Art x 12 Book Collaboration

I am finally happy to share my latest artwork for the Art x 12 Book Collaboration, though I most certainly would not have defined “happy” for the beginning of this project.   “Unraveled”, pun or no pun intended, would have been more like it. Lol.  As each book journeys to have another artist apply their fingerprints onto the pages, there is a new challenge.  Sometimes it’s the topic of the book or the theme, (this one was called “Mended”), other times it’s the actual skill that needs to be incorporated into the style of the book. (This one seemed to carry the theme as well as the skill).  I generally have no problem changing gears from cutesy stuff to card making, flower arranging, cookie decorating and then dive into mixed media.  But this time I let the fear of inexperience take over and I struggled for three days.  THREE loooong days. I might have even cried a bit. Ssshhhh.  But as all my art work goes, I end up VALUING the struggle. It stretches my creative bandwidth. I work harder. I sweat. I squirm. I eat. I figure.it.out. It’s, as I have said often, the problem solving that makes me dig really deep and then end up loving it more than the simple projects I approach on any normal day.  So today, there is most definitely a piece of me inside of Leslie Marsh’s amazing (and I mean absolutely incredible) book.  I admire her work. I admire the countless hours she puts into her art.  Really, from all the artists work that I have gotten to see in these pages, I respect each and every one. Their talent is rare and unique.  Honored, so very honored to work alongside and learn from each one.  So without further delay…

Lots of “mending” went into these pages.  Some were hand-stitched, others were machine stitched and yes some, went in “unraveled”. I love strings. I love rust. I love shibori. l love things from distant places.  I love vintage and well-worn.  Basically, I love things that are well loved.  I combined them all.

I mended plenty. Some things came with rust and some things I had to learn how to add the rust to them.  Lots of reading. Lots of  experiments. A few surprises.  Everything that was old was also new in my book. But I certainly learned. No complaining here.

I loved all the different fabrics and textures. So much interest generated from them.  Some came from vintage curtains. Some came from London. Perhaps the mud cloth came from Africa. A few I got at estate sales.  But they all came together as if they were meant to be.

And this was the other side…

This book actually had four pages for us to create in.  The back page ended up being my favorite. For once I didn’t overthink it.  (I know, right? I need to learn to let go). Actually I told myself this was it. Just finish. Simplicity. Never overstated, or overthought. Watercolored splatterings underneath the gauzy layers gave a nice background to the tiny stitched remnants. Done.

Though my opening page was not nearly as detailed as the other three, it too was simple and had a story.  This piece was part of the inside of an old book. It was so soft, as if made from suede.  A little hole in the piece created a space for the next page to make a small showing.

And just like that, the pages were complete and the book mailed to the next artist.  I am anxiously awaiting the next book to arrive. Certain I will overthink it and panic a bit too but I have learned much and I am excited to move further out of my comfort zone.  What about you?

XO,

 

Debi