Art is a Lot Like Cooking
This morning I was reflecting on the fact that I like to switch from one medium to another. If I were famous I suppose this could be a negative. Famous artists are expected to stick to the script, at least in public. But I’m not, which affords all kinds of freedom to look up from one thing and focus on another one for a while.
It’s not very different from the way I cook. I’m very good at making Southern food, but a steady diet of that could be disastrous. So from time to time I like to do a lot of dinner salads. Or for a while I will get on a soup-making binge. Or soup and salad. And when I can remember to do it, I like to make different breads in the bread machine. (Yes, I like to knead dough the old fashioned way, and maybe I should brush up on those skills again.)
Bottom line: My whole approach to life is to keep things interesting. So to add some more spice to the stew, here are more collages.
“Not Easy” – Collage
Image Size 5 x 7″, Paper Size 9 x 12″
“Feather” – Collage
Image Size 5 x 7″, Paper Size 9 x 12″
“Squiggle” – Collage
Image Size 5 x 7″, Paper Size 9 x 12″
An Artist's Journal 
Martha,
I’m so glad you wrote about this. I am a contemporary art quilter, but after I’ve been in intense quilt mode I usually have to switch and do something else for a while. I have always felt really bad about this. Like I’m “cheating” on my art. I even have 2 blogs to try avoid having one art style find out about the other. Which I know is very silly. Not to mention time consuming.
In response to your previous post, I can’t wait to read more about how the wonder under is working for you. I’ve used it in my quilting, but I’ve never tried it with paper.
Thank you for sharing!
Heather B.
Heather, thanks for letting me know I’m not alone! I so enjoyed visiting your blog to see what you’ve been doing. Beautiful work.
Thank you for your observation – I do the same thing, kind of get on a roll with one thing or another then switch it up. Variety, change, experimentation is the spice of life for me – galleries and art dealers hate it. They want a consistent manufacturer of a product they can sell repeatedly. I grew up in the “rust belt” and that just sounds like line-work in the factory to me. I will trade non-fame for freedom any day. You just made me feel less alone and a little better about stuff – thanks.
You are so right, Nathalie — well said!
First of all, I really love your collages! What a great departure from your other work, yet there is a linkage between them as well. You must be having fun.
I like to cook also – my style is a rigorous adherence to complicated recipes. I can’t imagine improvising in the kitchen – I wonder what this reveals about my art???
Bob, my husband is the same in the kitchen. He will ask me a question about some ambiguity in a recipe, or an ingredient we don’t exactly have. I will answer with something like “well, you could substitute . . . ” or “you could also just use a half teaspoon of . . .” and this kind of answer is very stressful for him. His typical reply is “well the recipe SAYS . . . ”
Glad you like the collages!