distressed paper and paper distressed
I am still distressing paper at this point. It's getting softer and floppier, just like it's supposed to. Meanwhile, the snow continues to fall-or maybe fly is a better word, because the wind has really picked up, which is sending the snow sideways.
I spent two very good days on Friday and Saturday last weekend touring buildings that had been converted into artists' studios. They were having open houses for the holidays and letting the general public come through. I have always liked seeing artists' workplaces because they have as much variety as the artists and their works. I love seeing how some artists make a real effort to divide their studios into a private and public space and how others just leave everything out in the open. Some are very particular and precise about where everything is placed, while others just decide that they're quite comfortable in their messy sprees of creation and if you dislike it, then you can go find a neater artist somewhere else.
I was very happy just wandering around and getting closer to things that I found interesting. It was a very welcoming environment and it seemed very open, because so many of the artists were working on something while people were passing in and out of the studios. I enjoyed it very much because it was so easy to find something interesting or beautiful to look at and there was a lot of positive conversation in the air about someone "loving" this or that piece or particularly enjoying talking to a specific artist. I only heard one very brief negative snippet of conversation and it wasn't directed at anyone's work.
It had me fantasizing a little about wanting a space like that for myself. I'd like to have a little studio completely apart from my living space where I could work on whatever I wanted to work on, be it writing, drawing, painting, making sock critters or books or paper, or working on an altered book project that's swimming around in my head. I'd especially like to have a little studio like that in a building of little studios like that with a community of artists around me.
I feel a little silly wanting a space like that, though. I have a tendency to feel very self-conscious about things that I have made. Admittedly, some of that is because people in the past have made some very hurtful comments about things that I have made which makes me feel like they're just...not...art...or...not worth the investment in time and materials that I have made. Despite those negative influences, I still continue to create, I just tend to be very guarded about who gets to see what I've made.
I'm not going to focus on that, though, I'm going to focus on good and hopeful thoughts that I will be able to stay safe and warm and spend a productive day distressing paper.
I spent two very good days on Friday and Saturday last weekend touring buildings that had been converted into artists' studios. They were having open houses for the holidays and letting the general public come through. I have always liked seeing artists' workplaces because they have as much variety as the artists and their works. I love seeing how some artists make a real effort to divide their studios into a private and public space and how others just leave everything out in the open. Some are very particular and precise about where everything is placed, while others just decide that they're quite comfortable in their messy sprees of creation and if you dislike it, then you can go find a neater artist somewhere else.
I was very happy just wandering around and getting closer to things that I found interesting. It was a very welcoming environment and it seemed very open, because so many of the artists were working on something while people were passing in and out of the studios. I enjoyed it very much because it was so easy to find something interesting or beautiful to look at and there was a lot of positive conversation in the air about someone "loving" this or that piece or particularly enjoying talking to a specific artist. I only heard one very brief negative snippet of conversation and it wasn't directed at anyone's work.
It had me fantasizing a little about wanting a space like that for myself. I'd like to have a little studio completely apart from my living space where I could work on whatever I wanted to work on, be it writing, drawing, painting, making sock critters or books or paper, or working on an altered book project that's swimming around in my head. I'd especially like to have a little studio like that in a building of little studios like that with a community of artists around me.
I feel a little silly wanting a space like that, though. I have a tendency to feel very self-conscious about things that I have made. Admittedly, some of that is because people in the past have made some very hurtful comments about things that I have made which makes me feel like they're just...not...art...or...not worth the investment in time and materials that I have made. Despite those negative influences, I still continue to create, I just tend to be very guarded about who gets to see what I've made.
I'm not going to focus on that, though, I'm going to focus on good and hopeful thoughts that I will be able to stay safe and warm and spend a productive day distressing paper.