Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Eternal search for self

The work I spoke of in the last post--the collage with the watercolour paper and the make-up wipes--is sitting in the studio where I can see it every day. From an artistic viewpoint, it's not very good, lacking a focal point, but the colours and concept work--for me. I said I had been working on it for two years, and maybe it needs more work. But sitting and looking at it appears to be giving me a message that there are many, many more media than fibre for expressing yourself. Other ideas for collages are coming to the surface.

I confess that lately I've been more often identifying myself as a mixed media artist than a fibre artist. I wonder if I've stuck with the fibre over the years because I'm confident in my skill in that area, whereas any skill or talent I might have in other areas is yet to be developed. As a teen ager, I studied oil painting with a private tutor for several years, only stopping when I made the decision to go to university. A couple of years ago I took some classes in sketching and watercolour painting, with the idea that the sketching would help in any design development that I attempted and that the watercolour painting would help in my use of water-based textile paints--and both have worked-to a certain extent.

So--while I have no intention of leaving the fibres behind, my intent for right now is to explore other expressive media. I wonder if the answers I'm looking for might not be in an amalgam of various techniques.

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