking..

So I haven’t been showing any new work for a while because I’ve been “cleaning house.” I’ve been finishing up pieces that I like but that’s don’t necessarily play into these ideas; I’ve been studying (Katie P-M and Twyla at the moment). I’ve been getting ready. I’ve been getting my mental house in order. I’ve been studying my habits and finding my weak points.

Steve is home until 1/9; I’m also using this time to get the real house in order, too. However, when he goes back to work, the real work BEGINS.

I need to spend 3 months simply deciding how to get the above details to really work together. Lab work.. experimenting. Lots of things that I will probably show on the blog, but that then may not get out of the studio (except in the trash). How am I going to get all these elements to play well together? And will be able to do the work with my cock-eyed sense of irony included, too?

I’m feeling a spring that is being wound… I can sense the potential energy being accumulated. Here’s hoping I expend it in a useful manner.