DUH!

Drawing day eighty-four

Drawing day eighty-five

Drawing day eighty-six

Drawing day eighty-seven

Do you ever have those moments when you get an idea that is suddenly so obviously right that you just have to say to yourself: "Well, DUH!"?

I had one of those moments on Thursday evening. Part of assessment for Painting class is to hand in "personal vision" pieces, stuff we're working on outside of the class assignments. Most of my work this year, in class and out, seems to be leaning heavily toward incorporating text in varying ways. I have the current assignment (which is "Mechanical Reproduction") in hand, and needed something else to work on in Friday's class. Here is where the "duh" comes in: I was thinking about the direction I'm heading in, the text material evolving, my creative writing, my love of books (I adore the aroma of a brand new, just opened book), my past job history in libraries and a bookshop, and the penny dropped. An artist's book! Of course! Duh!

So I went looking for the blank books I acquired some time ago, and there is the perfect thing: a slim volume bound in dark brown buckram with a kind of antique finish. Lovely! Not too many pages, so achievable (I hope!) for assessment at the end of semester. A4 size, so not too huge. I have filled something like three pages of closely written ideas in my visual diary, and more are popping up at regular intervals. I'm going to put an illustration (in various forms and media) on the right hand pages, and a letter or word (with or without embellishment) on the left hand pages, and it will make a story or poem of some sort, yet without properly being either. I'm going to use words I particularly like, those that feel good in the mouth or spoken, like "rambunctious" and "syzygy".

This idea just feels RIGHT :)