Developing Our Creative Voice

Inks drying on Jo Sonja's crackle

I've had a great deal of fun in the Studio this week!  It helped that the commissioned piece I just completed made my client happy, yeah!

This is not a new design, it's a new incantation of the first, "Cracked Horizon" that now hangs in my daughter's Salon @ Salon's On York, Fredericton. "Cracked Horizon II" has been a joy to work with and I'm happy with it's progress so far. (It will also be available for purchase through my website)

Added more ink colours, once dried will spray with varnish to keep from running

As this one winds up, I have another mixed media just waiting for paint standing on my easel, intended as a replacement piece for one that has already sold at Salon's On York.  Anxious now to start moving paint around and see how this one comes together.

Experimentation comes in large and small sizes.  Right now I seem to be drawn to honing specific techniques, expanding on them in subtle but impactfull ways.  Which makes sense to me as I've only been on this journey for a few brief years and am deepening my understanding of my own creative style.

Frequently I'm asked about my process, and I always chuckle because it's not one I can lay down in simple 1,2,3 steps.  Like everything in my life, how I create, how I have learned, how I have developed has been a random gathering of information and techniques that I experiment with, struggle over, adjust, adapt and continue to work it out.

Ink dried/varnished once I know I'm happy with how the crackle looks I then apply gel medium over cracks

I don't do well in live classroom/workshop settings.  Never have, never will.  I learn best by letting my brain absorb and take in a wide variety of elements through books, videos, articles that, once I start working with them I begin to discover just how they are going to work for me, or not.  We have our arsenal of tools that we bend and shape to fit our unique voice and style and the only way I know to do or find that is by interaction and experimentation.  No big secrets here, or mystery techniques, I've shared freely information that is readily available.   Shaun McNiff say's it better than I ever can,

"Trusting the process is based on a belief that something valuable will emerge when we step into the unknown.  There are elements of surrender and letting go which have more to do with flexibility and the ability to change direction, than with defeat and annihilation.  The ego is willing to relinquish its plans and expectations in order to receive an unanticipated result. Experienced creators are able to step aside and relax in order to advance."

Crackle is fragile and needs that coating of gel to secure it well. This also shows you what a wash of white ink amid the cracks might look like.

I am so thankful for Shaun's book and others like them.  I took them at their word and trusted the process, continue to trust in that process as I work and experiment, and agonize over the work, 'paying my dues' to develop whatever ability I may have. Understanding my limits, working with and around them it's all part of who I am, as a person and as a creative.

Bren