PHILIP & ANH'S LOFT STUDIO

It's always a treat to see another artist's working space. This Memorial Day weekend we were in Providence, RI visiting our dear friends, Philip & Anh Sawyer.

Philip is a wonderful creative clothing designer. In partnership with Anh, they design, create & market a line of high end, impeccably made men's and women's clothing out of this studio loft.

Their studio is spacious, light, & bright - every artist's dream space. Took these photos just before we left to drive back to Connecticut.

Philip Sawyer Designs online store of designer shirts & blouses made from the finest imported cottons, linens & natural fibers: http://philipsawyer.com/

Anh is a writer and wrote the riveting story of her life: Song of Saigon: One Woman's Journey to Freedom by Anh Vu Sawyer and Pam Proctor.

THE SUNS CAME OUT

I love making accordion fold books filled with collage. Started the latest one this morning, inspired by a recent trip to sunny California.

Machine stitched and glued 3 pages of sunny day collages. More to do on these. But it's a beginning. 12 pages in all.

I have a title in mind but holding all my ideas loosely. The process will lead the way.

PERKING

No time for hands on but I was perking today!

Sitting in the living room I wrote down some page ideas for the yellow Cali book. (Inspired by recent trip to California.)

Paper plates I used for paint palettes-great for cutting up & using in this collage project.

Thinking of using a rubber stamp alphabet to story-tell across the pages of the yellow accordion book.

Here's a closeup from the collage book titled 'Voyages' which I did a couple years ago. Used rubber stamped alphabet letters to tell story across the pages.

To see 'Voyages' click on the link.
http://www.margemalwitz.com/book_arts/voyages.php

COLOR ON HOLD

No time for creating. Project waiting.

SEW ON THE SUN

First California inspired collage almost finished. Need to sew on the sun, tack on the road, one more roof, maybe a pink bat star at waters edge.

Before stopping for the day I pulled out an accordion fold book I made a while ago. Thinking of using it in the California series, I recently painted one side yellow.

It's waiting for collages to span across the 12 pages. I'll work on this next. Maybe a series of sunny

California days in the neighborhood? The creative process continues...

Collages inspired by a recent trip to sunny California.

STITCHING A MISTAKE

Got working in the studio way too late in the day. When stitching the metallic effect thread down, the clear filament top thread broke & I missed it. Just after taking this photo, I did a little more sewing & discovered my mistake. Nothing was stitched down but I did have a line of holes punched in the paper. This will call for some creativity tomorrow.

Errors are harbingers of ideas because they introduce new directions for expression.

TRUST THE PROCESS Shaun McNiff pg. 41

QUIET IN THE STUDIO

Sunday. No cutting, pasting, painting, or sewing. Taking a break. Creative week begins Monday morning.

Lines On Canyon Road

Saturday is typically not a studio day but I managed to sit down this afternoon for a couple minutes and paint some string to be the road from the beach through the canyons to home. This is one of those ideas that may or may not work. I've always liked adding some black and white in colorful pieces-we'll see.

Cut & pasted a few "going green" houses. Had my collage journal w/Nantucket houses on the table to look at = emanation.

Collage inspired by drive from Malibu Beach area through the canyons to Newbury Park, CA, where my kids live.

We Move & Change the Materials...

No time to seriously sit down to create today but passing by the work table, I couldn't resist pushing around the hills, moving the green rectangles, pulling out some yellow-orange buttons & stringing blue metallic thread over the ocean.

"We are agents who move and change the materials and help them find a significant relationship to one another."

Trust the Process by Shaun McNiff pg. 38

Emanating Hills

While working on the California canyon-hills today, I remembered collaging this simple design in an earlier series.

In prep for going to Rwanda in '07, I read the book, Land of a Thousand Hills. The book inspired me to create a 1,000 hills !!! each hill collaged on a manila shipping tag. The emanation stopped at around 40. Here's 18 of them. Collages are around 5" x 2 1/2"

My artist friend, A.J. Picard, went to Rwanda ahead of me and took some spectacular photos for inspiration back in his studio. This photo of AJ's is one of my favorites, hangs framed in our home & was inspiring when I started collaging the hills.

To see AJ's spectacular pastels here's his web site & the link to go directly to his Rwanda artwork.

http://www.picardstudio.com/

http://www.picardstudio.com/portfolio.rwanda.html

Back to creating the California canyon-hills tomorrow.

A Circuitous Route

"Focusing on a series of creations furthers the process of emanation. Images emerge from one another & build upon their predecessors."

Trust the Process by Shaun McNiff pg. 38

This creative process is taking quite a circuitous route! OK what are we looking at?

I love creating houses! This green house is one of the 5 random house images (refresh page to see all 5) on the home page of my website. http://www.margemalwitz.com/ Getting ready to make more houses.

