The Creative Process

Got to working on my altered book, and needed space to spread out the materials. I pulled out the card table and gathered some of my stuff... 

It didn't start out quite this disorderly, honestly. All I can say is, the creative process isn't neat. :D What's a little alarming is that this isn't everything -- I have more stuff in a box by my desk.

Great Possibilities, Templates

Mirkwood Designs has a number of really wonderful templates that she offers for free. The designer recommends tracing the templates onto cardstock, but I thought I'd try something a little different. I printed the template on regular  paper (20#), scuffed the glossy surface of a chipboard box I pulled out of recycling, and glued the template to that. Then I cut out the template, which gives me something much sturdier than cardstock, and includes the instructions and copyright information on the template.

I was trying to find some good templates for envelopes of various kinds, things that I could use with the papers I bought, intending to use in my altered book. However, the colors for that are much more muted than the colors I have been using... now I need to decide if I'm screwed with the colors my hands chose, or if I can Go With It, and just not continue with the really bright colors for the entire book. 

If an altered book journal is a stream of consciousness sort of work, then I can't believe I screwed up. Color is immensely important to me, and the only colors that really don't resonate for me are pastels and navy blue. (Navy actually makes me feel kinda off. Seriously.) So even though I have a pile of paper in the mustard, olive and paprika sort of spectrum, maybe I can still make those work with the pages I have. That's what I wanted the envelopes for, especially since many of the papers are double-sided; fold open a "petal card" and reveal a whole new color inside, and enough space for a little journaling. Plus, that may work to calm down the brightness of the pages. Or maybe it will look completely weird. I think the only way I'll be able to tell is to actually cut one out, and try it.

Stalled... Again

So I got the new pages for the altered book ready for adding embellishment, notes, tags, whatever. Now I am staring at those same pages and wondering "what next?" When faced with so many possibilities, I find I am paralyzed with indecision. I will consider my options while I work on chores today: laundry, grocery shopping, dishes... maybe all that busywork will allow me to plug away on the issue with the book in the background.

I figure the project will be done some time around my 50th birthday, at the rate I'm going. (11 years off, if you're curious.)

Altered Book, Continued

I had a flash of inspiration and have been working on my altered book again, after having set it aside for months. Frankly, it's about all I have the energy for at the moment, with a nasty cold that is keeping me from sleeping well, or breathing.

The new pages will highlight the computer journal entries I made when I started taking my belly dance classes, o' so many years ago. I prepped the pages with gesso, cut the pages so they're notched for each week of the 8-week session. Some weeks have more than one entry, so some pages have more than one page notched for that week. I then painted each week its own color, added the printed journal entries, set eyelets into the notches and added fibers and a tag to each.

It looks good so far, but the pages are pretty bare, so my next thing will be to figure out how to decorate the pages.

Altered Book

Whilst clearing out the things that ended up in front of the fireplace (so I could clean it out and replace the too-small grate), I unearthed my belly dance altered book. I knew where it was, I just hadn't bothered to dig it out, because I hadn't felt particularly creative lately - too busy feeling like a slug, I guess. Anyway, I do want to get back to that. I was so pleased with the way things were going, and then *SPLAT!* I hit a brick wall. I want to do so much with it, it's hard to overcome all that inertia.

It may end up veering in a direction I had not intended, in to Body Image territory. Like many women, I've struggled with self-esteem as related to physical appearance. It's hard to look in the mirror to see if you're doing it right when you can't bear to look at yourself! Added to that, some moves are obscured by  fat, and you can't see what the muscle is doing. I'm trying to get started on a healthier lifestyle, and that will play into dance, which may well end up in the book. Fortunately, it's a fairly large book, and I have room for that...

I didn't really mean for the project to be art-as-autobiography. I meant all along to include the few pages I wrote when I started taking Magda's classes, but I never meant for it to be just about my experience with dancing. Sometimes when I'm writing, characters take on a life of their own, and go in directions I hadn't anticipated. I can't decide if that's magical or frustrating because I've lost control of my own creation. *shrug* It's not a question I intend to answer today. Instead, I think I'll try to go vote early and beat the crowds.

Weaning off LiveJournal for something more substantial

Currently, I occasionally post to LiveJournal. I got started there to keep in touch with friends who live far away. However, they're not very good at updating their blogs, either. I want to maintain a photo blog, but not exclusively photos. I have a number of creative endeavors I pursue, and photography is only one; hence the name "Creative Miscellany." 

Here's just one of the things I've spied through the lens of my camera:

This photo is available as a print at DeviantArt, and for licensing at PhotoShelter.

Other things I'll include from time to time are scans of some of the ATCs* I've made, or an altered book project I work on off-and-on. One of the swaps I've recently mailed my cards into is a Gypsy Mixed Media swap. I used a mesh ribbon and gold-embossed chipboard pieces on top of altered photos. I am particularly pleased with the way these turned out. Had a hard time parting with them!

My altered book is inspired by one of my other passions, belly dance. I've been taking classes and attending workshops for more than 5 years now. I'm not very far into this project, but here's one of my favorite page spreads so far: 

So that's the sort of thing I'll be up to here. I'll keep my LJ blog for ranting and keeping up with my far-flung friends. I'll limit this, though, for my creative pursuits.

*ATCs = Artist Trading Cards, 3.5" x 2.5" tradable works of art. I trade at ATCsForAll.com.