P  R  O  J  E  C  T     N O. 3 

paintings & procrastinations

ENTRY 13

I have been listening to the book "Just Kids" by Patti Smith. It is the story of her relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe and their evolution as artists (Thanks for the loan M.B.!). I listen on my daily drive to my son's school to make that time more valuable. It has been a tremendous help for me to see behind the curtain of fame and learn what their process and struggles were as young, undiscovered artists. It makes me understand how an artist must create regardless of sales or recognition, and that success only comes after much hard work and the luck of being in the right "circles". I don't think I'm in the right "circle" out here in suburbia, more like a square. I try to remind myself that true success is being able to share my work — to have someone see it, read it, and react to it. Without that, I am in solitary confinement.

I identified with their need to be eclectic with their art. I always saw that as a fault of mine, I like to dabble in many different creative projects instead of staying focused on just one, but they were the same. Robert Mapplethorpe used to weave necklaces. I ventured off into embroidery this week using a Hair-Raising Thought I transferred onto linen. 

And then I played with various transfer/collage techniques to develop ideas for The Face Book project. I don't know where I am heading with this, but experimenting (aka: making mistakes) is the only way to reveal which way the compass points.

Barrette Girl has a passion for reading, but not returning her library books, so I purchased old library checkout cards to create a background for her. I photographed them and then created a double-layered transfer. Not quite working yet. Need to keep experimenting to find my way.