Today I received my first "Make It Mondays" challenge via Facebook. Lisa Vollrath has so much good common sense advice about creating art and I'm trying like mad to take it all to heart as I start. Creating work without self criticism is tough! Today I read Lisa's comments about art not being a competitive sport, noting that we should be inspired by the work of other artists, not wasting time or energy criticizing their work or our own. Motivated by the challenge for this week of creating something with paper scraps, I marched into the studio to get started. It took a while. I don't have a lot of paper bits. Pulling out the few pieces I had (and used previously on my business cards), I started looking at paper not designed for art. I pulled out magazine clippings, an old Pottery Barn catalog and some children's books for inspiration. The modge podge came out, along with the scissors and an xacto knife. I haven't used that one in a while! For an hour I puttered with clipping, folding, tearing and gluing bits. I'm not quite finished with the project, but took the time to stop and look at what I'd accomplished. It's good for a chuckle, if nothing else. I'm just not at the point where I don't criticize myself, but the critic isn't so brutal today. I have no idea what I'm doing, but I had fun making the mess. I am reminded, once again, that this is the entire point. Today was fun and, for once, I feel like a LOT of the pressure is off to create a masterpiece.
Tomorrow, I'll spend more time on the Frankenstein in my studio. It's a mish-mash of stuff, but it's a good mess.
