Monday, February 4, 2008

Blog challenge


Here's my entry for the card sketch challenge on A Walk on the Mild Side.  Great sketch, with cool retro graphics. I totally thought I'd be using a bold, retro print too, since I love that style, but I had this green scrap on my desk. It reminded me of fabric, so I looked through my enormous funky paper bin for a pattern or pattern instructions. I couldn't find either, but I did like the Chinese newspaper with it. I know it's Chinese, but together it reminded me of a kimono, hence the red paper ribbon. So there you have it, my design process in a nutshell. I usually start with a specific design plan, or color scheme, or stamp/image, and work from there. Sometimes it comes out as planned. Sometimes it takes a U-turn. Sometimes I wander down many roads before I discover something that works. 
Digging through that bin of paper made me realize just how much I've hoarded over the last few months. This is not my scrapbook paper, or collage images (I have separate files for those), just newspaper scraps, decorated napkins, hand dyed papers, and any other scrap that caught my eye. I have this intense love/hate relationship with paper. I love it, I collect it in all forms, I use it on almost all of my art pieces, and yet, after awhile, the piles just get to me. They collect in small quantities on my desk and counter,  until eventually, I want to just throw them all in the recycling and have clean, clear surfaces (although I must admit, they rarely make it into the bin).  I have to have it, I have to create with it, and yet clutter makes me feel unsettled. And so it goes on, day after day, unresolved...

1 comment:

  1. that card is incredible!! you always find these cool challenges and things!

    Reply