Some Thoughts on Why I Create

Hello Internet People!     I thought I better come spend some time at the keyboard before I lose myself in the process of cutting tiny shapes from fabric or vinyl, whichever I end up deciding to work with this evening.  Still waiting on my husband to put me to work, so I have been playing with my art projects again.  I am experimenting with an idea for the screen printing system that could be a lot of fun if it proves successful.  I used to make these intricate collage pictures a few years back using different stencils and colored pens, I will try to find one later and take a picture to show you.  I am trying to recreate the concept in a four color separation process where each color is a different layer, and the whole thing is done freehand, no stencils, no computer layout.  It may prove to be a complete and total waste of time in the end, and I know it would be much faster and easier to try to figure out how to do it all directly in the computer, but where would the fun be in doing something the easy way?

I worked in a print shop many, many years ago, and while I was there the owner spent a lot of time with me teaching me all of the various aspects of the business.  From the front office, to the drafting table, to the darkroom, to the press room, to the bindery, I learned every job, and almost every machine in the building.  This was in the early days of computers, the time of dot matrix printers, and most of our type setting and layout design was still done by hand, and I got to do a lot of it. Gawd I loved working with the old man!  Every week it was something new to learn and explore, my favorite kind of job!

Anyway, the point of the story was that I have been pulling from the many things I learned during my time in the printing business to use them in the screen printing project.  I find I do that a lot.  I have an extremely diverse background and interest base, and combining that diversity is part of the drive that motivates me to create art in the first place.  There is no other way to bring together who and what I am other than through images and words.  And someday I may even get good at it.

Until then I will just keep trying new things and exploring new ideas because apparently that is what I was born to do.  Well, that, and to spend excessive numbers of hours deeply engrossed in teeny tiny details that no one else will ever notice or appreciate.  I love doing that too for some strange and bizarre reason.  

Since I don't have any pictures yet to show you what I was talking about, I thought I would share a totally unrelated picture of a piece of "art" I made around 15 years ago.  It is made using the same type of pens that I used making the collage pictures, but its totally different.  I really liked making these too at one point, but mostly because my ex-husband hated them.  He thoughts they were "scary" and they frightened him, so I made a lot of them the last couple of years we were married.  Enjoy ...