Yesterday painted watercolor paper scraps & the second side of an unfinished accordion fold book with yellow acrylics. Getting ready for collage.

Started working on a series inspired by the drive we took home from the beach in CA -

beach, canyons & home.

The 3 yellow unfinished paintings will stay on the ledge for a while. I'll return to them after I learn some things in this emanation process.

To be continued.......

Fiddling & Diddling

Taped flattened bags back onto masonite supports.

I'm not a painter in the classic way - painting the picture/ design directly onto a surface, but I do love painting acrylics on high quality water color papers to cut up & use to create my pictures.

Decided to throw aside the direct painting approach I started the project with & go with collage. Did a little more work on the 3: glued a square of acrylic painted paper to no. 1.; added texture to no. 2 by printing painted carpet scraps; on no 3. I drew four squares with oil sticks and added texture around the border with carpet scrap printing.

After lunch I returned to play with shapes and colors AKA: fiddling & diddling*. Not there yet-still playing.

To be continued on Monday.

*One of the most essential skills of the artist can be likened to what carpenters call "fiddling & diddling," moving materials around until they find their place. From TRUST THE PROCESS An Artist's Guide to Letting Go by Shaun McNiff pg. 37

Painting A Sunny Day Background?

Definitely not sure where this is going!

Set aside the 4 unfinished paintings from Wednesday. Moving on. Thinking of collaging the green houses into a sunny setting.

Painted 3 gessoed paper bags with acrylics. More painting tomorrow - but with carpet scraps.

Will press these flat overnight between freezer paper.

TRUSTING THE PROCESS

Beginning the creative process by painting grids of blocky houses - gouache & colored pencil on 3 gessoed brown paper bags.

4th painting switched to acrylics and the color green. Hmmmm, I like the green. Having just come back from California and a lot of conversation about living 'green', thinking about painting more grids of green houses. Inspiration coming - ideas beginning to perk.

Will experiment with adding mixed-media collage & rubber stamped images and alphabet letters into grids.

Hanging loose. To be continued......

Education of the imagination...requires sustained encounters with uncertainty.

TRUST THE PROCESS An Artist's Guide to Letting Go by Shaun McNiff pg. 23

Less Is More

Shelves, cabinets, drawers & closet. Minimizing stuff in the studio. Sharing a table full of books with Marth & Pat.

spring '10

1 Great Heron

You must share, teach, sell or exhibit to complete the creative process.

Phyllis Clamage, book artist

@ travel journal class.

1 GREAT HERON

M.Malwitz

m/m collage - Kolo journal

created on Captiva, FL

why the apple? color works, no rules

Telling Stories With Fabric, Ribbons & Buttons

"If that was the only thing I did in Kosovo, it would have been worth it." Melinda Elliot talking about her experience using the story rope with the mostly Albanian team during her 3 wks. in Kosovo. (top photo)

The smiles on the women's faces belie the earlier 1 1/2 hrs. of tearful sharing about their life stories. Although this team has been together for two years, the women were able to openly talk about things that they had never shared with each other. (lower photo)

The story rope, like a personal time line, was a catalyst to sharing. Made with local materials - the buttons & ribbons were thoughtfully chosen & tied to a strip of fabric in an order representing a sequence of events. If willing, participants were invited to tell their story using the rope. Melinda holding her own story rope she made in Kosovo to demonstrate how to do the project. (top photo)

This creative activity released each storyteller from the deep burden she had silently carried alone and brought a new level of openness, understanding, & empathy between team members. So simple yet so powerful!

Earlier post - Sharing with Melinda how to use Story Ropes in Kosovo, Wednesday March 10, 2010

http://margemalwitz.blogspot.com/search/label/Kosovo

Nantucket Moors

Having accepted what has been given...either in the sense of inspiration or in the sense of talent, the artist often feels compelled, feels the desire, to make the work and offer it to an audience.

"Publish or perish" is an internal demand of the creative spirit.

from The Gift by Lewis Hyde pg. 188

Nantucket Moors no. 1, 2 & 3

M. Malwitz c2009

Collaged with painted papers & glossy pictures in blank Kolo journal.

Completing the Creative Process

Through the years I've loved catching glimpses of people looking at my artwork. Sharing a piece of art through an exhibit is one way of completing the creative process. Of course the process is never really completed but influences the next piece & the next & so on. There is a wonderful connectedness in this body of work and experience.

(photo) Friends who live & works in Paris, shared some photos taken of the STATIONS exhibit in Paris. Here's my friend looking at my piece, "Tout" "All".

To see closeups & description of "Tout" "All" click on http://www.margemalwitz.com/book_arts/all_tout.php

STATIONS is the 15 Stations of the Cross, as seen through the eyes of 16 contemporary American artists. To see the exhibit click on http://www.margemalwitz.com/journey/paris.php