Category: A Day in the Life of an Artist

Just daydreaming the day away, thinking about future works of art…or should I say previously completed works of art? I suppose that’s how it is in this case.

I’ve been fiddling around with Photoshop again to make a few images for the new section of my website. I’m putting together an educational section that was inspired by a few recent emails I received from teachers who use my artwork in their classrooms. Anyway, I had fun with the last photo that I did like this (the photo of me is from the same day – same shirt, same necklace), so I thought why not try another version?

So many ideas and so little time! I better hurry up so I can capture them all on paper! Or should I say “in” paper?

My desk is covered in slips of paper – all my “to do” lists. I’m anxious to start quite a few projects and finish them soon, but there’s only so many hours in the day. Thus I’m focusing on just a couple of things for now.

I’m continuing to work away on my book but I have a couple of other projects coming up that I haven’t mentioned before. A client of mine contacted me about donating my services for a silent auction for an organization called The Cure Starts Now. TCSN raises money for pediatric brain cancer research. I’ve lost a few family members to different types of cancer, and I couldn’t think of any other type of organization I’d want to donate my work to. So it looks like I’ll be donating a custom work of art for the first time in the next few months.

Anyway, I’m off to turn my collage thoughts into actual collages.

This year has been quite a busy one. There were a lot of firsts for me which is pretty exciting. And to celebrate the upcoming year of 2011, here are 11 things that occurred this past year:

1) First solo exhibit that was then followed by several other solo shows throughout the year.

2) First newspaper feature

3) First magazine feature

4) Organized my first exhibit reception where I was responsible for everything from PR to the food. It was quite a learning experience!

5) Gave first artist talk and then gave a couple more talks. I’m usually terrified of public speaking, but after giving a few talks this year, I’m more comfortable with it. I actually kinda like it.

6) Scheduled my first solo show in another state (“Paper Collage” at Krempp Gallery in Jasper, Indiana)

7) Related to #5 – scheduled the first workshop I’ll run next year. It coincides with my Krempp Gallery solo show.

8) Started working on my first children’s book – I’m still in the process of working on it. Hope to finish it sometime next year.

9) Quit my job last year to work on artwork for a few months this year. Then found a new job doing design/web work – which has been a lot of fun.

10) Learned a lot about business and marketing for my artwork. As a result, I finally documented all my art and started designing marketing materials for myself.

11) Realized that art is something I really want to pursue.

All in all, it’s been quite a good year. I’m so grateful that I have so many supportive people in my life. And I’m incredibly excited about what the New Year may bring.

What did you accomplish this year?

Art has had a role in my life for as long as I can remember, and I can’t imagine a life without creating or marveling at the creations of others. Other artists have inspired me. The art world in general has motivated me to keep moving forward with my work.

Even when I’d doubt myself and swear that I’d give up – I was never able to quit art cold turkey. And that’s a good thing too. I’m incredibly thankful for how my artistic career is shaping up. I’m content that I have time to do what I love and that I’ve had a chance to meet so many great people as a result of visiting galleries and exhibitions. I’m glad that by pursuing my art so fiercely, I have willingly put myself in situations that made me feel uncomfortable – just so I could adapt and adjust to new things.

Art has made life richer, and I’m excited about all the possibilities that are out there as I continue to work and pursue my artistic dreams.

I’m thankful for the creative life.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving. What are you thankful for?

Tomorrow I’m moving out of the Torpedo Factory studio that I’ve been working in for the past couple of months. It’s been quite an experience – and it’s amazing how much the look of the studio has changed over time. You can take a look at my pictures from when I first moved in to get an idea of what changes I made over time.

I’ll get to work for a couple of hours before I start packing things up. I’ve already made some space in my apartment to serve as my home “studio.” And although I have a nook set aside for myself, I think that in the next couple of months I’ll want to focus more on making animations. We shall see…

Above is a shot of my wall and pedestals complete with lettering that I taped to the wall. I noticed that a lot of visitors previously thought all my pieces were paintings and would just walk on by. The lettering really helped me out – it would catch their eye, drawn them in, and make them realize that it was made of paper.

A few weeks ago I moved in a small desk that you can see towards the back there – I turned it into my work desk so visitors would have a better view of me collaging when they walked in.

Some of the magnet packs I made – I sold quite a few of these at the studio. They were pretty popular – and seemed to work well with all the tourists that come in and out of the art center.

And here’s an image of my guest book, magnets, note cards, and digital picture frame that showed a slide show of my other work that wasn’t hanging in the gallery.Anyway, although I’m moving out and one more thing will be behind me, I’m really looking forward to what’s coming up these next couple of months.

People are often curious about how I construct my collages, so I thought I’d share a few photos of the materials I use. Several of these pictures were included in my PowerPoint for the “Stories in Paper” artist talk.

For all my “work in progress” I use scissors, magazine pages, and Elmer’s acid-free glue sticks. Some people ask if I ever use X-Acto knives and I don’t – I’ve found that good old scissors work fine for me. I think X-Acto knives would be something I’d use if I wanted to be very precise with the shapes I cut out. Since my goal is to make each collage reminiscent of a painting, there isn’t a need to be so precise with the shapes of my magazine cut-outs. It works better if my shapes are eye-balled and looser.

I use acid-free glue sticks as I work because of how flexible they are. The glue isn’t permanent, thus I can easily lift up collage pieces and move them around. I can peel back magazine strips in certain areas to let previous layers shine through. Once I’m finished with a piece, I go back in and varnish the entire work to seal it all together and to help protect the paper.

Usually I’ll work with a couple piles of magazines surrounding me. That way my materials are at my fingertips – I can easily grab a magazine and start paging through it if I’m searching for a specific color or have an idea of a texture I’d like.

Sometimes I’ll tear out magazine pages based on their color and texture and file them away in folders. That way, if I’m working on a collage and I’m in need of a specific color, I don’t have to hunt around for long – I can simply pull out the folder filled with magazine pages of that color.

Here’s a picture of me working with a glue stick and scissors as I cut out magazine strips for a landscape piece. This picture was taken by a writer from the Gazette Packet who wrote an article about the visiting artist program that I’ve been a part of.

And here’s an older picture of myself sitting on the floor working away on a collage I completed in 2008. Sometimes the floor is just the best workspace – you can really spread out with all your piles of paper.

So that’s everything for now. I’ll revisit my process another time to focus on another aspect of it.

Since posting my last pictures of the studio where I’m currently working for June and July, I’ve moved a few things around to help with presentation. Before, the pedestals were pushed up against the wall. When I did this, I had trouble getting visitors to notice my work. By pulling out the pedestals, and forcing visitors to walk around them, my work became much more noticeable. I also had the problem of visitors thinking my work was painting, thus not really paying close attention to it. In the image above you can see that I cut out paper letters and taped them to the wall – the set on the side includes my logo as well as the words “Collage Artist.”

I also cut out letters to make up “painting with paper.”

Here’s a view that shows a little of the other side of the studio. I’m competing for attention with these sculpture pieces.

Here are my marketing materials – postcards, business cards, and brochures – you can see them right when you walk in the door. That book I have propped up on a mini easel is the book I put together with Blurb. I think Blurb is pretty useful – I was really satisfied with the quality.

And now I have note cards for sale along with my handmade magnets.

Well anyway, I’m off to take care of a few errands before heading off to the studio for just about the entire day.