Sunday, January 12, 2025

narrowing it down

continuing on then...

finding a pattern in the way I'm working, a widening, where I gather ideas and materials freely, almost overwhelmingly

and then a period of looking and reflecting on what I have in front of me

and then finally a narrowing

again and again

it often feels like I'm just wasting time, reluctant to make a decision on the path I want to take

in recent days I've come to understand it is precisely the best way for me to find it  


in spending time looking at the work above and below I'm finding that for the ice I'm more drawn to the textured layers of tissue paper and other cloth than to the smoother folded papers below


and then a piece of English "scrim" with strips of torn paper, machine stitched and then folded along the stitched lines - another option for the ice

this is the "right" side


and below, the reverse

finding I prefer the "wrong" side
(seems to be a recurring theme these days, wrong over right)


and here laid against some painted water


it's alright, though in the original photo that inspired all of this the water is actually more of a silvery-grey in colour

and then I tried something else...

a massively cropped image of trees along the Yukon River with the machine stitched straight lines on crinkled silk piece laid over top


this intrigued me greatly


especially in the photo below... 

the trees at the bottom, as enlarged and cropped as they are

 at first glance they are almost reminiscent of a watery scene, a creek with it's banks maybe - a tangle of water and forest, light and shadow? 


or perhaps I'm just seeing what I want to see

it is giving me some things to think about though

 I'm beginning to lean toward the simplicity of the straight lines paired with the complexity of the "water" below it

it feels less literal, more of an abstract impression

a kind of "take the idea, the imagery, and see what you can do with it" 

 how far you can stray?

what's the range, before you're too far away for a glimmer of what inspired you to remain?

not sure, but I'm about to find out


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